Goodbye, Mr. Regret

The room was crowded now, and Sheila leaned in to remind Vince, "Vince, since Mr. Zimmerman is so taken with this piece, you'd better have someone put it away before anything happens to it. It'd be such a shame if it got damaged."

Larkin overheard and quickly added, "Vince, have them take Jessica's papercut to my study. I want it hung up there."

No one cherished the piece more than Larkin. He adored the artwork, not just for its beauty, but because Jessica was Alfreda's granddaughter.

Jessica's grandmother, Alfreda Franklin, was a name that carried weight in their circles.

By the time Mr. Smith and Timothy approached, the servants were already carrying Jessica's papercut away.

Tonight was Larkin's seventieth birthday celebration. Though Mr. Smith was curious about the artwork, he was far too polite to ask the staff to bring it back out just for him.

Timothy, on the other hand, seemed indifferent. He already knew Jessica could do papercutting—wasn't it just another crafty project, like making decorations with Henry? Papercutting was hardly in vogue these days; few people truly appreciated it. Still, he supposed most would find Jessica's work impressive.

Jessica's piece-The Grand Canal, Venice had been designed on a computer. Even so, as stunning as it looked on screen, there was a world of difference between digital design and actually cutting it by hand. The manual labor made it all the more remarkable.

Vince had paid thirty million for Jessica's papercut, but Timothy was convinced the whole thing was just a show he and Larkin had cooked up. He couldn't guess what Vince's real game was.

he'd be on Larkin's side, going on about some "lost art" of bas-relief papercutting. As if a computer could replicate that! As if Jessica's hands could actually pull it

Larkin's birthday, but you showed up empty-handed. Planning

show up without a gift. I'm sure whatever

someone else added. "Timothy's the most successful of the younger generation

gift was mounting. After all, this was Larkin's seventieth -a milestone

looked at Vince. Hadn't Vince told her

wife already sent a gift on my behalf. Do I

room fell instantly

on

her voice cold and low.

was for Timothy to publicly acknowledge his marriage to Jessica in

it would be so much easier if no

had desperately wished Timothy would announce their marriage. That would have meant he finally

she wanted nothing more than to sever all ties