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.

your work that brought in all the big contracts for VistaLink Technologies. Half

Elodie

Year's Eve

queen of fun, decided to give everyone a day off and organize a company-wide celebration.

Eldermere—a sprawling place with

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

the trails, Elodie opted to stay in the hotel

café, laptop open, and lost herself in

from the spa, spotted Elodie through the glass and rushed in with a squeal. "Elodie! I had

up, Elodie offered a small smile. "Yeah,

been meaning to ask

"Some friends from work might join

grinned. "The more, the

she spoke, her gaze drifted to Elodie's laptop-and her jaw dropped in awe. "Are those drone

Freya didn't understand the details, but it was obvious: this was high-level

into

embarrassed. "I just mess around with the hobby

soft. "What part interests you most? We can talk about it, if you'd