Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Jessica had grown up and changed so much that Hollis didn't recognize her at first-but she knew him right away.

When her mother jumped to her death, he abandoned her without a second thought.

Now, even after all these years, Jessica still couldn't quite bring herself to call him "Dad." She'd hated him, blamed him, wondered a thousand times why he didn't want her. Her grandmother had worked herself to the bone raising her, and when she passed away, Jessica spent more than three years utterly alone.

Hollis never came back.

But he was still her father. She couldn't just call him by his name. In the end, she managed a quiet, "Dad."

Only then did Hollis snap out of his confusion. "Jessy? Is that really you?"

"You can talk now?" he asked, as if seeing a ghost.

“Yeah, I'm finally better,” she replied softly.

Jessica had something she wanted to say to Hollis alone, so she turned to Vince. "Vince, would you mind waiting for me outside?"

Hollis took a good look at Vince-well-dressed, obviously well-off. His estranged daughter was turning into a beautiful woman, and judging by the parade of men coming to see her, she didn't lack for admirers.

The last man who had come by claimed to be her husband. So who was this one?

Thinking of the previous visitor, Hollis felt a chill down his spine. He turned back to Jessica, lowering his voice. "Are you married?"

"I was. But we're officially divorced now just waiting out the cooling-off period."

"And that man who was just here-who is he?"

"Just a friend," Jessica answered evenly.

When she was little, she'd dreamed that she might see her father again someday. But as she got older, she gave up hope, learned to live as if he'd never existed.

Maybe that's why, seeing him now, she felt so calm.

She'd been too young to understand why her mother died, or why her father left. But since she was here today, she wanted to ask. "Dad, why did Mom jump?" Hollis's face twisted with discomfort. Timothy knew Jessica wasn't his biological daughter, but Jessica herself didn't know. And since Timothy was aware, Hollis didn't dare lie outright.

"Your mother... she was ill. She struggled with her mind," he said, half-truth, half- lie.

Something about that made a strange sort of sense to Jessica. She remembered times, waking in the middle of the night to find herself cradled in her mother's arms-even though she was already six or seven, her mother would still try to breastfeed her. Other times, everything seemed normal. You'd never suspect anything was wrong.

Jessica's voice trembled as she pressed on. "After Mom died, why did you leave me? You never looked back-not once, all these years."

"I was in trouble," Hollis said, eyes darting away. "I owed some dangerous people a lot of money. Even after I sold the house, it wasn't enough. I had to disappear. If I'd gone to see you, I'd have dragged you and your grandmother into it. And after that... well, I goblocked up. There was no way for me to come find you." noveldrama

His excuses made Jessica's blood boil.

"Am I really your daughter?" she demanded. checked. You only went to prison ten years ago. What about the eight or nine years before that? You just disappeared to dodge your debts? You couldn't have sent a single letter? Snuck back to see me, just once? Do you have any idea how badly I-"

She broke off. When she was little, she had missed her dad so much. She'd always hoped that one day, he'd just suddenly show up, take her hand, and come back into her life.

Hollis wouldn't admit the truth. Timothy had already promised him: as long as he kept quiet, he'd be released early and sent abroad, with a nice sum of money to start over.

"You're talking nonsense. Of course you're my daughter. I just... I met someone else, you know? Got busy with my own life, got distracted. I figured your grandmother was taking care of you, so I didn't worry."

"You-!" Jessica couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could a father be so shamelessly irresponsible? In that moment, any last shred of hope she'd held for him shattered.

"Forget it. I won't bother asking about the past anymore. But I do need a favor." "What is it?"

Jessica wasn't about to tell him about her cancer diagnosis or the liver transplant she needed.

"I heard you might be getting out soon. I'll see if there's anything I can do to help speed that up."

"No need, no need," Hollis waved her off quickly. "I've been on good behavior. The warden said I should be released any day now. Maybe even early."

If Jessica tried to help, she'd find out Timothy was behind the arrangements.

She studied him for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh. "You? With your track record, getting out early for good behavior? I find that hard to believe."

"I'm still your father, aren't I? You think I can't manage to behave myself in here? Who'd want to stay in a place like this?"

Jessica's smile faded. Her voice was cold. "Did Timothy talk to you?"

Timothy had just left-there was no way it was a coincidence.

Hollis's eyes flickered. Under Jessica's stare, he finally caved. "He's a good son- in-law, that one. Felt sorry for me, said my sentence was almost up anyway. He said he'd see if he could help me get out a bit sooner."

"He didn't ask for anything in return?”

"No, nothing. He just said you're divorcing him, and he wanted to do something nice for me, maybe win you back."

Hollis looked as uncomfortable as ever.

Jessica's tone was steely. "I'll talk to him myself tell him I don't need his help, and neither do you. Whatever he promises you, I can give you too. But you're not to accept anything from him. I won't let him use you to get to me."

She wanted nothing more to do with Timothy-no more ties, no more favors.