How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue novel Chapter 43

When Elodie accepted his friend request, Joseph was genuinely surprised. He couldn't even explain to himself why he'd added her in the first place, or what he was supposed to say now that she'd accepted.

It all felt a bit awkward.

In the end, he didn't say anything.

Instead, he tapped into Elodie's social feed and started scrolling.

She didn't post often, and it looked like her privacy settings were wide open. The latest update was from about two weeks ago—a photo of a hospital building.

The caption read: "Here alone, fingers crossed for good news…"

Joseph couldn't help picturing Elodie's calm, detached expression.

Clearly, she'd gone to the doctor by herself.

As he scrolled further, most of her posts were snapshots of daily life—little things that showed how much she loved living. Pictures of desserts she'd made, home-cooked meals, fresh bouquets she'd bought, and her place looking neat and inviting.

It was all so warm and full of intention.

Joseph lingered for a while, thinking that, really, Jarrod ought to be pretty happy.

His thumb paused on a mirror selfie Elodie had posted. He hesitated, then decided not to open it in full.

"Joseph? What are you looking at?" Maurice's voice broke his reverie. They'd all been out to dinner for a while now, but Joseph had barely said a word and kept staring at his phone.

Jarrod glanced over, his tone unreadable. "Something on your mind?"

He, too, had noticed Joseph seemed distracted all night.

Joseph met Jarrod's eyes, feeling a sudden, inexplicable irritation. "No."

Sylvie walked over and glanced at Joseph's phone. "You seem out of it. Are you feeling all right?"

He quickly locked the screen. "I'm fine."

Sylvie smiled gently. "Glad to hear it."

Still, she thought she'd glimpsed a woman's photo on his screen.

A woman?

Sylvie gave Joseph a second, lingering look.

_

Jarrod spent the night at Silverstein Mansion. He'd left some important documents in the study there, and the next morning, as he was getting ready to leave, Octavia was just heading out for school.

She climbed right into his car, still in her uniform.

Jarrod looked at her, eyebrow raised. "What are you doing?"

Octavia yawned. "Going to school, obviously. Aren't you picking up my sister-in-law today? I miss her, thought I'd say hi before class."

She always called Sylvie "sister-in-law." Never Elodie.

As Octavia texted Sylvie to say she'd be downstairs soon, she suddenly asked, "Has Elodie been furious lately?"

Jarrod glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

Octavia twirled a strand of hair, thinking. Elodie cared so much about her brother, always wishing and pleading to be acknowledged as his sister-in-law, but Octavia stubbornly refused and kept calling Sylvie by that title instead. She figured Elodie must be livid about it, even if she didn't show it.

But, honestly, Elodie didn't compare to Sylvie.

Sylvie was a star in the aviation field, and Octavia wanted to go into that field herself. Sylvie would definitely help her out.

Still, she had to admit, Elodie was good at running a home—her cooking and desserts were always amazing.