Chapter 141

Ari’s silence was a cold, gnawing worry. A week radio-silent? He’d claimed to be an investor, but what kind of ‘investing’ kept a man off the grid for so long? The possibilities ranged from harmless to terrifying, and Elodie hated the lack of control. Then there was Gabriel’s puzzling stance. The man who’d spewed vitriol at Dashiell after learning about the divorce and that he was about to marry someone else, was now oddly… accepting? Not exactly chummy, but the fact that he’d okayed Dashiell’s daily visits spoke volumes. Had they buried the hatchet? Or was there something more at play? And Elodie worried about Oliver as well. What had he done with Vivienne and Michael? Questions swirled like a dust storm in her mind as Elodie packed. The late afternoon sun painted the hospital room in a sickly yellow glow, highlighting the dust motes swirling in the sterile air. Elodie felt like one of those motes, adrift and restless. Three days cooped up, and she was climbing the walls. It wasn’t ju