How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

"That last time was an accident. You know how cunning Jarrod is-he's not easy to catch off guard. But now... he's finally down. This is the only real chance we'll get to bring him down, and I doubt Mr. Aldridge would want to waste it."

"What are you saying?"

"Jarrod's had an accident. He's in the ICU as we speak. I can give you a lead: The Silverstein Group is in talks with the government over a huge upcoming project- something the board considers critical for the next few years. They can't afford a single misstep. I get what I want, Jarrod loses his seat, and your problem will be nothing."

Sprague laid his cards on the table.

Watts fell silent, weighing his options.

He didn't know the specifics of Jarrod's condition.

But for someone as careful as Jarrod, what could have possibly landed him in the ICU?

Suddenly, Watts asked, "What about Elodie? Was she involved too?"

Sprague sounded surprised. "How did you know? Yeah, she was with him. She got hurt as well."

Silence settled in again.

It was hard to say how long it lasted.

When Watts finally spoke, he steered clear of the subject of Elodie, lowering his voice. "Send me everything you have. This time, I don't intend to fail."

"Of course."

Elodie sat outside the hospital room for a long while, waiting and watching for any sign that Jarrod might wake up.

Ivan watched her, too-watched as she refused to leave, as she stubbornly kept vigil at the door.

At last, he drew a shaky breath, squared his shoulders, and approached her. "Are you hurt? You need treatment too, Elodie."

Especially now she was still recovering from her own illness.

And yet here she was, running herself ragged for Jarrod.

He couldn't tell if the ache in his chest was heartbreak or the bitter taste of jealousy.

"Is he really that important to you?" Ivan's voice was rough. "Elodie, we were together first..."

They'd grown up side by side, all those years. How could she just give her heart to someone else?

Elodie looked at him, her expression calm. "Just because we grew up together, does that mean I owe you something? I've repaid every debt I ever had to you. If you want an answer, fine."

"It was because of him that I finally understood what it means to truly love someone."

The words hit Ivan like a punch to the gut.

No matter how ugly things had

gotten in the past, Elodie had neve plainly-that she

Janovent

, that she had real feelings for him.

She didn't want to drag it out. "Ivan, you're the only one still living in the past. I don't want you tangled up in my life anymore. I'll only grow to resent it."

Ivan's jaw clenched. He looked completely lost, as if the ground had fallen away beneath him.

She'd wounded his pride beyond repair.

He could see it now: Elodie didn't feel a thing for him anymore.

Maybe... he really was losing her.

All the trouble he'd caused since getting out of prison-what a joke it seemed now.

The girl he'd known his whole life, the one he thought would always wait for him, was really gone.

And he'd been the one to drive her away.

Elodie didn't say another word. She

turned

daway, went to the bathroom,

and splashed her face with cold water, trying to clear her mind.

Her thoughts were a tangled mess.

Her body ached, exhaustion tugging at her limbs, but she couldn't rest-not really.

When she stepped back out, Ivan was gone.

The words she'd said had shattered whatever was left of his pride.

She didn't have the energy to worry about him. Instead, she sat alone in thenoveldrama

corridor all night, lost in thought.

Every now and then, she glanced into Jarrod's room.

She couldn't sleep, so she kept vigil, watching as the night-shift nurses came and went to check on him.

Somehow, seeing their calm, professional faces reassured her that everything inside the room was still under control.

Dawn crept in through the hospital windows.

There was still no sign of movement from Jarrod.

Elodie's body finally gave out.

A doctor noticed something was wrong, checked her temperature, and found she

was running a fever.

They immediately arranged for her to be put on an IV drip.

Elodie could only comply, too weak to protest.

She'd barely been hooked up to the line when Andrea rushed in, face tight with worry.

"Ma'am, something's happened."