Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy wanted to keep her trapped at home, but it was Vince who had helped her get out.

She'd already guessed that Timothy would make trouble for Vince because of this.

She'd chosen to approach Vince precisely because he'd shown the guts to stand up to Timothy before.

What she hadn't realized was that she'd dragged Vince into her mess.

"That's not really the reason," Vince said after a moment's pause, not wanting to hide the truth from her. His voice was low, honest. "My mother's health is failing. She's here, getting treatment and resting. I used to spend most of my time in this city too. Now that she doesn't have much time left, she wants more than anything to find my little sister. The cloud database Timothy has access to could help us track her down. That's why I went back to Riverside City to ask for his help.”

As Vince spoke, Jessica began to understand.

He needed Timothy's help to find his sister, but at the same time, he was at odds with Timothy. If Timothy took offense, he might refuse to help Vince at all.

She pictured a mother, desperately longing day and night to find her missing daughter.

She could see, too, that Vince probably wanted to find his sister just as badly. She didn't want to be the one holding him back.

She picked up a pen and wrote two words on a slip of paper: "I'll go."

Vince knew immediately that Jessica was compromising for his sake. He couldn't help but remember the last time, when he'd gone with her to The Gilded Whisper Estates. Timothy had orchestrated things so he could speak privately with the heads of local charities, while also finding an excuse to send Vince away.

Even though he'd known it was a trap, he'd walked right into it anyway. Jessica had ended up being taken away by Timothy, and it had taken every ounce of effort for her to escape.

That memory filled him with regret and guilt.

And now, here he was again asking her to do something she didn't want to do, all for the slim hope of finding his little sister.

His so-called affection and care for her felt utterly cheap.

So cheap, in fact, that he could hardly look her in the eye.

His voice was hoarse, his eyes tinged pink with shame. "Jessy, I'm sorry."

Jessica, however, simply smiled and wrote in her graceful handwriting, “It's all right. This is something I should do."

In that moment, he suddenly understood what Yates had once told him-how Jessica reminded him of his own little sister.noveldrama

"I'll go with you," Vince said. "I promise I won't let him get away with anything."

That was all he could offer.

Inside, guilt welled up in layers.

Jessica smiled softly. She was coming to terms with it all-she no longer cared. It was only physical pain, after all.

Physical wounds could be healed by a good doctor. But what about wounds to the heart?

Those were so much harder to mend.

Only by severing all feeling, by letting go of love and attachment, could a heart finally stop hurting.

Jessica believed that.

Besides, she wasn't angry with Vince. Seeing how guilty he felt over this made her understand him even more.

"If it weren't for you," she wrote, "he could snatch me away at any time, without even bothering to ask my opinion. So you don't need to feel guilty. You've already done more than enough for me."

As

Svead her words, he wished

dnever

more than anything that she could speak. Words on paper could quite capture her true feelin

Human connection depended so much on being able to read each other's emotions and respond in kind.

But when it came to Jessica, all they could ever know was a small piece of what she truly felt.

"By the way," he asked gently, "were you born unable to speak?"

He didn't know about her aphasia.

She wrote, "No. It's a condition I developed later."

Vince made a mental note of it. He would find the best doctors he

see if there was any hope

of helping her recover any e

Once they'd finished talking, Vince sent a message to Timothy.