How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Chapter 498

Joseph's words sounded more like empty persuasion than any genuine plea-he never once gave his real feelings away.

But at this point, Elodie could hardly fail to see what he was really thinking. He couldn't even speak to her without holding something back.

She looked at him, her gaze stripped of even the last traces of warmth, replaced by a cool indifference. "Mr. Delacroix, I have to say-you are far more hypocritical than I ever imagined."

Joseph froze, stunned by the bluntness of her words.

Elodie had no desire to waste another breath. She turned away, searching for Esmeralda.

Joseph stood there for a long time, rooted to the spot. He'd never considered that things would come to this-Elodie laying his intentions bare, with nowhere left for him to hide. From now on, she would never let him close again.

After finding Esmeralda, she learned Alexander was still stuck on the highway. Elodie nodded in acknowledgment, not bothering to mention her run-in with Joseph.

There were twenty minutes left before the gallery doors opened.

Elodie gazed across the cordoned-off exhibition space, emotions churning behind her calm eyes.

As she turned, she noticed media starting to arrive. Selma, today's star, was already fielding a few questions.

Back then, studying art was expensive, but my family managed. My parents sacrificed a lot to give me every opportunity, so I

couldn't suppress a flicker of

a shameless self-portrait. She'd painted herself as

through college. Now, Selma spun that into a story of family "support," as if she'd always been destined for success. To be fair, Selma did have talent. After moving abroad and getting her residency, she'd become even more ambitious, making

rise, it would make

Esmeralda, about to

she turned, Grady finally

you two doing here?" he

had no patience left. "And what's

a cold warning: "This isn't the place for drama Why are you here, Elodie? Did you come just to stir things up for Ms. Fielding? Do you have any sense of boundaries? If you don't

here-unless she'd come to give Sylvie a hard time, especially after the

Elodie was starting to believe Grady might actually want

out a cold laugh. "And who

neck or just your

Grady's expression darkened.

tell Dad you're into someone like Sylvie? Marry her? In your dreams. You think the Mercer family would ever let her in? Grady, if you don't get your act together, I'll go straight home and tell Dad everything. Let's see if he doesn't

knew Sylvie was the reason Jarrod's marriage had