Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Yes."

That's exactly how suffocating it felt.

If they could part on good terms, maybe she'd remember the good in him.

The failure of their marriage-she knew it was the result of her own bad choices. She wasn't about to pin all the blame on him.

But this relentless pressure-this was what she truly hated.

All Jessica wanted was a small slice of life that belonged to her alone, but even that tiny wish, he insisted on denying her.

Jessica Greene looked at him, sorrow weighing in her eyes. "You're not a fool, Timothy. You know exactly what's become of our marriage. There are only a few weeks left-what's the point in dragging this out?"

"Jessy, most marriages fall apart because of cheating, family issues, or lack of communication. Now you want a divorce-shouldn't we at least sit down and talk about what went wrong? If we can fix it, let's fix it. If we can't, then we'll end it. That's how a marriage should be-beginning to end. Why can't we just talk?"

Jessica let out a bitter laugh. "So you do understand."

He knew everything, yet acted as if he didn't know a thing.

"I've been thinking it through, Jessy. I'm sorry. We've been married seven years—I thought everything was normal. If you want to go home tonight, that's fine. But can we please sit down and talk?" Timothy gestured to the chair across from him.

Jessica remained standing. "We're way past the talking stage."

"We still have a few weeks, don't we? How is it too late?"

any feeling I had left

back the woman

argued. She used to be the quiet one, unable to speak up; now that she finally could, Timothy had become so accommodating that there was nothing left

was steady, almost gentle. "So what you're saying is, you actually did have some hope

people do,"

He stubbed it out, grabbed his cane, and walked over to

on a cane, he was still devastatingly handsome-his presence undiminished, his

myself thirty more days. Time is slipping away-one week's already gone. I don't want to waste what's left. Can you give me these last three

met his gaze, her expression wavering between tension and resignation. "Did you lie about the waiting period too? About when we'd actually sign

more time. Jessy, I think there's been a misunderstanding between us. Whatever you think you saw-did you ever try to verify it? There's a saying-even what we see with our own eyes can be wrong. Can we please talk?

Jessica fell silent.

nothing left

her retreat into silence, Timothy pressed on. "If

back, "Don't

some of it. You mean about me

face the whole

"That isn't all of it. We don't see the world the same way-our values don'Dmatch,

mention Sheila again. Bringing

jealousy, and she was long past

away, unable to look at

around, blocking her path. "So you're not

a chance to explain?"

moment Sheila showed up, I decided to hand the title of Mrs. Lawson