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.

of the question now. She sat at her desk and began reviewing the project details on her laptop-there was still so much to finalize

of the core data, she

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

The door creaked open.

of the lamp her

He hadn't left?

the wardrobe, glancing at the book

in the field. He'd even recommended it to Sylvie recently,

a set of clothes from the closet. His tone was offhand, almost

wasn't overtly condescending, but the question itself made Elodie

her eyes on

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

narrowing his eyes as if seeing his

been working hard lately," he

the undertone. Was he implying she

her, desperate to

to explain herself. Whatever Jarrod thought was

the bed toward the sofa. That's when

second, he froze-just

instantly. She swung out of bed, snapping the laptop shut with a cold, guarded look. "What did

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

her computer hid some

hadn't caught what was on the screen. But Elodie's reaction reminded

same secret she was so

gaze hardened, lips curling with a cold, mocking smile.

gathered his clothes and

she was probably overreacting-she'd

was no way he could've

memory of

turned off the lamp, and got into