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 for this

he found the perfect words, nothing could bring back the woman she'd once been the one full of hope for their

barely ever argued. She used to be the

"So what you're saying is, you actually did have some hope for our

think most people do," Jessica

Timothy's hand burned down to the filter. He

on a cane, he was still devastatingly

buy 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 weeks? Can you try to see me with

her expression wavering between tension and resignation. "Did you lie about the

it? There's a saying-even what we see with our own eyes

Jessica fell silent.

was nothing left to

Timothy pressed on. "If you're leaving me, at

back, "Don't you

You mean about me and Sheila Howard. But is

whole ugly truth now than to have it drag out, piece by

"That isn't all of it. We don't see the world

to mention Sheila

and she was long

to

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

a chance to explain?"

the title of Mrs. Lawson back