Goodbye, Mr. Regret

The matter had been resolved, but it left a bad taste-these sorts of things were always considered inauspicious, and to let it spiral like this felt, to Phelps, deeply disrespectful to their ancestors.

He gave everyone in the Lawson family a harsh scolding, making it clear that if anything like this happened again, he wouldn't let it slide.

Afterward, a sense of discontent toward Jessica lingered throughout the family.

If she had just stayed home like she was supposed to, none of this would have happened.

But with the patriarch still seething, nobody dared voice their frustrations openly.

What should have been a cheerful family gathering for the festival had turned into a day shrouded in gloom, the atmosphere tense and unsettled.

Timothy lost his appetite for lunch entirely. With Jessica absent, he simply told Henry to stay at the old house for now.

Leaving the Lawson estate, Timothy got into his car and dialed Jessica's number.

She didn't answer.

He gripped his phone so tightly his knuckles went white. After a moment, he set it aside, started the engine, and headed home to The Gilded Whisper Estates.

Inside, he unlocked the safe and retrieved the pearl necklace and brooch Secretary Allen had recently redeemed for him.

that had been sent later by the jeweler's boutique were all stored safely at the office; he had no intention of letting them

was his mother's keepsake. The brooch-one he'd chosen and bought specifically for Jessica-was,

these things to their rightful

at first, he'd been

Jessica had been at home, none of this

deeper, he realized that for seven years, Jessica had devoted herself to the Lawson family,

when she came back to the Lawsons, people complained she didn't participate in the

not a single person

was all gone, he'd never once accompanied her to visit

packed the necklace and brooch,

a flower shop, he stopped and ordered

memorial supplies, and got straight onto Iris

to report he couldn't reach Mrs. Lawson; Timothy told him not to bother coming back if

Timothy called

are you?"

Mrs. Lawson's family home," Allen