She had reached her limit.

And she could be just as sharp when she needed to be.

Jarrod studied her for a long moment. The air between them thickened, tension crackling in the silence.

He noticed the rigid line of her mouth, and finally relented. “Fine,” he said, his voice measured. “But you’ll need to keep to the agreement as well.”

Elodie got her answer.

Without the slightest hesitation, she turned on her heel and walked away.

It did surprise her a little that Jarrod hadn’t called her out for telling Selma and

Sylvie to “get lost” just moments ago.

But it didn’t matter.

She got what she wanted.

Elodie returned to Emile’s hospital room.

Her face perfectly calm, revealing nothing of what had just transpired-as if the confrontation never happened.

Emile looked up from his book. “Did you remember to say thank you?”

Elodie nodded lightly. “Yeah, I did.”

Satisfied, Emile bent his head back to his reading. He didn’t ask any more questions.

Elodie stayed with him a little longer, just to make sure no one else would come cause trouble. She didn’t want to leave any loose ends-Selma’s excuse of bringing cake was never out of pure goodwill. Elodie had to send her packing, or there would be no end to the drama.

The next day.

Elodie had just finished her work when she noticed a familiar number flashing on her phone.

She frowned, recognizing it as Keith’s.

She had changed her number, after all.

Yet Keith somehow still managed to call her.

She considered for only a couple of seconds before answering.

Keith’s tone was as brisk and businesslike as ever. “Ma’am, Mr. Silverstein asked

me to let you know that what you wanted has been taken care of.”

Elodie still didn’t understand why Keith insisted on calling her that.

But she didn’t bother arguing. “Got it,” she replied.

Keith paused, then asked, “Is there anything you’d like me to pass on to Mr. Silverstein?”

“No,” Elodie said.

She didn’t wait for another word-she simply hung up.

This call made one thing clear: if Jarrod wanted her personal information, it was never going to be a problem for him. Still, he would never call her directly.

And this call—well, Elodie didn’t kid herself. Jarrod hadn’t gone out of his way to find her number because he wanted to talk to her. This was just his way of letting her know-of warning her, really.

Everything was settled. Now it was her turn to keep her end of the deal: don’t make a public spectacle of their divorce, and don’t expose Sylvie’s role in it.

Jarrod had always been a man of his word.

Selma was probably already transferred to another hospital by now.

He’d handled the whole thing without a single wasted word.

His only goal was to avoid pushing her to the point where she’d expose Sylvie to

the world, or go after Selma out of spite.

Jarrod was smart-he never wasted time on pointless drama. He dealt with problems quickly and cleanly.

With the trouble taken care of, Elodie saw no reason to waste another moment on people who didn’t matter.

As for Jarrod knowing her new number… she honestly didn’t care. Changing it wasn’t a petty move or some statement-it was simply about leaving the past behind, making a fresh start.

Whether he knew it or not was irrelevant to her.

Besides, even if Jarrod had her number, he would never use it to reach out or interfere with her life. For him, it ended there.