How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue novel Chapter 70

Elodie hadn't been looking well lately.

She'd noticed it herself the last time—now, she'd fainted again.

Did Jarrod… know about any of this?

—

Elodie didn't sleep a wink that night.

When morning came, she felt drained, her nerves frayed. The looming issue with the gallery hung over her like a guillotine, impossible to ignore. She couldn't shake the feeling that things weren't over yet.

After turning it over in her mind, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She called Jarrod, but whatever he was doing, he didn't pick up. Or maybe—he just didn't want to.

Either way, Elodie no longer cared about the why.

She headed straight for The Silverstein Group.

She'd worked there for three years—long enough that the receptionist recognized her. Elodie phoned Keith in the executive office; his voice was as chilly as ever. "Mr. Silverstein is busy, Ms. Thorne. You'll have to wait."

Elodie made her way upstairs and settled into the lounge.

Keith caught sight of her in passing but didn't bother with a greeting, just turned and went about his business.

It was the other assistants who knew Elodie well. In the past, she'd made a point to befriend them—lunches, coffee breaks, a little harmless gossip—anything to get to know Jarrod better.

They seemed genuinely pleased to see her, and after some small talk, one of them said, "You might be waiting a while, Elodie. Mr. Silverstein's got a very important guest in his office."

"Important guest?" another chimed in with a wink. "More like the apple of his eye."

Elodie didn't need to ask—she knew they meant Sylvie.

So Jarrod wasn't stuck in meetings, too swamped with work to see her. He was with Sylvie—and had left Elodie cooling her heels in the hallway.

"Ms. Fielding really landed on her feet," one of the women sighed. "She waltzes in and out of The Silverstein Group like she owns the place. No restrictions, no appointments—Mr. Silverstein's door is always open to her. I even heard…"

"Yesterday, when Ms. Fielding left his office, her lipstick was totally smudged!"

"Oh my god—are we talking about some office shenanigans?"

Elodie listened numbly, feeling like a spectator in someone else's life.