How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie and Alexander both took the following day off, choosing to shut themselves away and rest.

She knew how fragile her health was; pushing herself for no reason had never

been her style.

10:00 p.m.

Jarrod stopped by the house he shared with Elodie that evening.

He paused as he opened the shoe cabinet to grab a pair of slippers.

His dark eyes swept over the shelves, scanning up and down.

Elodie was always calm and a little distant, but she cared about the details of daily life. She loved anything that felt vibrant and alive-so even something as ordinary as house slippers, she insisted on picking out bright, cheerful colors.

Usually, a few pairs in pastel yellow, sage green, or vintage blue would be lined up right next to his black, gray, and white ones.

They were hard to miss.

But now, as he looked, those splashes of color were gone. The cabinet felt strangely empty, dull.

Cara, their housekeeper, came over to take his suit jacket. "Welcome home, sir."

Jarrod closed the cabinet door. "Where are her shoes?"

a moment before answering, "Mrs. Silverstein came by earlier

this. That was

Just as he'd expected.

Elodie hadn't come back.

pulled out his phone and checked

messaged Elodie two hours ago. She

she feeling unwell, or just busy and hadn't

he didn't really

made his gesture,

day of rest, Elodie

wrapped up a major project and landed a new deal. One of the new clients was a tech manufacturing company owned by The Silverstein Group, with the actual

to review the materials and components. With Alexander away on a last-minute business trip, he assigned the task to Elodie

okay?" Alexander still worried she might be uncomfortable. Elodie gave

The Silverstein Group's subsidiaries; there was no guarantee she'd run into anyone

admit, Elodie had a remarkable ability to compartmentalize. She never let personal feelings cloud her judgment. She was always

and Esmeralda arrived at the branch office, they were greeted by Jason, the manager. He recognized Esmeralda as one of VistaLink's principal shareholders and greeted them with extra courtesy. "Ms. Mercer, Ms.

came to technical specs and contract details, she left

a technical partner at VistaLink, Elodie held as much authority as Alexander

help but glance curiously at Elodie he was surprised VistaLink had sent such a young, striking woman to discuss technical

scrutiny but didn't

years, always keeping it quiet. Jarrod had never brought her to

and private life separate,