How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Elodie truly couldn't accept any of this.

She'd convinced herself she'd come a long way—after being told her days might be numbered, she'd worked hard to change her life, and she was both proud and grateful for who she'd become.

It's human nature to run from pain, to stay tucked away in the comfort zones we believe are safe, unwilling to pay the price of real change.

So, given all that, she felt she'd done pretty well to get this far.

Yet behind this supposed "newfound happiness," she realized she still hadn't broken free of the cage that had given her both love and heartache.

And that's why she simply couldn't accept Jarrod's deception and secrecy.

This was a siege laid around her heart, and her heart alone.

She wasn't some computer program that could just delete everything, erase all traces with a click, and move on without a ripple. The pain she'd endured was hers and hers alone; how could she be expected to forget it so easily?

"I'm sorry." Jarrod was staring into her eyes, which shimmered with angry tears. His Adam's apple bobbed as he instinctively reached out, wanting to wipe them away.

But Elodie stepped back, looking utterly spent. Her voice was a tired murmur: "There's nothing left for us to say."

What was she even hoping to win here?

The whole mess was almost laughable, now that she thought about it.

Not bothering to glance at Jarrod's face, Elodie reached for the door and began to close it.

Jarrod's hand shot out, stopping it just before it shut. He knew Elodie wasn't the type to fly into hysterics, but some things just needed to be said.

"Yes, yes, I regret it. I don't want you to leave."

Elodie looked at him with a bitter smile.

"Elodie, I'm not the all-powerful man you think I am. I kept this from you because I was scared to deal with it. I've always prided myself on never regretting anything, but with you, I second-guess everything. I couldn't make a final decision. There were reasons for divorce, and reasons to stay. I think you deserve to know the truth."

"I know you don't want to see me right now, or even hear me out. I'll be next door, Elodie. When you're ready, when you've had time to process this, we need to sit down and really talk."

He understood that anyone would struggle to take it all in-he knew how much this must have shaken her.

Elodie said nothing.

She closed the door.

Then she walked over to the couch and sat down, staring at the room around her, frozen in that spot.noveldrama

The whole situation was so surreal-she needed time to think.

That night, rain drummed quietly against the window, the sound steady and relentless.

Elodie sat awake, her mind in turmoil, unable to sleep.

Her thoughts wandered again and again to her past with Jarrod all of it: the happiness, the pain, the heartbreak, the hurt.

Breaking out of old patterns is never easy. Choosing to divorce Jarrod felt like stabbing herself, and watching him with Sylvie during the divorce proceedings was like being flogged with thorny whips on her way out the door. Somehow, she had survived it all.

She was grateful for the life she'd fought for.

But now, after all that pain, she was being told, "You never really broke free. It was all just a joke."

That truth was more than she could bear.

Elodie closed her eyes and let out a soft, bitter laugh.

The mess in her life just never seemed to end.

It wasn't until dawn crept in, pale and gray, that Elodie finally dragged herself upright. The rain had

stopped, leaving the air that

with

the damp, earthy scent of wet soil.

She felt like the dampness had soaked right into her bones.

Leaning on the table, she pressed her fingers to her brow, massaging away the ache.

Her head throbbed.

And the thing that bothered her most right now was what to do next.

Jarrod had admitted to

everything-he'd confessed they were never divorced-but she still didn't understand what had happened to bring things to this point.

Today, she just didn't feel like herself.