Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Sallie's voice was loud and sharp, startling Henry into tears. He ran to Phelps, clutching his great-grandfather's leg. "Grandpa, Aunt Sallie's being mean to me!"

Phelps had always doted on his favorite grandson, Timothy, and naturally, he adored Henry as well. He shot Sallie a disapproving look. "What are you doing, snapping at a child like that?"

Honestly, he was a little surprised. Jessica hadn't even come over to comfort her

son.

With a sigh, Phelps crouched down, pulled out a handkerchief, and gently wiped the tears from Henry's face. "It's true, your great-grandpa is sick. If you don't believe me, I can call him right now and you can ask for yourself."

Henry sniffled and nodded. "Okay."

Taking Henry's hand, Phelps led him out to the living room balcony.

Sallie, meanwhile, dragged Jessica firmly into the master bedroom.

"What is wrong with you?" she demanded. "Can't you see your son is about to be won over by that woman, Sheila?"

Sallie looked at Jessica's impassive face and felt a surge of frustration. Any other woman would be fighting tooth and nail right now to keep her husband and son, to draw the line against the other woman. But Jessica didn't even seem to care enough to type a response on her phone.

not being able to speak wasn't the worst thing, Jessica thought. At least she didn't have to answer questions she

Sallie pressed,

finally took out her phone and typed

fists. "Are you trying to drive me crazy? If your husband and son being taken away

What really mattered?

only six months left to live, Jessica thought, nothing really mattered anymore. Just then, Phelps entered the room as

Jessica is hopeless. The whole family objected when

off. "Go keep

and left, closing the door

Sheila really had left because his great-grandpa was ill, still felt glum. He trudged back to his

of a painting, fiddling with his smartwatch, trying to make a

name "Miss Sheila" flashing on the tiny screen. Sallie's face

a robotic message sounded from the watch: "Sorry, the number

tried to distract him. "Hey, your dad tells me you're a whiz with the

his head. "I don't want to. I just