Goodbye, Mr. Regret

She couldn't believe she'd loved a man like that for eleven whole years.

"Jessy."

Vince called her name softly, concern in his voice.

She looked up, offering a small smile. "Thank you, Vince. If it weren't for you and Grandpa, I don't know how much longer the divorce would've dragged on."

"Actually... about Timothy..."

Vince hesitated. He wanted to mention that when he'd arrived, Timothy had already been prepared for the divorce, the property settlement already finalized.

What Timothy didn't know was that Vince had accidentally discovered Jessy's true identity as Salome. Yet, Timothy had been the one to call him, asking Vince to pick up Jessica and bring her home to meet her birth family.

Vince still couldn't figure out what had changed Timothy's mind.

"Let's not talk about him," Jessica interrupted. "Is Grandpa back?"

"He's home. Mr. and Mrs. Bryant and Yates are here too." Vince took her gently by the wrist, guiding her into her room and closing the door behind them. He lowered his voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

She nodded. "Go ahead."

"When you were a kid, you and Yates were engaged an agreement between the families. It wasn't just something made up for fun. The Bryants even sent an official engagement gift."

fluttered with

Yates? That Yates?

him three, maybe four

the Zimmerman family's birthday celebration. Timothy had tried to stop her from going in, claiming she would embarrass him, but Yates had stepped in to

hold his ground against both Yates and Vince, and stormed off

knew, Yates

asked cautiously, "Is it possible to

see what I

Vince would have

child. Even though I'm divorced now, I'm not thinking about getting married again anytime soon. Would the Bryants really

because they

"Mr and Mrs. Bryant

all these years Since they couldn't find you, Mom and Dad tried to call off the engagement so Yates could move on, but the Bryants refused. They finally agreed that if Yates met someone and wanted to marry, and you still hadn't been found, then it would

disbelief. "They're

nodded, "They really are. They adore you, Jessy. Today at the Lawsons in front of Phelps, they even said they don't care if you've been

That was devotion, pure and

life does work out that way-some people cross paths and, even with only a fleeting

Vince. But Yates and I... it's

do

that as a member of the younger generation, it wasn't

honestly," Jessica added, "maybe Yates isn't interested

want the engagement, but his parents did, and he was too loyal to go against them directly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have confided to Vince that if Salome was found,