How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Jarrod's gaze was utterly indifferent. He could see how exhausted and sickly she looked, but there wasn't the slightest bit of concern in his eyes.

They'd been married for three years, sharing the same house, the same routines, day in and day out.

Even a pair of stray cats or dogs, thrown together for three years, would have developed more of a bond than this.

But for Jarrod, the only thing that ever seemed to matter was Sylvie.

Whether Elodie lived or died didn't seem to make any difference to him. Elodie's eyes flickered, landing for a moment on Sylvie's stomach.

She quickly pulled away from Ivan's hand as he tried to ruffle her hair.

Ivan had spotted Jarrod and his group. Glancing at Elodie, he greeted them, "Mr. Silverstein, not feeling well today?"

Jarrod nodded with his usual poise, "I brought Sylvie in for a checkup."

Ivan, remembering some gossip he'd just overheard, raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Good news, then? I heard it was a prenatal appointment?"

Sylvie arched a brow, exchanging a glance with Jarrod before giving a small, knowing smile.

Jarrod's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Careful what you say, Mr. Harcourt. Rumors like that aren't good for Sylvie."

Elodie sat quietly, staring at the back of her own swollen hand, puffy from IV fluids.

Jarrod had grown up with a classic British elite education-elegant, polished, always the perfect gentleman. Even if he was cold at heart, on the surface he never slipped up. It was all for show, never for anyone's sake but his own.

Except, of course, when it came to Sylvie.

careful, attentive-he wouldn't tolerate the slightest mistake. "Oh, so it's

the doctor to have a look

Sylvie's

"injury," it was barely a scratch, yet Jarrod had made a big show of bringing

had fainted right in front of

the saying

love you, even if you hang

nod. "I'll go find the doctor. You two carry

Elodie, and though her expression remained gentle throughout, there was a quiet disdain hidden beneath the

desire to linger awkwardly with Jarrod and Ivan either. She stood up, murmured, "I'll let you two

finally gave her a

looked thinner

hung loosely on her frame, making her look frail and

the way she used to her voice gentle, always trying to find some topic to

seemed

watching her a little longer than

so wrapped up in Ms. Fielding these days that I have to keep an eye

"Elodie is no longer an employee of the Silverstein

looked genuinely surprised and hesitated for

or small. He supposed she just hadn't had the chance this

temporary hospital bed, Elodie searched for

her a bottle of warm

than happy to leave the hospital; she had a hunch she'd be seeing a lot more of this place in the future, and she wanted to avoid it as long as she

Alex. I

looked her up and down, then gave a short laugh. "Let's be honest, I'm more reliable than your husband, aren't