Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince pressed his lips together and said quietly, “I'm sorry, I can't tell you right now."

"Why not?" Sandra's confusion was clear in her voice.

"It's not my place to say without her permission. And more importantly, she's about to go to court. If I reveal anything now, it's basically letting Timothy and his lawyer know what evidence she's planning to present. If they find a way to counter it and she loses the case, what then? If you want to know, you'll have to wait until the trial is over. The outcome will speak for itself."

With Vince making himself so clear, Sandra and Abell couldn't push him any further.

They stayed a bit longer with the Zimmerman family, but soon the older couple got up to leave.

Vince walked them to the door and watched as their car disappeared down the street. Only then did his expression tighten with worry.

He felt disgusted with himself.

He knew Jessica desperately wanted out of her marriage, yet that day at the hospital, he'd warned Timothy-giving him time to prepare, time to shield himself.

He genuinely liked Jessica, but he could also see that Timothy still had feelings for her.

Timothy had always been a good friend, and with the bond between their families, Vince simply couldn't bring himself to ignore his friend's feelings altogether.

was torn caught between his concern for Jessica and his loyalty to Timothy. Jessica trusted him so much. If she ever found out that he'd tipped Timothy off, would she ever trust him

the bridge of his nose, feeling the tension

to Herbert, whatever feelings he had

to Timothy had always been a mess-one of those problems with no

was willing to

come up with the same defense Vince had warned him

Vince could do was play the part of a loyal friend, pretending

all too well:

too w

produced a little counter-evidence of his own,

the one thing that would guarantee a divorce

a humiliating event-neither the Lawson family nor Jessica herself would

couldn't bear to present that

might be the only way-to force Jessica into a corner, so she would have

maybe, Timothy would let her go if he still cared