Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"How am I crazy, exactly?"

"You knew perfectly well Timothy wanted this, and you jumped in anyway?"

Vince grinned, unfazed. "Come on, it's not the first time I've done something like this. You and Timothy both think it's a sure thing-so I figured, why not make some money too?"

"Don't kid yourself," Yates said, fixing Vince with a look. "Sure, the deal's a good one, but I don't even care that much anymore. I was ready to let Timothy have it. You're not exactly hurting for cash, are you? You just wanted to piss him off. This morning you were in a foul mood-so, what, you don't want him to bring this film under Sheila's name?"

Vince shot Yates a thumbs-up. "Smart as ever."

Yates just shook his head. "You really know how to get under Timothy's skin. Honestly, he puts up with a lot from you. But this time? Who knows if he'll let it slide?"

"I couldn't care less," Vince replied with a shrug. "Let him be mad. Not my problem."

At that moment, the office door swung open. Both Vince and Yates turned to look.

Timothy rolled in, wheelchair gliding smoothly across the floor. His face was stone-cold as he stopped right beside Vince.

"Having fun, are we?"

Timothy knew Jessica was Vince's sister, though Vince himself hadn't figured that out. All Timothy wanted was to sort out Sheila's situation early, so he could stop worrying about her future. But Vince kept meddling.

Yates had given Timothy the information about the film. Timothy's team had reached out to the director, but the offer was rejected. He'd come to see Yates, only to catch Vince and Yates mid-conversation at the door.

Vince's smile didn't falter, but there was a bite to his words. "If it ruins your day, then yeah, I'm having a great time."

Timothy's wife, Jessica, had poured years of effort into this, always supporting him. Yet Timothy never really understood his own wife. Now, with Sheila's future at stake, he was bending over backwards, and it was getting on Vince's nerves.

Vince had never had strong feelings about Sheila before; she was just someone he saw often, nothing special. But now, he was starting to dislike her. Even after Timothy got married, Sheila didn't know when to keep her distance.

Timothy pressed his lips into a thin line, his eyes fixed on Vince.

Yates glanced between them, half expecting the air to ignite from the tension.

Love complicates everything, he thought. The battlefield of romance is far more ruthless than business.

Vince, single for thirty years, could've fallen for anyone-but of course, be had to fall for Timothy's wife. Before the marriage, it was fair game. Now, what was he even fighting for?

Yates had an uneasy feeling the fallout might end up on his own desk.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Finally, Timothy broke the silence. "If you don't want to see me and Jessica fall apart, back off."

Vince let out a cold laugh-once, twice, several times.

The truth was, if Timothy followed through, it would ruin things with Jessica

anyway. Backing out or not, someone was going to get hurt.noveldrama

"I'm not backing out," Vince said, defiant, as if daring Timothy to do something about it.

Timothy seethed, anger bubbling up with nowhere to go. He'd already been unfair to Vince, keeping

Jessica's identity a secret. And Vince was his brother-in-law after

all What could he really do?

All Timothy wanted was to give Sheila a chance, to repay an old debt-then he

could let her go for good.

But Vince refused to let him have even that.

Timothy had never felt so powerless.