Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Why do you keep pressing about this?"

Vince's irritation was palpable. "Is it because you realize you couldn't keep it hidden and now you want to dig for answers? How do you even have the nerve?"

He still wasn't satisfied, and pressed on, "Did you really think you could keep this a secret? She knows what she looked like as a kid, doesn't she? Even if you manage to hide it for a while, she'll find out sooner or later. So tell me when did you find out?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

Timothy's expression remained unreadable, calm as ever.

"You're always like this. If I don't talk, you won't either, is that it?”

"That's right."

Vince was so angry it made his chest ache.

"Fine, I'll spell it out. It's just—she looks alike. There are plenty of shows about kids separated from their families, lost and found. Jessy does paper-cutting, my grandfather loves paper-cutting, and then she's taken Daisy as her goddaughter. She's got this strange connection to our family."

Timothy wasn't feeling well; his body was weak and his mind wasn't as sharp as usual.

A server brought over their coffees. Timothy took his cup and sipped.

Yates noticed a deep indentation on the first knuckle of Timothy's right index finger, a trace of blood seeping out.

Yates pressed his lips together. Just how tightly had Timothy been clenching his fist?

mouthfuls of

on the face of it, made

public. Sheila could see everything, and Yates had

you strung all three things together,

said Daisy reminded her of

never have suspected anything.

were

looking for

has a special connection with

have been what planted the

his biological daughter, confirmed the birthmark, and made a phone call. At

in thought, Yates spoke up, "Vince, don't you think Sheila was hinting

that. When he'd called Sheila to go to the hospital and check on Timothy, they'd chatted a bit, but

seemingly casual comments were exactly what had made him suspicious.

voice anxious, "Tell me, when did you find out? Did you let Sheila in on it too, and just refuse to

into a thin line. That day at the hospital, when he'd gotten the DNA results, he'd bumped

had gone off

"I have something to take

haven't told me when you found out. And when I went to Jessy's place to ask for her childhood photos, she said she couldn't find a single one. Did

question and

let him outmaneuver you again. You told him exactly what you

was just cutting him some slack because he's younger-I thought you knew how stubborn he

you were saying, I'd bet Sheila knew exactly what she was doing. She deliberately dropped hints for you that day-she's a lot more calculating than she lets

paused, then said, "Timothy rushed off-do you think he's going