Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy sat in the car, lips pressed together in silence.

He couldn't blame everything on Henry Lawson. The truth was, he'd overestimated himself.

He'd thought taking Sheila to the parent-and-child event wouldn't change anything.

But when they got home that day, Jessica was visibly upset. Still worried Sheila might be getting the cold shoulder from his wife, he'd chased after Jessica, leaving Sheila behind. By the time he returned, Jessica was inconsolable.

Maybe that day was the tipping point-the final straw that broke what they had.

Or maybe, there'd been something on her mind for a long time. Maybe she'd tried to tell him, but he had never really listened.

And by the time he wanted to talk, she wouldn't hear a word.

But what mattered most now was the birthmark. He needed to know-how did Herbert find out about it?

He'd agreed to the divorce out of fear, worried she'd do something reckless. It wasn't what he wanted.

Jessica was supposed to be his, and his alone.

"Timothy, I'm talking to you. What are you thinking about?" his grandmother's voice broke through his thoughts.

Timothy blinked, snapping back to reality. "Sorry, Grandma. What did you say?"

"Sallie said all this happened because of Sheila. Is that true?"

At the end of the day, this was

finally settled down.

expected things to

Sheila wasn't to blame, but Vince's words

warned Vince so many times with no reaction, but the moment Sheila mentioned Daisy looked like

Sandra sounded exasperated. "Can you say what you mean

get involved. Sheila

neglected Jessica for

Whisper Estates. That was when Jessica left home, and he hadn't taken it seriously. He'd just assumed

this, Timothy felt a sharp, twisting pain in

a small thing. The next morning, he'd thought it through— Sheila's hotel allergy wasn't a big deal.

home,

from

only he'd tried a little harder, maybe

told him—she had given

was really listening to him. But the very next day at the hospital,

dropped everything and flown a helicopter through a storm to Capital

why had it all

worse. And what were you thinking, saying those

until now? And anyway, Yates came with both of

made sense, and Timothy's