Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Even now, Timothy trusted Sheila without question.

What else could she believe, after all he'd said?

Whenever it came to Sheila, he never bothered to double-check a thing.

Seven years ago-the one who saved him was her.

She was the one who saw him run into the burning house and, scared out of her mind, chased in after him. He was struck by a falling beam.

She wasn't from a wealthy family; as a kid, she'd often helped her grandmother around the house, so she was certainly stronger than Sheila.

Still, even with her strength, she couldn't lift the beam. She had to use a piece of wood as a lever to push it aside.

It was love and worry for him that gave her the strength to drag him out of the fire.

The faint scar on her palm was a silent witness-left by the rope that cut into her skin and bled as she pulled him to safety.

Maybe, in the past, she would have told him the truth: that it was she who saved him that night.

Now? She wouldn't stoop so low.

Let Timothy believe it was Sheila. If he wanted Sheila to be his savior, so be it. He saw Sheila as the woman who saved his life, the one he wanted to marry. If she confessed the truth now, it would only make her own divorce harder.

"Why don't I believe you?" Jessica's voice was cold but steady. "Because you showed me the truth, Timothy. Even your son likes her. Out there, everyone thinks Sheila is his mom. The three of you together-you look like a perfect family. You should just be that: a family. You're not the man you were seven years ago. You have the power now to break through any obstacle for Sheila. So stop dragging me along. I don't have another seven years to waste on you."

anger twisted in his stomach. "What are you saying? What family? Just because you want

divorce, I'd already decided to let you go-to let you have the woman you love. Especially after that day at the school fair,

stabbed into

already explained," he said, strained. "That day, at the family event, your phone was

were late, you could've sent someone else, but when people mistook

"..."

the words felt hollow.

on, stubborn. "It was a

I've always kept my reputation clean-never any

understand."

go to the event. It was only

been close. Afterward, Henry changed-he grew distant, embarrassed by his

hadn't allowed it, their son would never have dismissed

you even

retorted. "Just because I gave Herbert a handmade picture frame, you made a scene about me and him. If I took Herbert out and people thought he was Henry's father, I wouldn't deny it. Can I tell you, then, that

he couldn't

she spoke up, she was relentless.

himself as a good communicator, but

tried desperately to defend himself. "It's

allowed to light the candle, but

want to talk. I'm not trying to

say. Don't push me. If you

let him