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?"

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

this. That was

Just as he'd expected.

Elodie hadn't come back.

Jarrod pulled

hours ago. She still hadn't

and hadn't had a chance to respond?

didn't really

already made his

rest, Elodie was back at

a new deal. One of the new clients was a tech manufacturing company owned by The Silverstein Group, with the actual production handled

away on a last-minute business trip, he assigned the task to Elodie and

you're okay?" Alexander still worried she might be uncomfortable. Elodie

Group's subsidiaries; there was no guarantee

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

were greeted by Jason, the manager. He recognized Esmeralda as one of VistaLink's

situations, but when it came to technical specs

held

surprised VistaLink had sent such a

noticed his scrutiny but didn't

married to Jarrod for three years, always keeping it quiet. Jarrod had never brought her to the branch

was a stickler for keeping business and