Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Chapter 132

Or maybe, after all these years of living as a wealthy socialite, she'd simply grown too used to a life of comfort and privilege too unwilling to go back to working

hard.

That had to be it.

All that talk about divorce, about being able to support herself, about making delicate paper cuttings and drinking cheap bottled water-it was all just a show for his benefit, a ploy to get his attention.

No wonder, this time, she'd left Henry sick at home, and came alone to Capital City without asking his permission.

That comic-style painting of *The Grand Canal, Venice*-she'd seen it in their house before. She must have kept quiet about it, saving it for this very moment.

If Ines was her mentor, how could Jessica not be following Ines's recent exhibitions?

He realized, with a jolt, that he'd never truly understood his silent little wife.

So calculating. So composed.

For seven years, everything between them had been quiet and uneventful. He'd thought she was content being his dutiful, behind-the-scenes wife.

All because he hadn't taken her to that school event for parents and children.

That's when it started.

hadn't stopped

was clear-she was no longer satisfied with

meant to force

stepped forward, closing the

if a thin frost had suddenly settled

cold. "Do you really not want to work?" "No. No. No!" Jessica signed it out three times, emphatic

to throw herself, warm and vulnerable, against the cold,

want a job, then you'll be Mrs. Lawson-show up, smile, follow my lead. And while you're at it, tell Ines you'll

her heart shatter into

actually expected her to go to her

man have to be, to say something like

Jessica signed furiously at him. "I'll do it.

said, the

a reasonable request, he wasn't above granting it. He'd never withheld anything from her

catching his eye, she'd become Mrs. Lawson, the most distinguished woman in Riverside City-a

"Divorce."

with the same steely resolve in her

away. He pressed his

he spun back to