How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie stood rooted to the spot, her feet as heavy as stone. The absurdity of it all left her breathless.

Those casual, dismissive remarks-

They were nothing short of arrogance, treating her like a commodity on display.

Even the most basic act of having a child had become a matter of whether she was "qualified" enough.

In everyone's eyes, compared to someone like Sylvie a doctorate freshly returned from one of the world's top universities-Elodie simply didn't matter.

No one realized that these words were just another wound, piling atop her old

ones.

The truth was, once her treatment and surgery began, she'd lose the right to ever be a mother...

No wonder, she thought bitterly, even before the divorce, Jarrod had always been so indifferent when they shared a bed. Perhaps, even back then, he'd already decided-

She wasn't worthy of bearing his child.

Elodie didn't want to know how Jarrod had answered Lucinda's question.

His half-hearted replies to his grandmother over dinner told her everything: he had

no interest in having a child with her, and he must have agreed with Lucinda's opinion.

Clutching her bottle of pills, Elodie turned and made her way back to the bedroom.

Her breaths came shallow and shaky, her lips losing their color.

She unscrewed the pill bottle with numb, mechanical motions and swallowed a tablet dry. The bitterness spread, sharp and unforgiving, across her tongue.

She couldn't tell which was worse: the bitterness in her mouth, or the ache in her heart.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Elodie forced herself to regain composure.

the question now. She sat at her desk and began reviewing the project details on

core data, she returned to bed and picked up a

around a few technical volumes on aerospace engineering, extracting useful insights as she read through the

The door creaked open.

woman sitting in the soft, amber glow of the lamp her

He hadn't left?

glancing at the book in her

was dense, highly technical-a modern classic in the field. He'd even recommended it to Sylvie

actually understand that?" he asked, pulling a set of

wasn't overtly condescending, but the question

on the

years ago-tonight, she was just revisiting it, searching

his eyes as if seeing his quiet, even-tempered wife

been working hard lately," he

met his gaze, catching the undertone. Was he implying she

Sylvie? Trailing after her, desperate to

she didn't bother to explain herself. Whatever Jarrod thought

around the bed toward the sofa. That's when he paused, catching

a split second, he

snapping the

at her-really looked. She so rarely showed this sharp,

computer hid some deep, unspoken

Jarrod hadn't caught what was on the screen. But Elodie's reaction reminded him of the time he'd once stumbled across

it that same secret

curling with a cold, mocking smile.

gathered his clothes and walked

frowned, her thoughts spinning. She realized she was probably overreacting-she'd already

way he could've seen anything

shake the memory of that strange

it off, turned off