Goodbye, Mr. Regret

So much time had passed, and Timothy-knowing Jessica still had a considerable amount of cash on hand-had simply put the matter aside.

"Alright, I'll take care of it as soon as I can."

He ended the call, staring at the words Jessica had written to him on his screen.

In that moment, he felt not a single pang of regret about his decision-or about her insistence on divorce.

Neither he nor their son seemed to matter to her anymore. If she ever returned to

the Zimmerman family, he doubted he could keep her there.

For now, he had no choice but to keep things hidden a while longer.

She'd have to come back on the day of the hearing.

Once everything was settled, he'd personally bring her back to the Zimmerman estate, to reclaim her place in the family.noveldrama

Sallie waited for quite some time with no reply from Timothy. Losing patience, she called directly.

He answered.

"Timothy, I saw her today. I apologized, but she's still so cold. Next time, don't blame me for how things turn out."

"You'd better keep it that way."

Sallie blinked in surprise. “She wrote all that nonsense to you, and you're not angry?"

"No."

There was nothing to be angry about-everything she wrote was true.

"Wait... have you fallen for her?"

"Do you really think I'd marry someone I hated?"

On this point, Sallie had to agree. It was like the first time she'd seen Jessica at the fabric market with Herbert-she hadn't even seen clearly and had already jumped to slander Jessica.

After all, Jessica was the one Timothy had chosen, they'd been married for seven years, and they had a son together. There had to be some feelings there, one way or another.

"What about Sheila, then? What's going on between you two?"

No one in the Lawson family liked bringing up that subject.

But Sallie needed reassurance.

"I'm married. What more could there possibly be with her? Stop letting your imagination run wild."

"If that's true, why did you let her stay at Moonstrand Villas? And that night- dressed so provocatively-did she plan on contaminating Mom's house or what?"

Timothy's brow furrowed. "She's still our grandparents' foster daughter. There's no need to use words like that."

"I'm just stating the facts. If I hadn't shown up that night, have you thought about the consequences? Sallie paused, realization dawning on he "You say there's nothing between you two, but that night, why were you on top of her? You nearly kissed her, Timothy. Are you really going to lie to your own sister?"

"I was drunk. I thought she was Jessy."

"Oh, give me a break! You can't tell your own wife apart? I don't buy it. I'm warning you-if you don't want a divorce, then keep your distance from her. People who don't know how to speak up are always more sensitive; they bottle everything up and overthink."

Timothy knew Sallie didn't like Sheila, but the past wasn't all Sheila's fault.

"I can handle it."

"Handle it?" Sallie scoffed. "I haven't seen you handle a thing. Same goes for her."

"Enough, let's drop it." Timothy cut her off, but added, "And be nicer to Jessy from now on."

Jessy-Salome—had grown up with them. As kids, Sallie had adored her.

"I know."

Three days later.

Vince returned from overseas and headed straight to the Lawson Group to meet Timothy.

Timothy handed him the partnership agreement without preamble.

Vince flipped through the contract, scanning the pages. He lifted his gaze, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Why do I get the feeling there's something fishy about this?"

"You built the facility. I'm offering you a bigger profit share, and that's suspicious?"

Vince chuckled. "We're both businessmen-I know how this game works. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Your patents, your Al, your follow-up investment and operations, and you're offering me eighty percent of the shares? This is practically a trap with my name on it. If you're still sore about what happened between us, just say so."