Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Or maybe, after all these years of living as a wealthy socialite, she'd simply grown too used to a life of comfort and privilege too unwilling to go back to working

hard.

That had to be it.

All that talk about divorce, about being able to support herself, about making delicate paper cuttings and drinking cheap bottled water-it was all just a show for his benefit, a ploy to get his attention.

No wonder, this time, she'd left Henry sick at home, and came alone to Capital City without asking his permission.

That comic-style painting of *The Grand Canal, Venice*-she'd seen it in their house before. She must have kept quiet about it, saving it for this very moment.

If Ines was her mentor, how could Jessica not be following Ines's recent exhibitions?

He realized, with a jolt, that he'd never truly understood his silent little wife.

So calculating. So composed.

For seven years, everything between them had been quiet and uneventful. He'd thought she was content being his dutiful, behind-the-scenes wife.

All because he hadn't taken her to that school event for parents and children.

That's when it started.

it hadn't stopped

no longer

meant to force him to acknowledge her

forward, closing the

if a

really not want to work?" "No. No. No!" Jessica signed it out three times, emphatic and unyielding. Seven years. She couldn't bear it

vulnerable, against the cold,

you'll be Mrs. Lawson-show up, smile, follow my

her heart shatter

her to go

did a man have to be, to

red, Jessica signed furiously at him. "I'll do it. But

it?" he said, the

his wife; if she had a reasonable request, he wasn't above granting it. He'd

Lawson, the most distinguished woman in Riverside City-a leap in status most people

"Divorce."

signed the word with the same steely resolve in her

turning away. He pressed

back to her, staring Jessica