How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie's eyes flickered, surprise crossing her face. She never would have guessed that Jarrod was involved.

Latham, meanwhile, finally pieced together the memory. "Back when Ms. Thorne was waiting for your uncle's surgery, I remember thinking Mr. Silverstein looked familiar. I'm terrible with faces, but it just clicked. See, I was swamped with work at the time and barely made it back to the country. Mr. Silverstein must have already worked things out with the hospital. It took a month or two to finalize everything."

He'd even been given a substantial bonus by the hospital.

In fact, the salary here was a full forty percent higher than what he'd earned abroad.

All of that contributed to his final decision to return home.

Esmeralda looked puzzled. "Wait, weren't you introduced by Dr. Warwick?"

How did Jarrod get involved in this?

Latham smiled. “I was brought in directly to treat Ms. Thorne's uncle at the hospital as a specialist. It made sense that I'd be the one to take over his case. Even without Elias's introduction, I would have had a formal welcome at the hospital, and Ms. Thorne would have met me anyway."

It was all a string of circumstances leading to an inevitable conclusion.

Elodie sat in silence for a long time. She couldn't pretend she wasn't shaken.

She'd thought all along that she'd pulled some strings through Elias, but Jarrod had never mentioned any of this.

Now, with hindsight, she could understand why he'd kept it quiet.

It probably had to do with Ivan. He'd been cautious, unwilling to come clean.

Her uncle's recovery was a huge favor-one she couldn't ignore.

But her relationship with Jarrod now? It felt... irreparably broken.

How could you even tell who was right and who was wrong anymore?

Elodie gave a bitter laugh, unable to put her feelings into words.

She didn't even have the energy to focus on Jarrod at this point.

She hadn't been able to keep the baby, and now, after losing it in such a painful way, the ache in her heart just wouldn't fade.noveldrama

Elias could see that Elodie was still far from okay. "You really need to rest and recover. Your mood has a huge impact on your health. Once you're fully healed, we can talk about next steps."

Elias was never someone who empathized easily, but Elodie was the one patient he'd become close to.

He knew the road she'd traveled, the twists and turns of her heart. Sometimes, despite himself, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of compassion.

"All right, I understand." Elodie's face was pale, her features empty, her spirit drained.

Elias gave her a long, searching look before leaving with Latham.

There was still more to investigate.

They needed answers.

For now, all they could do was wait for news.

Elodie barely spoke these days, spending most of her time silently staring out the window.

Esmeralda hated seeing her so withdrawn, but there was nothing she could do to comfort her.

All she could do was stay by her side.

Jarrod hadn't gone to the office.

He went straight back to the house they were supposed to share after the wedding.

He wandered aimlessly through the rooms, unsure why he'd even come.

He drifted into the nursery, not even noticing when Cara came in to speak to him.

Closing the door behind him, he sat on the little alpaca-shaped stool and stared at the empty space, his dark eyes giving nothing away.

The nursery hadn't been decorated yet he'd wanted to leave that for Elodie, knowing she loved those special, meaningful rituals. He'd made sure there space for her to make it her own.

He'd torn down the old house after they married.

Partly because of Ivan, but also... he'd wanted to get rid of all the bad memories and start fresh with Elodie.

Even while demolishing the house, he'd felt both regret and hope.

He remembered the day he'd seen that email it was instantly obvious which hospital it was from. Elodie's apartment was so close by; when he

realized she was pregnant, his heart nearly burst from his chest.

He'd wanted nothing more than to lay all his feelings bare for her, to show her

everything he'd hidden under his calm exterior.

He'd never thought of himself as a simple man, but the one thing he'd given wholeheartedly was his love for Elodie. He'd held nothing back So, when he realized her heart might belong to someone else, the blow to his pride was devastating painful enough that he couldn't bear to face it.

When he learned about the baby, he'd felt a flicker of hope.

But it had shattered so quickly.

He was forced, yet again, to watch Elodie slip away from him-unable, or unwilling, to love him back.

Before leaving, he'd thought through

everything. Even when Patricia

found out about the pregnancy, he'd

quietly arranged for security to watch over Elodie, just in case something happened like last time. He'd made sure they'd stay out of sight, so they wouldn't disrupt her life.

But this time, she'd gone to the hospital on her own. There wasn't much he could

do in a place like that.

He'd prepared for everything-everything except this: Elodie never waiting, not even for a moment, for him to come back.