How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

She clenched her fingers and said evenly, "No one wants to get a stye. Just so everyone's aware."

She didn't want to explain, nor did she feel the need to.

Jarrod studied her, his expression unreadable.

"Stop making excuses. If I hadn't caught you, you'd never have admitted it," Octavia complained, glaring at her. "This is so annoying. This is a guesthouse- everything's taken care of here. Why are you even following us around? We don't need you."

For the past three years, to escape her mother's nagging, Octavia often spent weekends or holidays at her brother's place. Elodie had always fussed over her like a housekeeper.

Octavia had gotten used to it, so she automatically assumed that Elodie was using the pretense of looking after her to stir up trouble for everyone.

"What's going on?" Queenie and Ivan came out one after the other.

Ivan glanced at the isolated, outnumbered Elodie and grinned. "Mr. Silverstein, why's the mood so tense?"

Octavia, though young, could read the room. She knew Ivan was, at least in name, Elodie's brother, so she just pursed her lips and fell silent.

But Elodie understood-Ivan was offering her a way out, a chance to move past this.

Sylvie didn't comment, just turned to Queenie. "Let's go grab a bite."

Queenie wasn't interested in the drama either, and left with Sylvie.

predicament. "Mr. Silverstein, I'll leave

didn't even care that Jarrod was parading his mistress around he wasn't going to

shot her a look. The girl's shoulders hunched; she bolted

Ivan's back for a

Jarrod's cool, detached voice snapped her out

met his deep,

was cold, emotionless.

spying on you," Elodie replied

me your phone." He almost sounded like

Elodie frowned. "Why?"

and plucked the phone from her hand. His long fingers tapped

so stunned her breath trembled.

be some kind of

inappropriate there-then handed her phone

sharp, his tone so indifferent it made her skin prickle. "Three years ago you managed to

go of what happened

advantage of him when he was drunk. That she'd called in the reporters to publicize their affair. That she'd

explained herself, it all seemed weak and

to

thing with Sylvie will make even bigger headlines?"

"She's different. If photos like that got out, it would damage her

was a world of