How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Chapter 552

The cramped elevator made Jarrod's voice ring out with startling clarity.

Elodie lifted her lashes, catching his gaze in the mirrored panel. The question had come out of nowhere.

She hesitated for a moment before meeting his eyes. "That night on the cruise... did you know I'd been drinking?"

Jarrod glanced at the fading red rash on her wrist, his tone calm. "Do you want me to say I knew, or that I didn't?"

That answer.

Hearing it, Elodie felt an old suspicion flare up in her chest, one she'd tried hard to push down.

The air between them turned delicate again, even though neither of them said another word.

Ding-

The elevator reached the ground floor.

Jarrod finally moved, stepping forward to stand beside her. He lowered his eyes, giving her a brief look. "Your allergy still hasn't cleared up. Remember to keep using the ointment."

With that, the doors slid open. He left without another word.

Elodie watched his retreating figure for a moment before stepping out herself, her expression carefully blank, as if nothing at all had just happened.

Some things, she realized, suddenly made sense. Others, they both pretended had never occurred.

coding. After running into Jarrod, she didn't allow herself to dwell on it. She forced it from her mind,

she could pretty well guess the direction things would go. The code as essential-if she didn't

solid skills and the kind of focus you

The next morning,

showed up early to take Elodie to the

it was a public

line at the ticket scan

knew who else had advanced until just before the

genuinely surprised when she spotted

her a grin and

too?" Elodie raised her

a secret was worth it just

in a

"Honestly, besides wanting to compete with you, there was another reason I joined. I'm curious if the developer of U.N2

Elodie's eyes flickered. "Maybe."

a moment, then quietly asked, "Are you alright

looking up at

you. When I came in, you were already asleep, so I didn't want to disturb you. You didn't

peeked in to find her sound asleep. He'd quietly closed the

something nagged at him. He wasn't convinced Elodie hadn't noticed there was something off with the drinks that

softened. "...No,

figured that when Watts came