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.

Sheila's points, on the face of it, made sense.

After all, Vince's social media was public. Sheila could see everything, and Yates had even commented on a few of those posts.

But when you strung all three things together, something felt off.

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

never have suspected anything.

But there were two key phrases.

"Sometimes the thing you're looking for is right under your nose."

"And Jessy has a special connection with the Zimmerman family."

That must have been what planted the doubt in Vince's mind.

Then Vince had asked Herbert whether Jessica 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 Salome Zimmerman.

While Timothy was still lost in thought, Yates spoke up, "Vince, don't you think Sheila was hinting at something with what she said?"

Vince hadn't considered that. When he'd called Sheila to go to the hospital and check on Timothy, they'd chatted a bit, but everything seemed normal-nothing out of place.

But now that he thought about it, those seemingly casual comments were exactly what had made him suspicious. Frowning, he wondered aloud, "Could she have known?"

Suddenly, Vince turned to Timothy, his voice anxious, "Tell me, when did you find out? Did you let Sheila in on it too, and just refuse to tell me?"

Timothy's lips pressed into a thin line. That day at the hospital, when he'd gotten the DNA results, he'd bumped into Sheila.

They'd exchanged a few words, then Sheila had gone off to find her friends. Was there something wrong with that?

Abruptly, Timothy stood up. "I have something to take care of. I'm leaving."

"Timothy, you 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 you hide her photos too?"

Timothy ignored Vince's question and hurried out.

Yates smirked, "Vince, you let him outmaneuver you again. You told him exactly what you wanted to know, but he never gave you a straight answer."

"I was just cutting him some slack because he's younger-I thought you knew how stubborn he is."

Yates took a sip of his coffee. "From 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 than she lets on."

Vince paused, then said, "Timothy rushed off-do you think he's going to look into this?"

"He probably assumed Sheila didn't know, but it's clear he picked up on the possibility that she might. Vince, you've got trouble on your hands."

Hearing that, Vince finally understood. On the day he'd called Sheila to the hospital, she'd brought up Jessy almost as soon as she arrived.

So Sheila must have realized Timothy was getting more and more attached to Jessica, and she wasn't above dropping a bombshell to shake things up... Her goal was clear-

To completely wreck whatever was left of Jessica and Timothy's marriage, and make sure there was no going back.

Vince looked up, meeting Yates's gaze. "When you say trouble, what exactly do you mean?"

"I mean my trouble's about to start. My fiancée-well, I doubt I'll be able to hold onto her."

"You were never going to. She doesn't like you, and that engagement was never going to last."

Yates let out

ut a long breath. "It's not the broken engagement I'm worried about. It's that Timothy's gone to investigate-he'll probably find out the truth before long. This whole mess between him and Jessy, it all started because of Sheila. Once Timothy sorts things out with her, he'll come back begging Jessy's

forgiveness. So, your sister's

chances at a quiet life? Not looking

good." noveldrama

Vince let out several cold laughs. “You're sharp. Trouble's not just yours—it's all of

ours. So, any bright ideas?"

"If we keep Timothy from finding out that Sheila deliberately leaked this to you, that would basically be helping Sheila. And honestly, after all the grief she's caused Jessy, I don't see why we should."