Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Henry felt even more wronged. He was six years old now-old enough to

understand what was happening. He knew the old man was his great-grandfather, but it was clear the feeling wasn't mutual. His great-grandfather barely tolerated him, much like his mother.

The thought of what had just happened stung: when his mother heard his voice on the phone, she hung up on him without a second thought. A wave of fear crashed over Henry as he realized he might soon be a child without a mother. His cries burst out, loud and desperate.

Phelps hurried to scoop him up, trying to soothe him while glancing anxiously at Larkin. "Look, now you've scared the boy half to death," he said. “Let's talk about this later."

"Oh, what's the point?" Larkin snapped. "If your whole Lawson family keeps pushing me, I'll just take Jessy and get Salome new papers. Then we'll be done with the Lawsons for good!"

With that, Larkin stormed off, still seething.

Meanwhile, Henry's sobs only grew louder as he called out for his mother, unable to accept the idea that she might abandon him. Phelps and Naylor tried

everything they could think of to comfort him, but nothing worked. In the end, they had no choice but to call Timothy.

line

the office, Secretary Allen was trying to reach him. "President Lawson, I've found the information. I'll send you the documents

forwarded the

been spent on herself-not on

a hundred thousand for Mabel, thirty thousand for Linn, twenty-eight thousand for Galen the driver,

were frequent, if modest, donations to local charities: scholarships for deaf and disabled students, emergency relief funds for those

over. "Sir, is everything alright? What do you

everyone in

staff were assembled

my

want it back, I can return it right away. My husband was hospitalized last year and we didn't have enough

we couldn't cover