Goodbye, Mr. Regret

It was Herbert.

Jessica had fainted, and Timothy had taken her away-though his attitude was anything but gentle. Worried, Herbert had followed them, never expecting that Timothy would simply abandon Jessica, taking their son and Sheila with him.

Herbert climbed out of his car.

"Little Mute."

Jessica forced a smile and signed, "What are you doing here?"

He took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and arched an eyebrow. "If you don't want to smile, then don't do it. That smile of yours doesn't suit you at all."

He could see right through her. She was pretending, and he knew it.

Exposed, Jessica's expression faltered. She tried to explain, "It's not what you think, I... he..."

in tangled, uncertain gestures, searching desperately for some excuse to

again, cutting through her muddled signs. "You don't have to explain. I know.

jaw clenched hard. "You don't have to keep putting yourself through this. I could help you find a

immediately raised a hand, signaling him to

me, but he's really good to me. If you keep coming to see me, you'll only make things worse between us. I love him. I don't really want a divorce. When I asked you to help me find

he left me behind just now. I didn't think things through, and I've caused you trouble and brought a lot of pain on myself. I'm so, so sorry. I hope you're not angry with me.

Jessica

reached out, his hand frozen in midair. The words "Little Mute" almost escaped his lips, but he swallowed them,

they were children. No one could fool him-least of all her. She was just afraid of dragging him down with

And now, if she was

pressed into a thin, determined line. No matter what it

a cab, not even sure where she could go. But one thing was certain-she wasn't going back to The Gilded

her own. She planned to go to