How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Lucinda rarely meddled in Jarrod's life. She only voiced her opinion when

absolutely necessary, but now, it was clear Jarrod had no intention of doing as she wished.

That made Lucinda frown, her thoughts turning inward as she weighed her next

move.

Octavia, however, saw things differently.

She was shocked-yes-but also secretly a little pleased, and even a bit annoyed.

The fact that Elodie hadn't told her anything felt like a real slap in the face.

After stewing over it for a while, Octavia decided it was time for something she hadn't done in ages: she was going to call Elodie.

She wanted an explanation, and it had better be a good one.

But when she dialed the number-

A robotic voice answered: "We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service..."

Octavia froze, phone pressed to her ear, unable to process it for a few seconds.

Did Elodie cancel her number? Change it? When did this happen?

And didn't bother to tell her?

Fury and disbelief welled up; her eyes burned with frustrated tears.

What on earth was Elodie playing at?!

The events at Verdant University had been rewarding for Elodie, but they'd also drained her. She'd spent hours talking with senior colleagues before finally heading home, so exhausted she nearly passed out the moment she hit her bed. She slept straight through to eight the next morning-a solid thirteen hours.

When she arrived at VistaLink Technologies, Alexander had already been bustling around for a while.

He popped into her office, water bottle in hand. "Word's out about you. The phones started ringing off the hook first thing this morning-Esmeralda's still stuck in the conference room handling appointments. I've never seen anything like it." Thank goodness Elodie came in late; otherwise, she'd have had to face that mob herself.

Any lingering doubts about Elodie's independent research from a few skeptical staffers had dissipated entirely.

"Thanks, Alex." Elodie meant it-he and Esmeralda had shouldered most of the chaos.

Alexander grinned at her. "No need to thank us. If anything, Esmeralda

and I should be thanking you.

you, VistaLink would never

6king waves like this.

Elodie allowed herself a soft laugh. "It's a team accomplishment. None of us could have done it alone."

Alexander handled the technical heavy lifting and company matters; Esmeralda managed operations; Elodie led the research. Truth was, both of them always looked out for her.

They shared the burdens, and Elodie never took that for granted. Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

Candida poked her head in. "Ms. Thorne, you have a visitor."noveldrama

Alexander glanced over as the door opened wider.

Patricia stepped in, arms full-a bouquet of flowers cradled against her chest, She raised an eyebrow at Alexander. "Oh, Mr. Sterling's here too. Sorry, I only brought flowers for Ms Thorne today. I'll owe you one next time?"

Alexander chuckled, shoulders lifting in an easy shrug. "You're too kind, Miss Aldridge."

Patricia grinned, then turned to Elodie, handing her the bouquet with a conspiratorial wink. "Congratulations, Ms. Thorne. You were spectacular."

She added, lowering her voice, "These are from someone who's out of town, but wanted to make sure you got them."

Elodie immediately understood who she meant.

But...

Alexander caught her eye, realization dawning.

Was Patricia really... helping Watts pursue Elodie? Playing matchmaker?

Apparently, their expressions gave them away, because Patricia tilted her head and said, utterly unbothered, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing."

She looked at Elodie, offering the suggestion with a straight face. "Ms. Thorne, maybe you should ditch Mr. Silverstein and go for my brother instead?"