Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Sallie walked over to Henry's side and saw he was on the verge of tears. Furious, she shouted, "Jessica!"

Jessica had turned away just as Henry called out for her. Now, hearing her name, she glanced back and looked up, her eyes meeting both Sallie's and Henry's.

The moment mother and son locked eyes, Henry called out again, "Mom!"

But the carousel kept spinning, and soon Jessica's seat was moving away from them.

Daisy tugged at Jessica's sleeve. "Auntie, I saw Henry calling you."

"He's with his aunt. She'll look after him." Jessica's reply was calm.

When it came to big decisions, Jessica could think about Henry's future, but when it came to the daily effort, she was done giving. If a child isn't even wanted by his own mother, what hope does he have?

Henry stared at Jessica, his gaze unwavering, but she only had eyes for Daisy. He could feel the anger boiling up inside him—this was his mother.

Seeing Jessica ignore them, Sallie turned to Herbert, who was busy filming with his phone, capturing videos with laser focus.

With a biting tone, Sallie remarked, "Jessica's got the Zimmerman family's child with her, and you're still following her around like a puppy. What's going on in that head of yours?"

Herbert barely glanced at her, his voice cold. "Mind your own business."

He turned his attention right back to Jessica and Daisy, not giving Sallie another thought.

broken whispers slipped out. This time, the tears

mother belonged to him alone. All her love, all her tenderness, every gentle

worried she'd embarrass herself in public, that people would laugh at her. He'd explained it, again and again: she would always be his mother. Outside, he only pretended Miss Sheila was his mom, that's all. Why couldn't his loving, gentle mother

heart. She knelt down and gathered him into her arms, wiping away his tears. "Come on, you're a big boy now. No tears. Did you know your dad never cried when he

Timothy approached,

leaned on a cane, but he moved far quicker than

Henry around to face Timothy, who immediately noticed the boy's

up and saw Jessica and Daisy spinning past, Jessica doting on Daisy with

lips pressed into

called for her over and over, and she just ignores him. She's fawning over someone else's child and has completely forgotten she has a son of

back, annoyed, "What do you mean, someone else's

if Daisy's a Zimmerman,

with Henry once, when you and Sheila took him out, and Leven warned her, but she barely responded. She

said quietly, his voice heavy. "It's

and Henry too; it

You're still defending her? Look who she came with, Timothy! You might not care about your reputation,

did Timothy notice

carousel slowed to a stop. Herbert began waving at

front of the kids, keep your voice down," Timothy said,

led Daisy out from