Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Being the "brother-in-law" was never an easy road.

Forget it. He'd just have to rely on himself.

By the time they reached the hospital, Yates went to collect all sorts of samples. The process dragged on, and it was already late when they finished.

"Vince, let's take Jessy out for dinner tonight-and maybe a walk. She's been cooped up at home for days; it's getting stifling."

"Sure," Vince agreed, thinking it was about time Jessica got some fresh air too. Night fell.

Dawn was breaking in Riverside City.

Timothy opened his eyes and realized he was in a hospital room.

Suddenly, he remembered his phone.

His blood had gotten on Jessy's face he needed to clean it up.

He reached for his phone and only then noticed his upper body was bare-his shirt must've been taken off. Sitting up, he spotted the phone on the bedside table. He grabbed it and lit up the screen.

There, on the screen, was a photo of Jessica. The dried blood had turned black, staining her face in the picture.

He pulled a few tissues from the box, went into the bathroom, and dampened them under the tap. Carefully, he wiped the caked blood from the phone's screen.

Jessica's smiling face emerged again, bright and clear. Timothy's lips curved unconsciously into a faint, wistful smile.

He left the bathroom, flopped onto the hospital bed, and just lay there, staring at Jessica's photo.

A sudden urge struck-he wanted to find more photos of her. But as he scrolled through his phone, it hit him: in seven years of marriage, they'd never taken a single picture together. He'd never taken any candid shots of her. Not even after their son was born-no family portraits, nothing.

The faint smile vanished from Timothy's lips.

After they got their marriage license, she'd said she wanted to take wedding photos. He refused.

Remembering that now, his chest tightened painfully.

Later, when he couldn't cheer her up, he'd looked at their enlarged license photo hanging on the wall and, feeling irritated, took it down and put it away.

When he was finally ready to take those wedding photos, she ignored him— wouldn't answer his calls, blocked his number, shut him out completely.

Back then, it hadn't been long since she'd first talked about moving out, but even then, he hadn't realized: she wanted to leave him.

Maybe it started even earlier.

Maybe she'd wanted out for a long time.

He'd been so sure she'd never go, so certain their marriage was solid. He didn't bother apologizing properly, lost his temper, and dismissed her feelings as nothing more than e unreasonable complaints, thinking she just wanted to shake things up.

Now, looking back, he

realized those seven years of stability, that supposedly unbreakable marriage, had been held together by her alone.

Timothy felt as if a power drill were boring straight through his heart.

He saved some pictures from Vince's social media.

Scrolling back, he found a photo of Jessica with Daisy.

When Jessica wasn't with him, her smile was so radiant, so genuine.

He flipped through the nine-photo grid, and his gaze stopped on the last picture.

A group shot-one of the faces looked oddly familiar.

Suddenly, he remembered: that was the director Yates had mentioned, the one behind that animated movie.

He'd seen news about him on his phone-the director was currently doing a press tour with Vince's promotional team.

Carlisle, that was his name. And he was mute.

Timothy sat bolt upright in bed.

If Jessica had only taken that group photonoveldrama

Use Vince invested in the

movie, she should've looked

and out of place.

But the photo told a different story.

All five of them, including Jessica, looked close their smiles were easy and

natural, like old friends reunited.

An animated film.

Before marrying him, Jessica had been a brilliant animation artist.

Something inside Timothy's chest clawed for escape.

He quickly searched the news app on his phone for the film's title: *Letters from

the Fetal Sea*.

He found the latest update—a fan event was scheduled today.

Director Carlisle and his team would be at the Starlight Grand Theater, part of the

Bryant Group, right here in Riverside City.

Timothy didn't hesitate. He dialed Yates's number.