How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

When he first found out, he'd been angry, hurt, unable to believe she'd never loved him. But in the end, he never showed any of it to Elodie.

The whole thing felt absurd.

He didn't want to confront her and make a scene.

So what did he do? He took a four-month overseas assignment and stayed in London for what felt like forever.

On his desk, he kept their only photograph together-a stiff city hall wedding portrait, framed and a little faded. There were days when his emotions got the better of him and he'd throw the frame away, only to fish it out of the trash and set it back in its place.

He'd given himself plenty of time to think.

Elodie had married him because scheming relatives and outside pressure had left her no real choice. If she hadn't been forced, she would never have accepted the situation. Ivan had been sent away for three years because of a disastrous misstep in a Harcourt project, and with Ivan gone, Elodie decorated their marital home with care-proof enough that she'd at least considered trying to make things work with Ivan.

He used to be angry that he meant nothing to her, but deep down, he knew he'd been the interloper, that everyone had used her for their own ends.

He clung to her, unable to let go, but he didn't want to trap her in the name of love, either.

He wrestled with himself for a long time.

He knew Elodie's nature-she was always putting others first, always willing to sacrifice for everyone else. Maybe she'd stay with him out of guilt, out of duty to the Harcourt family, and just accept a lifetime of compromise.

She was always the one to yield, even if it meant losing herself.

that her heart was elsewhere, envied Ivan's luck,

if she ended up hating him for

wasn't magnanimous enough to let

mess-on his side, it was all political infighting and external threats, and on Elodie's, everyone was pressuring

the rumors swirling about him and Sylvie, Elodie would have every reason and excuse to walk away -who could blame her? Who could stop her? If the choice was up to her,

that

nearly two years to convince himself what he had to

a stepping stone, and, even if he wouldn't admit

rational as

for Ivan, the man he'd become upon release he had no

heart thudded

seen this side of Jarrod

of any of

all

for changing her

her mother passed away. The Harcourt

made her want to cut every last tie. Ivan had made the suggestion at just

family was small and fragile, and she didn't want it to disappear

the marital

and Ivan had planned together. It was just her own little dream. When Ivan asked about it, she'd imagined that one day, when she had the means, she would buy a house for herself-a place that belonged wholly to her, a true safe haven, not just another borrowed room in the Harcourt household. Her idea of "home" was tangible, something she'd longed for ever since so much of her