Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Before she left, Jessica still wanted to see Henry one last time.

After all, he was her own flesh and blood.-

He was only six-just a child, really. How could a mother possibly hold a grudge against her own son?

As she reached Henry's bedroom door, she heard his voice from inside.

"Miss Sheila, my mom is usually very polite. I don't know what happened today. I want to apologize for her. You're an adult, so please don't be mad at her, okay?"

He was too young to understand the tangled web of adult relationships. If Sheila really was Timothy's aunt, then by family standards, there was nothing wrong with what Henry said.

He was trying to defend her.

Jessica felt a bittersweet twinge of comfort.

She was about to push open the door when Henry continued, "Miss Sheila, thank you for being so understanding and not getting upset with my mom. I just wish my mom could talk as nicely as you do. Then I wouldn't have to worry about my classmates making fun of her for being mute."

...

"Yeah, there's a kid in my class whose mom limps, and everyone teases him all the time. I don't want to end up like that being laughed at, not able to hold my head up."

Jessica let go of the doorknob, her breath catching painfully in her chest.

The older Henry got, the less he could accept her shortcomings.

She had barely six months left to live...

When she was gone, Timothy would be Henry's only guardian.

would remarry, find some perfectly healthy woman to be Henry's

were the first things she worried

From the day he was born,

none of

her as nothing but

not to see him

light creeping into

dragged his exhausted body

been in the wrong last

to the hotel bedding could have been

gust of air fluttering

the house spotless. It was strange to

features hardened with a chill. Normally, as soon

behind him, strode to the living room,

"Yes, sir. You're home."

"Where's Jessica?"

"She's not

Mabel didn't know

of paper, Timothy told her, "After breakfast, make sure to tidy

"Of course."

out his phone

sorry, the number you have dialed is

her to the hospital-she'd been in pain

his assistant to wait in line for more than half an hour at Velvet Fork to buy Jessica her favorite pastries. Afraid they'd be cold by the time he got home, he'd kept them warm

understand―Jessica wasn't taking care of the house, her phone was

yanked off his