Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"The press claims they've spotted your mysterious wife..."

Timothy paused, a flicker of something complicated in his sharp eyes.

He was no longer the same Timothy who'd grown up alongside her. Years of navigating the business world had left him more composed, more inscrutable than

ever.

Sheila realized she could no longer read him the way she once did.

After a moment, he finally replied, his voice even. "It doesn't matter."

Sheila blinked, momentarily thrown. Did he really not care at all?

She tried again, gently. "But Jessica is your wife."

"She has the marriage certificate. If that piece of paper can't give her peace of mind, then she's being rather foolish, isn't she?"

Sheila hesitated, thinking it over. "Alright then. I just didn't want her to overthink. That's all I wanted to say. You should get some rest."

"Mm."

Timothy said nothing more, and Sheila quietly left the room.

He lit a cigarette, his gaze falling to the velvet box on the table. Rising, he tucked the box away in his suitcase.

Just then, his phone rang.

crossed to the nightstand and picked it

It was Phelps.

"Grandpa."

old house. Why don't you come home for the autumn holiday?

the edge of the bed, phone pressed to his ear. "I took Henry

is my birthday. Bring Jessica and Henry home, will you? I've been craving

"Alright."

had raised

that one falling-out seven years ago, their bond had

Timothy sent a message

is Grandpa's birthday. He wants your chicken soup. I don't care where you are right now-you need to be back at The Gilded Whisper Estates by the evening of the

already asleep. She didn't see the message until the

seven years, she'd simply seen him as the stern patriarch of a wealthy family. His strictness never

background was worlds apart from Timothy's. She'd never dared hope

she always did her best-showing respect and patience to every member of the

the picture, Phelps' two major emotional outbursts had

eyes, she was nothing more than a tool to

bad the old man's

never capable of holding on to Timothy's

Everything was becoming clearer.