The micromechanical behavior of unsaturated soils in the funicular regime, characterized by patchy and toroidal water, remains unresolved. To address this, the Hill contact model integrated with Fisher's capillary theory was developed within the discrete element method (DEM) framework to systematically quantify the influence of liquid bridge forces on unsaturated shear strength. The model was validated against experimental triaxial data under 50 kPa matric suction, achieving 96% accuracy through least squares fitting for confining pressures of 100–400 kPa, with predictions for low-confining-pressure conditions (e.g., 10 kPa). Liquid bridge forces contributions to shear strength increased from 12.8% to 36.3% as confining pressure decreased from 400 kPa to 10 kPa, demonstrating the critical role of liquid bridge force in low-stress regimes. Division of patchy water into 10 and 100 portions reduced shear strength to 500 kPa (3.8%) and 495 kPa (4.8%) compared to HerLiBri = 0.77 (520 kPa), with microstructural analysis linking the decline to reduced interparticle contacts from spatial heterogeneity. This work advances the understanding of microscale liquid-phase heterogeneity on macroscopic shear behavior, providing a predictive tool for unsaturated soil mechanics in funicular regimes.