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?

meeting him three, maybe four

stood out most in her memory-it was at the Zimmerman family's birthday celebration. Timothy had tried to stop her from going in, claiming she would embarrass him, but Yates had stepped in

end, Timothy couldn't hold his ground against both Yates

Yates and Timothy

"Is it possible

hesitated. "I'll see what

simple, Vince would

a child. Even though I'm divorced now, I'm not thinking about getting married again anytime soon. Would the Bryants really still want

because they do,"

"Mr and Mrs. Bryant

these years Since they couldn't find you, Mom and Dad tried to call off the engagement so Yates could move on, but the Bryants refused. They finally agreed that if Yates met someone and wanted

"They're

the Lawsons in front of Phelps, they even said they don't care if you've been married before

That was

even with only a fleeting meeting,

But Yates and I... it's

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

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

added, "maybe Yates

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