Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy didn't so much as flinch.noveldrama

Herbert's fist, thrown with all the force he could muster, connected hard with the side of Timothy's face.

Blood trickled from the corner of Timothy's mouth.

Unhurried, Timothy raised his thumb and wiped the blood away.

He didn't fight back. Herbert, seeing that, suddenly found the urge to keep swinging just draining out of him.

Timothy pulled a wet wipe from the table and slowly dabbed at the blood on his fingertips, oddly struck by a fleeting appreciation for the old man's scheming. At least now he knew one thing: Jessica genuinely cared about The Wheeler Group.

He stood up, taking his time. Herbert was tall-six-foot-one, maybe a touch more. At that height, anyone could be intimidating.

But Timothy, at six-foot-two and carrying the unmistakable air of someone born with every advantage, still managed to overshadow Herbert.

"Want to keep going?" His voice was low, steady. "Fine by me. But I don't take hits for nothing. Every punch costs The Wheeler Group a hundred million dollars."

Jessica could feel her anger boiling over at Timothy's relentless talk of money.

She strode over, shoved Herbert aside, and slapped Timothy across the face. Then, with quick, practiced hand signs, she spat out: "And what about me? If I hit you, how many millions do I owe? Is money the only thing you know how to use against people?"

Timothy pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Every muscle in his body seemed on the verge of snapping.

Vince rushed over to grab Timothy's arm. "Timothy, I talked Jessy into letting you come tonight. Look at you-making such a scene I haven't even had a chance to eat. Dinner's cold, my appetite's gone. Go cool off, and make it up to me with a proper meal somewhere else."

But Timothy shook Vince off and seized Jessica's hand, spitting out two words: "We're leaving."

He dragged Jessica toward the door.

She had no choice but to go with him.

She knew she couldn't let her own decisions drag Herbert down.

"Jess!" Herbert caught up, gripping her other hand. "You're not going back with him!"

Fear was written all over his face-fear that if she went back, he'd never see her free again, that she'd be trapped in that miserable marriage, losing herself all over again.

Seeing Herbert's desperate grip on Jessica, Timothy lost the last of his composure. He stepped forward and clamped down on Herbert's wrist. "Touch her again, and I swear you'll never hold a scalpel as long as you live."

Jessica shook her head at Herbert, her eyes shining with tears, silently begging him to let her go.

Timothy yanked Herbert's hand away and forcibly pulled Jessica from the room. Herbert stood there, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He wasn't the one in charge of The Wheeler Group anymore-couldn't decide its fate, not on his own.

And now, because of all this, he'd become the very burden standing in the way of Jessica leaving Timothy.

Vince stepped forward and clapped Herbert on the shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up. Timothy's always been way ahead of the curve-led a team that developed a solid-state battery at sixteen, took his tech company public, turned it into a billion- dollar enterprise. But Jessica's not wrong-money's the only thing he really knows how to use against people. She went back for The Wheeler Group's sake. I think she'll find another way, don't worry."

Timothy took Jessica back to The Gilded Whisper Estates.

He marched her straight to the master bathroom, dumped her in the tub, and turned on the shower without even waiting for the water to warm up. Cold spray came crashing down over her head.