Goodbye, Mr. Regret

She couldn't believe she'd loved a man like that for eleven whole years.

"Jessy."

Vince called her name softly, concern in his voice.

She looked up, offering a small smile. "Thank you, Vince. If it weren't for you and Grandpa, I don't know how much longer the divorce would've dragged on."

"Actually... about Timothy..."

Vince hesitated. He wanted to mention that when he'd arrived, Timothy had already been prepared for the divorce, the property settlement already finalized.

What Timothy didn't know was that Vince had accidentally discovered Jessy's true identity as Salome. Yet, Timothy had been the one to call him, asking Vince to pick up Jessica and bring her home to meet her birth family.

Vince still couldn't figure out what had changed Timothy's mind.

"Let's not talk about him," Jessica interrupted. "Is Grandpa back?"

"He's home. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant and Yates are here too." Vince took her gently by the wrist, guiding her into her room and closing the door behind them. He lowered his voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

She nodded. "Go ahead."

"When you were a kid, you and Yates were engaged an agreement between the families. It wasn't just something made up for fun. The Bryants even sent an official engagement gift."

Jessica's eyelids fluttered with surprise.

Yates? That Yates?

vaguely remembered meeting him three,

tried to stop her from going in, claiming she would embarrass him, but Yates had stepped in

ground against both Yates and Vince,

as she knew, Yates

"Is it possible

see

Vince

then. And I've already been married and have a child. Even though I'm divorced now,

actually because they

"Mr and Mrs. Bryant

engagement so Yates could move on, but the

"They're that insistent

even said they don't care if you've been married before or have a child. If you want custody, the

was devotion, pure and

and, even with only

and I...

-they really do want to see you. Tonight, we'll

younger generation, it wasn't his place to negotiate with the Bryants about breaking off

honestly," Jessica added, "maybe

hesitated to tell her the truth-Yates might not want the engagement, but his parents did, and he was too loyal to go against them directly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have confided to Vince that if Salome was found, he'd need help getting out