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.

polished professional, though no one would have

to

gazes, he walked over, giving the room a polite

made his way straight to Elodie's

that Jarrod was Elodie's husband. Reluctantly, she

shot her a

he'd sat down, Elodie looked at him,

entire research base. Wouldn't it make sense

around them let out

a meeting this informal, he certainly wasn't required to show up. Usually, his presence meant

ve!

he was,

at Elodie. Of

have been bedridden for weeks after what he'd been through, but he didn't seem to let anything slow

the Mercer family lived alt the way in Brightshore, her relatives often mentioned