Yates didn't know Sheila well, but he knew that if she truly cared for Timothy, she would have recognized his pain and not used this situation to force his hand.

"None of that matters," Timothy said wearily. "As long as Jess gets better."

"But if you marry her, you and Jess will never have a chance again," Yates said, his voice rising with urgency.

Though he wanted to pursue Jessica himself, he and Timothy were friends. Seeing Timothy in this state was unbearable. If he was going to compete for her, he wanted it to be a fair fight against Timothy and Herbert, not this tragic turn of events.

"Yates, don't," Timothy cut him off. He couldn't bear to think about it. It was a sharp, physical pain.

The raw despair in his voice hurt Yates to hear. “I'm hanging up.”

Yates was about to book a flight when Kane Sutton walked in.

"Timothy posted that he's single again, but I can't reach him. Have you been able to?"

"What do you want him for?"

Kane grinned. “I saw his post and wanted to get the details. If he's single, that means Sheila finally has her chance. She's waited for him for so many years. I can't stand to see her so unhappy."

Yates's face hardened. “Are you insane?"

"Why are you cursing at me?" Kane shot back, annoyed. "The Zimmermans would never have approved of his thing with Jessica anyway. He's divorced now, he's a free man."

While Kane felt a little guilty about

his initial treatment of

Jessica-Judging her for being unable to speak-his friendship with Sheila Dan much deeper. Yates and Vince didn't hang out with Sheila as much and weren't as invested in her happiness, but he was. He was in regular contact with her and knew how deeply she loved Timothy and how much pain their forbidden relationship caused her. Between Sheila and Jessica, his loyalty was with Sheila.

"I can't even talk to you," Yates muttered, turning back to his laptop to book his flight.

Kane pulled up a chair. "You and Jessica were arranged to be married, right? I heard your parents still want that to happen. Now that she and Timothy are divorced, you two can get together. Timothy can be with Sheila. Everything goes back to how it should be. Isn't that perfect?"

Yates looked up, his eyes blazing. "Everything goes back to how it

should be? Perfect? Have you thought about Timothy at all? Have you considered what he wants? Diđa he ever want to go back? Don't you forget, Sheila was the one who didn't have the guts to see it through back then!"

Timothy had been ready to marry her, but Sheila had backed down. If she had just held firm, they could have made it work. They weren't related by blood. The Lawsons and the Howards would have eventually come around.

"She only gave up because she was worried about Timothy's grandparents! She was afraid of making them sick with anger. How can you all be so blind to her kindness?"

“I'm done with this conversation," Yates said, standing up. “I've booked my flight. I have to go. Do what you want."

"Where are you going?"

"Aetherion."

"I'm coming with you. I can visit Sheila while I'm there.” Kane started to follow him.

Yates stopped. "Don't you dare go and make things worse."

"How would I make things worse? Vince is in Aetherion too. He'd be thrilled if he knew I was going to encourage Timothy and Sheila to get together."