How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Lily was never one to mince words. With an indignant huff, she said, "So you get jealous and start arguing with me, but you don't seem to care about your own fiancé sitting next to another woman?"

The room fell silent-her comment landing like a sucker punch.

Esmeralda froze, her expression turning to stone.

It only dawned on Lily a moment later how reckless she'd been. Her mouth always seemed to outrun her brain. She glanced between Elodie and Esmeralda, wide- eyed and sheepish. "Wait, I didn't mean it like that..."

She'd just been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines and picked up on a few clues. When that woman-Lucy, was it?-had mentioned "fiancé," Lily had quickly pieced it together.

Even Alexander, who'd stayed silent on the subject the whole time, faltered for a moment, his gaze settling on Esmeralda.

Thankfully, Esmeralda was a master at feigning composure, even if she was mediocre at everything else. She waved off the comment. "It's nothing."

Elodie pressed her lips together, glancing silently at the pair across from her. After that, everyone shifted their focus to a technical discussion about the airplane's crew performance and future directions, which lasted nearly half an hour. Conversation flowed freely, but no one brought up personal relationships again.

Partway through, the door opened.

He looked every inch the polished professional, though

to look

locking gazes, he walked over, giving

way straight to

only that Jarrod was Elodie's husband. Reluctantly, she scooted aside

a sidelong

Elodie looked at him, puzzled. "What

"I supply your entire research base. Wouldn't it make sense for me to be

them let

Silverstein-they'd all heard of him. For a meeting this informal, he certainly wasn't required to show up. Usually, his

ve!

here he was, in person,

silent understanding passed through the group as they glanced at Elodie. Of course he was here to see

Jarrod's resilience. Most people would have been bedridden for weeks after what

alt the way in Brightshore, her relatives often mentioned his name-a big player in finance and investment