How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie had no real desire to hear about Jarrod and Sylvie's romantic escapades. Still, after three years of marriage—even if she'd already let go—it wasn't as if she could simply shut off all feeling.

Especially not when Jarrod was now giving Sylvie everything Elodie had once longed for but never received.

A bitter smirk tugged at her lips.

She felt a tightness in her chest, and the dull ache in her stomach—which had mercifully stayed quiet the past few days-began to flare up again.

Setting her phone aside, Elodie pressed her palm to her abdomen and leaned forward onto her desk, her slender shoulders trembling as she tried to ride out the pain.

After a few minutes, she dragged herself over to her bag, fished out her bottle of pills, and swallowed one dry. By then, cold sweat had broken out across her skin.

She didn't have the energy to keep working. Instead, she shot off a message to Alexander: "Don't be surprised if you end up on their wedding guest list."

Alexander replied, "Honestly, I'd rather go watch monkeys at the circus."

Elodie popped another painkiller and curled up in bed, hoping sleep would dull the ache.

As the end of the year approached, Elodie became the third-largest shareholder at VistaLink Technologies, which meant a hefty bonus landed in her account.

She felt uneasy, given that she'd only recently joined the company and her team's project was still in its planning stages. Accepting such a large sum felt almost dishonest.

work that brought in all the big

that, Elodie

Year's Eve rolled

queen of fun, decided to give everyone a day off and organize a

place

hadn't originally planned to join in; she just didn't have the stamina to keep up with the rest. But Esmeralda's relentless persuasion finally wore her

off to hike the trails, Elodie opted to stay in the hotel

open, and lost herself

from the spa, spotted Elodie through the glass and rushed in with a squeal. "Elodie! I had no

a small smile. "Yeah, the company's doing a team

shining. "I've been meaning to ask you to dinner, and here you are! Want to hang out

it. "Some friends from work might join us. Is

grinned. "The more,

to Elodie's laptop-and her

filled with complex diagrams from recent project meetings. Freya

really into drones?"

just mess around with the hobby drones. I love them, but I don't really

"What part interests you most?