Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Vince hauled Timothy to his feet and, furious, landed a punch squarely on his jaw. The veins on Vince's forehead bulged with anger.

Yates was right.

As long as Jessica stayed single, Timothy would never let her go.

The Zimmermans could forget about having peace.

Jessica lay motionless, refusing to give Timothy any reaction at all.

"Outside. Now." Vince's voice was low and icy, every word edged with warning.

Timothy glanced back at Jessica, but she kept her eyes closed, shutting him out completely. She didn't want to think about him anymore. Her heart wasn't just cold -it felt frozen.

Outside, dawn was just beginning to pale the sky.

Vince and Timothy stood facing each other in the early morning light.

"Are you planning to make my family's life hell forever?" Vince demanded.

"There's been a misunderstanding between me and Jessica," Timothy argued, desperate. "Things aren't what you think."

He was still trying, still clinging to the hope that he could save their marriage.

"No matter what misunderstandings there are, they don't erase what you've done! Why can't you just let her go? All this hounding-don't you realize how pathetic you look?"

ruin everything isn't right. I know how much a real family means-I'm

back. "You're too late, Timothy! Seven years, and only now you want to fix things? People can't just keep waiting for you to get

anger flared. "Leave. I don't want to see you again. Don't

scream or make scenes; it was Timothy's relentless pestering that kept hurting

argue anymore. He stepped

held a place for him. Sooner or later,

found Jessica asleep. Her lashes were still damp, and faint

ached for

she didn't, she wouldn't have run from their

leave when the

and went over to Daisy's bed. He gently felt her forehead-her

towel. ecool

seemed to run fevers at

to disturb anyone

home. Instead, he

booked the ballroom at

was ready,

every detail chosen

it was

broken. It was the third of the month-Jessica