Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Was he out of his mind? After everything that happened, how could he still have the nerve to follow her all the way here?

Just as Jessica was about to close the door, Timothy gestured sharply. The two nurses by his side immediately wheeled his hospital bed forward, blocking the entrance and pushing right into the apartment.

Jessica felt like she was suffocating. She'd gone through so much just to make it overseas, and now-he was here.

Once he was inside, Timothy quietly signaled for the nurses to leave. They stepped out and shut the door behind them, leaving the room heavy with tension.

Jessica's face was set in open irritation.

Timothy's features were as composed and reserved as ever. He said, "I just wanted to check on you. The family doctor didn't have time to treat your injuries that day. I asked Vince, and he told me you'd been hospitalized. You got discharged so quickly are you really healed?"

Jessica cast him a frosty glance, not bothering to answer. Instead, she raised her hand and signed, her movements curt and annoyed. "Don't you think you're being ridiculous?"noveldrama

"Jessy, I think we really need to talk," he said quietly.

There's nothing left to talk about, she thought.

When it mattered, there was never a chance.

Now, what difference would words make? Whatever he had to say, she didn't want to hear it anymore.

She signed again, her gestures cold. "Ten days more, give or take. We can talk in court."

Timothy pressed his lips into a thin, tense line, his brow furrowing. "After all these years as husband and wife, do we really have to drag this into a courtroom? Solve everything with cold, impersonal laws?"

"What else?" Her hands moved, brisk and dismissive. "With someone as relentless as you, the courtroom is the only place I'm willing to see you. Please leave."

Timothy's expression darkened; she could see the tension winding tight in his posture.

"That night-there was a reason for what happened, I—"

Jessica snatched the glass of water from the coffee table and flung it straight at his face.

She couldn't speak, couldn't cut him off with words, but she refused to let him dredge up that night. She didn't want to listen, didn't want to remember. This was the only way she could make him stop.

The bandage on Timothy's forehead soaked through, water streaming down his face and dripping onto his shirt. He didn't even try to dodge; he saw it coming and just took it.

Droplets clung to his hair, making him look utterly disheveled-so unlike the elegant, dignified man he always tried to be.

Jessica's chest heaved with anger. She was done. Done with days like these.

She'd never imagined Timothy

would cling to her like this. His heart and eyes had always been for Sheila. Jessica had stepped aside, handed over the title of "Mrs. Lawson" without a fuss, but still he wouldn't let go.

Did he want her to keep playing the shield between him and Sheila? Maybe that was exactly it.

After all, his family never approved of their relationship. For seven years, Jessica did everything she could to make their marriage work, never once Causing trouble. Maybe a those "business trips" were really stolen weekends with Sheila.

Now that Jessica had uncovered the truth, she wouldn't keep up the charade—

and that made Timothy desperate, eager to shove everything back to how it was before.

As if that were possible.

She might be mute, but she wasn't stupid.

Timothy's features were set in cold lines. The whole apartment was warm and tastefully furnished, but nothing could thaw the chill in the air.

Silence pressed in around them, thick and oppressive.

Jessica didn't care about offending him anymore.

It was her years of swallowing her pride and bending over backwards that made Timothy think he could keep testing her limits-bringing

Sheila back to The Gilded Whisper Estates as if Jessica's feelings didn't matter.

If she just put up with it, compromised again, would he actually try to build a life

for all three of them under one roof?