Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Back when they used to have dinner together, Jessica's mother would always peel the shrimp and place them in her father's bowl.

Tonight, as Jessica quietly offered Timothy the plate of shrimp, inviting him to peel them for her, he found himself oddly pleased.

Suddenly, Sheila set down her fork and said, "Timothy, I'm finished eating. I'll head home now."

Timothy just nodded lightly.

But before Sheila could leave, Henry grabbed her hand, his voice plaintive: "Miss Sheila, you promised you'd stay with me until I fell asleep tonight."

Jessica put down her fork and signed to Sheila, "Grown-ups shouldn't break promises to kids. Miss Howard, you should stay."

Timothy frowned slightly. Hasn't she always disliked Sheila staying here? Had she changed her mind? Was she ready to go back to the way things were?

This was the first time Jessica had ever spoken to Sheila on her own accord. Sheila, curious about Jessica's sudden change, decided to stay and find out what was going on.

"Alright then, I'll go play with Henry for a bit," she agreed.

Henry beamed and tugged Sheila upstairs.

"I'm done too, you don't need to peel any more.

and

her bedroom, she grabbed her phone from her bag, picked up fresh

phone screen was filled with unread

from Vince Zimmerman, asking if she needed

Ever since that day's incident, Ines had been feeling guilty and wanted to know if Jessica and Timothy were really

rest were all

thinking about giving up

I'll cut ties with my family. Tomorrow, I'll

just tell me. No matter what it takes,

Mute, please text me

clutched her phone

known Herbert since they were

her mother passed away, her father abandoned her and disappeared

up in a single-parent home too; his

into fights, and once, after getting scolded and

mumbling about why he didn't have a father-how much