How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue novel Chapter 552

The cramped elevator made Jarrod’s voice ring out with startling clarity.

Elodie lifted her lashes, catching his gaze in the mirrored panel. The question had come out of nowhere.

She hesitated for a moment before meeting his eyes. “That night on the cruise… did you know I’d been drinking?”

Jarrod glanced at the fading red rash on her wrist, his tone calm. “Do you want me to say I knew, or that I didn’t?”

That answer.

Hearing it, Elodie felt an old suspicion flare up in her chest, one she’d tried hard to push down.

The air between them turned delicate again, even though neither of them said another word.

Ding—

The elevator reached the ground floor.

Jarrod finally moved, stepping forward to stand beside her. He lowered his eyes, giving her a brief look. “Your allergy still hasn’t cleared up. Remember to keep using the ointment.”

With that, the doors slid open. He left without another word.

Elodie watched his retreating figure for a moment before stepping out herself, her expression carefully blank, as if nothing at all had just happened.

Some things, she realized, suddenly made sense. Others, they both pretended had never occurred.

She grabbed a quick bite—whatever was handy—then headed back to her apartment to keep coding. After running into Jarrod, she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it. She forced it from her mind, as though nothing at all had happened between them.

Since this was hands-on work, she could pretty well guess the direction things would go. The code was essential—if she didn’t get it right, nothing else would fall into place.

Three days, three different projects—each one demanding solid skills and the kind of focus you can only muster when you’re running tests and troubleshooting data right there on the spot.

The next morning,

Alexander showed up early to take Elodie to the sports center.

This time, it was a public tournament.

The line at the ticket scan was packed—no surprise, given the hype.

With a hundred contestants left, nobody knew who else had advanced until just before the start.