Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Soon, the rumble of a car engine drifted in from outside.

Jessica emerged from the bathroom, having just brushed her teeth.

Henry was standing in her room, his small face scrunched up in a look of reproach.

She glanced at Henry with indifference, then walked over to the sitting area, poured herself a glass of milk, and opened her laptop to read the script Mr. Smith had sent her.

She acted as though Henry wasn't even there.

Henry couldn't believe it.

He'd come all the way to his mom's room-and she was treating him like thin air!

Fuming, he marched over and slammed the laptop shut.

"Mom, why are you ignoring me?"

Only then did Jessica look up, meeting Henry's furious eyes.

him? He had already

your son! Did you really want me to lose face in

like Miss Sheila? You weren't like this before—

these years married to Dad, with me being

embarrassing to finally have

out all his pent-up frustration

to Timothy; after all, she and Timothy were now just two separate people. Once the marriage

But Henry was different.

carried for nine months,

mother and son was permanent, unbreakable, no matter what happened between her and Timothy. Even

lifted her hand in disappointment. "If you hadn't tried to deceive people, how would you have lost face? A person of integrity, who truly

left speechless by

red. But at last, he couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted, "It's all because you're a mute! If you weren't mute, I wouldn't have let Miss Sheila pretend to be my mom. Have you ever thought about

Smack-

resolute. "A loyal dog never despises a poor home, and a son never scorns his mother. You can make a craft about gratitude, but you're ashamed because I can't speak? What right do you have to win any prize, or care about your reputation? You'd rather have a fake mom and win some hollow praise—is that really