How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

When Esmeralda saw who had arrived, her face darkened. "Grady Mercer, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Grady frowned, shooting her a warning look. "Ms. Fielding came here in good faith. Is this how you treat your guests-by locking them out?"

His eyes landed on Elodie, and for a split second, he looked genuinely surprised.

Elodie stood tall and slender, her posture graceful and refined, betraying a childhood of good upbringing. Her dark curls were tucked neatly behind her ears, and her fair skin made her sharp features stand out even more, despite the understated makeup. Those cool, almond-shaped eyes gave her an air of untouchable poise.

She was beautiful in a way that was impossible to ignore.

"Don't tell me she's your so-called VIP?" Grady scoffed in disbelief. "She's just a housewife good for doing laundry and dishes, nothing else. And you're ignoring Ms. Fielding for her?"

Grady knew Elodie. After all, she was his sister Esmeralda's best friend. He also knew she was married, though to whom, he wasn't sure. He remembered being struck by her looks before and had looked into her a bit. Turned out, she was just a pretty face-nice to look at, but not much else.

Not like Sylvie.

Women as exceptional as Sylvie were a rare breed.

in the head? Since when do you get a say in VistaLink Technologies' business?" Esmeralda shot back, her voice dripping with disdain. She'd never had any patience for

ago, she'd learned that Grady was nursing a crush on Sylvie. When rumors started swirling about Sylvie and Jarrod, this genius went out drinking and managed to wind up with alcohol

can't stand the attitude here. Ms. Fielding has always respected U.N2 and wanted to meet Mr. Sterling. Isn't it a good thing for accomplished people to work together? But

Don't pollute the room with your stupidity," Esmeralda snapped, half-laughing in exasperation. "Esmeralda!" Grady's temper flared as he turned to Alexander. He couldn't bear the thought of Sylvie still waiting downstairs.

toyed with his fountain pen, eyes glinting. "I'm curious, Grady-which of you and

understood what

of them had the self-awareness to

Grady shot Elodie a glare

it personally, but something about the whole Sylvie situation left

Grady had tried to soften Alexander and Esmeralda's words, Sylvie got the message

since she'd returned to the country, every top-tier professional she met had praised her—was

case, she reached out to Jarrod and

"Don't worry. I'll take care

VistaLink Technologies, mentally sketching out a plan of attack.

for anyone else for once, truly living her own

and Ivan's drama faded