Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Why do you keep pressing about this?"

Vince's irritation was palpable. "Is it because you realize you couldn't keep it hidden and now you want to dig for answers? How do you even have the nerve?"

He still wasn't satisfied, and pressed on, "Did you really think you could keep this a secret? She knows what she looked like as a kid, doesn't she? Even if you manage to hide it for a while, she'll find out sooner or later. So tell me when did you find out?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

Timothy's expression remained unreadable, calm as ever.

"You're always like this. If I don't talk, you won't either, is that it?”

"That's right."

Vince was so angry it made his chest ache.

"Fine, I'll spell it out. It's just—she looks alike. There are plenty of shows about kids separated from their families, lost and found. Jessy does paper-cutting, my grandfather loves paper-cutting, and then she's taken Daisy as her goddaughter. She's got this strange connection to our family."

Timothy wasn't feeling well; his body was weak and his mind wasn't as sharp as usual.

A server brought over their coffees. Timothy took his cup and sipped.

Yates noticed a deep indentation on the first knuckle of Timothy's right index finger, a trace of blood seeping out.

Yates pressed his lips together. Just how tightly had Timothy been clenching his fist?

Timothy drank several mouthfuls of coffee in a row.

face of it,

public. Sheila could see everything, and Yates had even commented on

all three things together, something

Sheila had only said Daisy reminded her of Jessica's warmth, Vince

never have suspected anything.

there were

looking for is right under your

a special connection with

been what planted the doubt

was his biological daughter, confirmed the birthmark, and made a phone call. At that point, even without a paternity test, Vince could be sure that Jessica was

lost in thought, Yates spoke up, "Vince, don't you think Sheila was hinting at something with

Sheila to go to the hospital and check on

were exactly what

find out? Did you let Sheila in on it too, and just refuse to tell

the hospital, when he'd gotten the DNA results, he'd bumped

exchanged a few words, then Sheila had gone off to find her friends. Was there something

up. "I have something to take care of. I'm

still haven't told me when you found out. And when I went to Jessy's place to ask for her childhood photos, she said she couldn't find a single one. Did

Vince's question and hurried

again. You told him exactly what you wanted to know, but he

was just cutting him some slack because he's younger-I thought

what you were saying, I'd bet Sheila knew exactly what she was doing. She deliberately dropped hints for you that day-she's a lot more calculating

then said, "Timothy rushed off-do you think he's going to look

assumed Sheila didn't know, but it's clear he picked up on