Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince was stunned.

Back then, after Sheila's offhand remark made him suspect Jessica might be her sister, he'd gone to Jessica's hometown to investigate. That's when Herbert inadvertently mentioned Jessica's birthmark. Vince pressed him for details, but that fool-believing Vince was interested in Jessica-refused to say a word about it. Vince had even snapped at him, demanding to know why he hadn't chased after Jessica in all these seven years.

All this time, Herbert hadn't gone after Jessy because he'd been hiding away in an operating room, researching aphasia?

Vince deeply regretted the way he'd spoken to Herbert that day.

If he'd known the truth, he never would have said those things.

Jessica's heart pounded so hard she felt paralyzed, unable to move.

He'd come back-returned to their hometown to find her. The very first time they met again, he'd given her that voice-emitting necklace.

Later, in order not to hold her back because of Timothy's suspicions, he'd brought up leaving the Wheeler family several times—and eventually, he really did leave.

He never told her, not wanting to put any pressure on her.

He spent seven years locked away in a lab, researching aphasia on his own, and never breathed a word.

When she finally found her voice, he only told her that a friend of his had made it possible.

She had no idea how much he'd done for her, quietly, behind the scenes.

their youth surged and tumbled

school, slinging his backpack over one shoulder, waiting for her to come out before heading

morning, when she left her house, she'd always "coincidentally" bump into

a school farther from home, Mrs. Reynolds had bought him a bike,

never seemed to care about the rules. Yet somehow, he'd grown

remembered how, when they were little, he'd

wanted to speak-just to be able

he remembered that wish all these years? Had he been searching for a way to make it come

of living off his family's fortune, he'd chosen to become

at Jessica, whose eyes brimmed with pain so deep she seemed about to break down.

Timothy or Yates, it was Herbert's steadfast affection over those fifteen years

had given seven

fool Herbert-he'd spent fifteen years of his life quietly loving Jessy from

could Timothy

something was lodged there, making

finally managed to

she saw

with more