Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince's face went slack with shock, the color draining from his cheeks.

No wonder Timothy had shown up uninvited-Jessica was his wife, the one he'd kept hidden for seven years!

Before Timothy could even speak, Vince shot to his feet and rounded on Kane. "She's Timothy's wife! How could you keep calling her 'mute' like that? I get that you're close with Sheila and want to stand up for her, but let's be honest-Timothy didn't leave Sheila at the altar; Sheila backed out first. You can't blame Timothy for that."

Two years ago, Vince had launched the shared power station project, but his goal had always been the interests of the Zimmerman Group, not picking a fight with Timothy.

Besides, now he needed Timothy's help.

They'd all been friends once, after all.

He turned to Jessica, his tone shifting as he tried to smooth things over. "Ms. Greene-no, I should say Mrs. Lawson-Kane just has a blunt way about him. Don't take his words to heart."

Sheila tugged at Kane's sleeve. "Calm down. Jessica's Timothy's wife. Even if you don't care about anything else, show Timothy some respect."

Through it all, Jessica watched them coldly, detached.

Everyone wanted something.

Once, she should've been just an onlooker, yet now she was drawn into their drama against her will.

get tangled up in their mess any

had to

a moment earlier, he'd set the project folder down on the coffee

had yet to say a word, now reached out

eyes were dark and unreadable. He lifted the folder slightly, his gaze fixed and intense on Vince.

room like a

was, understood what Timothy's

was as good as accepting Vince's

clearly wasn't someone

hold back, he shot Jessica a challenging look.

short by a

wineglass and hurled it to the floor,

room

burning with a contained,

and, before anyone could react, swept the

radiated an imperious authority that made everyone shrink