Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Jessica had grown up and changed so much that Hollis didn't recognize her at first-but she knew him right away.

When her mother jumped to her death, he abandoned her without a second thought.

Now, even after all these years, Jessica still couldn't quite bring herself to call him "Dad." She'd hated him, blamed him, wondered a thousand times why he didn't want her. Her grandmother had worked herself to the bone raising her, and when she passed away, Jessica spent more than three years utterly alone.

Hollis never came back.

But he was still her father. She couldn't just call him by his name. In the end, she managed a quiet, "Dad."

Only then did Hollis snap out of his confusion. "Jessy? Is that really you?"

"You can talk now?" he asked, as if seeing a ghost.

“Yeah, I'm finally better,” she replied softly.

Jessica had something she wanted to say to Hollis alone, so she turned to Vince. "Vince, would you mind waiting for me outside?"

Hollis took a good look at Vince-well-dressed, obviously well-off. His estranged daughter was turning into a beautiful woman, and judging by the parade of men coming to see her, she didn't lack for admirers.

The last man who had come by claimed to be her husband. So who was this one?

Thinking of the previous visitor, Hollis felt a chill down his spine. He turned back to Jessica, lowering his voice. "Are you married?"

now just waiting out the cooling-off

who was just

friend," Jessica

father again someday. But as she got older,

seeing him now, she felt so

too young to understand why her mother died, or why her father left. But since she was here today, she wanted to ask. "Dad, why did Mom jump?" Hollis's face twisted with discomfort. Timothy knew Jessica

she was ill. She struggled with her

about that made a strange sort of sense to Jessica. She remembered times, waking in the middle of the night to find herself cradled in her mother's arms-even

she pressed on. "After Mom died, why did you leave me? You never looked back-not once, all

Even after I sold the house, it wasn't enough. I had to disappear. If I'd gone

excuses made Jessica's

What about the eight or nine years before that? You just disappeared to dodge your debts? You couldn't have sent

always hoped that one day, he'd just suddenly show up, take her hand, and come back into

promised him: as long as he kept quiet, he'd be released early and sent abroad, with a

else, you know? Got busy with my own life, got distracted. I figured

was hearing. How could a father be so shamelessly irresponsible? In that moment,

it. I won't bother asking about the past anymore. But I do need a favor." "What is

wasn't about to tell him about her cancer diagnosis or