Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy wanted to keep her trapped at home, but it was Vince who had helped her get out.

She'd already guessed that Timothy would make trouble for Vince because of this.

She'd chosen to approach Vince precisely because he'd shown the guts to stand up to Timothy before.

What she hadn't realized was that she'd dragged Vince into her mess.

"That's not really the reason," Vince said after a moment's pause, not wanting to hide the truth from her. His voice was low, honest. "My mother's health is failing. She's here, getting treatment and resting. I used to spend most of my time in this city too. Now that she doesn't have much time left, she wants more than anything to find my little sister. The cloud database Timothy has access to could help us track her down. That's why I went back to Riverside City to ask for his help.”

As Vince spoke, Jessica began to understand.

He needed Timothy's help to find his sister, but at the same time, he was at odds with Timothy. If Timothy took offense, he might refuse to help Vince at all.

She pictured a mother, desperately longing day and night to find her missing daughter.

She could see, too, that Vince probably wanted to find his sister just as badly. She didn't want to be the one holding him back.

She picked up a pen and wrote two words on a slip of paper: "I'll go."

Vince knew immediately that Jessica was compromising for his sake. He couldn't help but remember the last time, when he'd gone with her to The Gilded Whisper Estates. Timothy had orchestrated things so he could speak privately with the heads of local charities, while also finding an excuse to send Vince away.

Even though he'd known it was a trap, he'd walked right into it anyway. Jessica had ended up being taken away by Timothy, and it had taken every ounce of effort for her to escape.

filled him with regret and

he was again asking her to do something she didn't

and care for her felt

he could hardly

voice was hoarse, his eyes tinged pink with

handwriting, “It's all right. This

that moment, he suddenly understood what Yates had once told him-how Jessica

"I promise I won't let him get away

all

welled up

smiled softly. She was coming to terms with it all-she no longer cared. It was

healed by a good doctor. But what

much harder

go of love and attachment,

Jessica believed that.

he felt

she wrote, "he could snatch me away at any time, without even bothering to

As