Goodbye, Mr. Regret

The brooch needed no introduction-each one retailed for millions, and he'd seen online that a single man had swept up the entire collection.

As for the pearl necklace, it wasn't just any piece of jewelry. It was an antique, a string of luminous, perfectly round pearls from a bygone dynasty-rare, coveted, and breathtaking.

"I'll take them both. Sixty million. Deal?"

Jessica hesitated. She knew each brooch was worth several million, and Timothy had bought out all twenty-three pieces when they launched. Anyone with an eye for value could tell that as long as Timothy kept them off the market, their worth would only climb.

But luxury resale was a different world. Buyers didn't care about future appreciation; the offer was mostly for the necklace.

Anything from Timothy was never cheap.

Jessica hadn't expected the necklace to be so valuable. If it fetched tens of millions even as a secondhand piece, its true value must be far greater.

She knew selling at this price meant taking a loss.

Still, she resolutely typed a single word onto her phone: "Sell."

Before their marriage, Timothy had handed her a prenuptial agreement. He'd offered a perfectly reasonable explanation-he was CEO of a major corporation, and his assets were deeply entwined with his stake in the company. Life was unpredictable; if their marriage ever soured, dividing the marital assets could trigger a series of crises.

His family situation was complicated, and the less upheaval in his financial affairs, the better.

Of course, he'd promised her: now that they were married, he'd never seek a divorce.

At the time, Jessica had been so overwhelmed by the fact that Timothy was willing

to marry her at all, she hadn't cared about money or contracts.

She wanted him-not his wealth.

Looking back, she realized it was all just wishful thinking. That last promise had been nothing but an empty gesture.

What he really meant was that he never wanted her to have any claim on his fortune.

Sure enough, barely had he thrown her out of the house before he reclaimed every cent he'd ever given her.noveldrama

So why should she cling to these two pieces of jewelry? Selling them, even at a loss, was the only practical choice.

The shop owner offered her a check.

Jessica, now penniless, needed cash. She negotiated: half wired to her bank account, half by check.

As she left the boutique, Jessica felt unexpectedly lighter-almost free.

That weekend, Henry had his piano lesson and insisted Sheila come along to keep him company.

Meanwhile, Timothy had Secretary Allen bring over an array of the latest designer suits for him to try on in the living room.

He even called Mabel for her opinion, asking which looked best.

Mabel thought to herself: There must really be another woman in the picture. The boss never used to care this much about his appearance at home—never saw him strutting around for an audience like a peacock in mating season.

She pointed out a charcoal gray suit at random.

Timothy asked for Secretary Allen's thoughts as well. Allen nodded-his boss looked good in anything. Tall, lean, strikingly handsome-any suit would be upstaged by the man himself.

It hardly mattered which he picked.

Timothy settled on the suit both Mabel and Allen had agreed on, and spent the entire morning in the living room, waiting.

At noon, Sheila called to say she was taking Henry out for the afternoon, and they wouldn't be home until late.

Timothy didn't move. Mabel was shocked-she'd never seen him stay home for so long.

As night fell, Timothy's expression darkened, growing as cold and impenetrable as the city outside.