How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie didn't dwell on it.

It was an internal matter anyway-her divorce from Jarrod would never be made public. Nothing about it would jeopardize the terms of their agreement.

Once everything was handled, she retreated to her room for some rest. The industry was bracing for a major shake-up: a high-profile bid was about to be announced, and VistaLink Technologies needed to be prepared for anything.

On the third day, Elodie was heading out to the company's research facility alone.

Partway there, she noticed an unfamiliar call coming in. She answered it through the car's hands-free system. A woman's voice, unmistakably familiar, came through: "It's me. Reba Harcourt."

The name made Elodie nearly hang up on reflex. She had no desire to speak with anyone from the Harcourt family; she didn't get along with a single one of them. There was no reason to keep in touch, and even less reason to wonder about Reba's motives.

As soon as she arrived, Elodie blocked the number without hesitation.

After passing through a security checkpoint, she made her way to a meeting room on the second floor. Inside, Watts and Lily were already waiting.

Watts looked up and smiled, motioning her over. "This way."

Elodie gave him a calm glance, already knowing the three of them were meant to sit together. As she approached, Lily gestured to the seat beside her. "Why don't you sit over here?"

that seat, Lily would be between her and Watts. She didn't

in first, giving her an extra look.

handmade candies. He offered it to Elodie, watching her eagerly. "I remembered you like sweet-and-sour things. My family's pastry chef made these they're really good. Thought you might like them. You strike me as someone who gets so busy she forgets to eat,

almost proud, as if he'd been waiting

him a measured look. "That's not necessary,

"No need to be polite. The meeting's going to be a long one.

was a special gift I had in mind for Elodie, so I

and her lips pressed together

room. She spotted several executives she'd met before, as well as six other engineers. For

project-specifically, the ongoing issue she'd known about for

had always been at the mercy of foreign suppliers, with strict import

his voice grave,

present, all manufacturing

for this

We've been trying to develop our own, but that won't happen overnight. For the last few years, we've relied on imports from Sólmaris and Verdania. Verdania, in particular, has refused to export to us, and our

was the classic chokehold of technological monopolies-Elodie knew it all

cropped up years