Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince raised his glass. "The one in a bad mood has left. I'm in a good mood-why not have a drink? Care to join me?"

He might only be Yates's brother-in-law in name, but the gesture still deserved

some respect.

Yates clinked his glass against Vince's.

Setting his drink down, Vince asked, "Did you mention it to Timothy?"

"I did. He didn't refuse, but he didn't agree, either. Still, he accepted your proposal, which pretty much means he's on board. You're in luck-Timothy's wife showed up at just the right moment tonight. By the way, how do you know her?"

"My old man's got a thing for collecting paper cuttings. To keep him happy, the owner of a framing shop introduced me to Timothy's wife."

"So, you wanted to meet her just to buy her paper cuttings? Even in a place like this?"

Yates swirled the wine in his glass.

"I'd just finished meeting a client and had to see you guys after, so I couldn't get away. She seemed eager to sell, so I asked the framing shop owner to bring her straight here. Honestly, though-let me tell you-her paper cutting skills are something you see maybe once in a century."

Yates chuckled. "Coming from you, that's high praise. You sure you're not just saying that because she's Timothy's wife?"

of a year hunting down paper cutting art for him-my eye for quality is

Why was Timothy's wife in such a hurry to

were getting more interesting

into

reached the car, Secretary Allen hurried over to open the door. Timothy bundled Jessica inside and told Allen to drive them back to The

stared out the window

didn't say a

was suffocating; Secretary Allen gripped

reached The Gilded Whisper Estates. Once the

pushed open

out

heading inside, Jessica marched straight

to his cheek, shut the car door, and quickly caught up to her,

She tried to shake him off, but he tightened his grip on her shoulders, refusing to

and intense. The iciness in them softened, replaced by

I didn't come to find you, would you really never have come back? Even if you had nowhere to go, not a

me. Even if you hadn't, I wouldn't