Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Chapter 1

As soon as she closed the car door, the world's noise vanished.

Jessica Greene stared at the liver cancer diagnosis in her lap, her hazel eyes rimmed red. The paper trembled in her hands, crumpling beneath her grip.

The doctor had told her she'd missed the window for surgery-six months left, at best.

Today was the school's annual parent-child event. Out of the blue, Timothy

Lawson had told her she should come.

Seven years had passed since the day Timothy, once the untouchable darling of high society, became her husband.

In all those years, he'd never once brought her to a public event.

Once upon a time, that invitation would have sent her over the moon.

Even the housekeeper had beamed when she heard the news. "Mrs. Lawson, looks like Mr. Lawson finally wants to make things official!"

No one knew that ever since Jessica discovered his secret, she'd been quietly getting her affairs in order, preparing to leave him.

She hadn't planned to go to the school event at all.

But she couldn't bear the thought of disappointing her son.

She could shut Timothy out of her heart, but she couldn't do the same to Henry- the little boy she'd carried for nine long months.

Arriving at the school, Jessica took a notepad from her purse and wrote a neat line before handing it to the security guard.

Hello, I'm Henry Lawson's mom from Class 1-3. I'm here for the parent-child event -could you please let me in?

outfit carefully: a soft, crinkled blouse, hair loosely swept

understated to begin with; with a bit of effort, she looked

their mom to look her best

arched an eyebrow.

smiled

Years ago, after a devastating trauma, she'd lost her voice. By now, she was used

sheet, scanning it before giving Jessica

over.

thought. Too bad

tone sharpened. "Henry's parents already signed in. You can't just

wrote, Henry is my son.

sign-in sheet toward her and jabbed a finger at Henry's name. "Take a good

as she read the

to the sneers and sideways glances

her chest felt

the guard's suspicion that

name scrawled in Timothy's unmistakable hand-Sheila

even trying to hide it

slip of paper

over.

told her everything she

Sheila's last name was

son was born, Timothy had insisted on

Today, Jessica's decision

caring for Henry, she'd poured her remaining strength into

the moment the attorneys heard Timothy's name, their politeness turned

didn't matter anymore. In six months, she'd be gone from this world.