How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Chapter 647

Nurses and doctors shuffled in and out of the room.

At last, only Jarrod and Elodie remained.

Jarrod tossed Watts's jacket aside. His gaze fell on Elodie's torn, wrinkled blouse and the angry red marks blooming along her shoulder and neck—finger-shaped, unmistakable.

Up until this moment, he'd managed to keep his emotions under control. Now, a storm broke inside him, his eyes hardening as if lashed by wind and frost.

He stared at the bruises on her skin for a long time before finally speaking; his voice was rough and strained, as if he'd forced the words up through a clenched throat. "Do you blame me for losing the VistaLink Technologies bid?"

Elodie had already overheard the announcement from the corridor when she left that room. She wouldn't pretend she felt nothing-of course she did. Still, she knew this particular contract wasn't vital enough to make or break The Silverstein Group.

"It wasn't your intention," she replied, her face still pale but her tone remarkably cool and steady. "But it did happen because of you."

After all, the attack had been aimed at Jarrod. She couldn't deny that.

Jarrod didn't attempt to argue.

Elodie turned to stare out the window. "And because Watts tried to save me, Eldrion Global lost their shot too."

a current gathering beneath the surface

lowered his gaze, hiding his thoughts. "You think he beat me to

had no interest in debating such questions. The facts were plain: Watts had been the first to arrive, and

the chance

unharmed, relief washed over his face, though he still appeared

all the people at VistaLink Technologies who'd poured days and

I'm sorry. This was my

you talking about? You're more important than any project, you know that?" Alexander's voice was still tinged with panic as he checked her over, then gently ruffled her hair. "Don't blame yourself. No one wanted this to happen. You're the victim here.

even muster

cared about this bid,

to lay all the blame at Jarrod's feet. Whether The Silverstein Group had won or whether the attack was meant as

another woman would have let her emotions take over right now. But she'd left that stage of

says it's lost?" Jarrod lifted his eyes at last, rolling an

Alexander both turned to

process his words, a voice called from the doorway. "What did the

arrived, holding the pearl

Watts's face, cold and

set the earring gently on the

her, Watts had lost a major contract. What would the Eldrion Global board