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..."

uncertain gestures, searching desperately for some excuse to defend Timothy. But the words wouldn't

"You don't have to explain.

hard. "You don't have to keep putting

hand, signaling

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 a lawyer, I just wanted to scare

angry because he's seen us together too many times. That's why he left me behind just now. I didn't think things through, and I've

back, Jessica turned and walked

The words "Little Mute" almost escaped his lips, but he swallowed them, letting his arm fall limply

of

to rely on. And now, if she was even pushing him away, how was she

determined line. No matter

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

file on her own. She planned to go