Goodbye, Mr. Regret

The house needed a few new things, so Jessica spent the whole afternoon shopping, only returning home after dark.

She had just finished putting everything away when someone knocked at the door.

How odd.

Who would come looking for her at this hour?

Jessica went to open the door.

To her surprise, it was Herbert Wheeler.

They hadn't seen each other in years.

If it weren't for the tiny beauty mark between his brows, Jessica might not have recognized him.

Back when they were twelve or thirteen, Herbert's birth father had come to take him and his mother away to Aetherion.

Even then, they'd managed to stay in touch every now and then.

But seven years ago, after that terrible fire when Jessica lost her phone, she changed her number, and their contact faded to nothing.

Herbert leaned casually against the doorframe, his gaze warm and steady, a hint of amusement lifting his brow. "Little Mute, don't recognize me?"

Jessica's eyes trembled with surprise.

Fifteen years had changed him. The wild, impulsive boy she remembered had been tempered into someone sharp yet gentle, the gold-rimmed glasses catching the light and lending him an air of thoughtful maturity.

faint trace of last year's gardenia cologne on him-one whiff, and

a kid, Herbert had grown up in a single-parent home, his father's identity a mystery, which always

protect his mother's reputation,

their neighborhood, Herbert was the little boss everyone looked

they hadn't exactly gotten along

others, teasing her

started looking out for her, and

him. He never stopped

Time really does fly.

as ever, signed a greeting: "When did

you going to

Timothy had just landed.

His phone rang-the secretary.

you're

Timothy replied, irritation clear

look. Do you

about him being photographed with Flameheart the

He couldn't care less.

"No need."

Timothy closed his phone.

Timothy's hands, Sheila held the