Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Yes, it's over between us. Honestly, I wanted it to end six months ago—I just never imagined it would drag on this long."

Seven years of marriage had worn her love for him down to nothing.

She'd spent all those years waiting, never getting so much as a hint of affection in return.

At first, she'd told herself he was just reserved, that he struggled to show his feelings. She put up with everything: no wedding, no public acknowledgment, not even a simple word of reassurance.

But in the end, it wasn't that he was cold by nature he simply didn't love her.

His heart had always belonged to someone else.

He could fill notebook after notebook with Sheila's name, plan her wedding with painstaking care, and even handwrite every invitation for a celebration that would never be hers.

Even those invitations she'd found in the box-Timothy had addressed each one himself.

On them, there was a photo: Timothy and Sheila, cheek to cheek, dressed in their wedding best.

It was only then that she understood why he'd insisted on keeping their marriage a secret.

He'd never wanted a wedding with her; it was all for Sheila.

realized just how laughable her seven-year devotion had

It'll help me

the month is up, I doubt he'll just sign the divorce papers like

nothing to do with him, you can act as if he doesn't exist. Legally,

The weight in Jessica's chest eased a little. If she remained Salome, she could cut Timothy out of her

to have you,

met you, I have no idea when—or if— I'd

powerless. Orphaned, jobless, voiceless, and invisible-she had nostanding at all, and Timothy always found some way to trap her, to keep

suffocating under the pressure, enduring

coldness, and the contempt of the entire Lawson

to lose herself

his voice thick with guilt. "If I had, I would never have let your suffer like this. From now on, I'm here. No one-especially not him

"Thank you, Vince."

smoothing her hair, then patted the back of her hand with quiet affection. "Stop thanking me, Jess.

is what I'm

since you came back into our lives, Mom's spirits have soared. We're family, and from

Jessica. She couldn't keep hiding the truth from