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

longer satisfied with being his secret

last one, were meant to

forward, closing the distance between

presence chilled the air, as if a thin frost had

he demanded, voice cold. "Do you really not want to work?" "No. No. No!" Jessica signed it out three times, emphatic and unyielding.

against the cold, unyielding wall that was

Lawson-show up, smile, follow my lead. And while you're at it, tell Ines you'll never be working.

felt her heart shatter

go

a man have to be,

him. "I'll do it. But you

it?" he said, the edge still

he wasn't above granting it. He'd never withheld anything from

a finger, and just by catching his eye, she'd become Mrs. Lawson, the most distinguished woman in Riverside City-a

"Divorce."

with the same steely resolve

He pressed his tongue

spun back