Chapter 86

Sebastian’s diatribe continued, ‘Another year, you wanted to see pink dolphins. Raymond and Madeline skipped Christmas and chartered a cruise to the Amazon River.’ He watched Elodie’s face drain of colour. ‘You said you wanted to try scaling Mount Everest. Once again, they did what you wanted. They brought you to Mgomba to practice on Mount Speke. If they hadn’t gone there, they wouldn’t have gotten themselves killed.’ Elodie fought to keep her breaths even, to maintain the mask of icy calm. But inside, she was a whirlwind of raw emotions, grief and guilt twisting with a cold, burning fury. ‘Get out of my office,’ she hissed. Sebastian leaned in, his eyes glinting with malicious amusement. ‘What’s the matter? Can’t handle the truth?’ Elodie swallowed the bitter bile rising in her throat. This wasn’t the time for emotional breakdowns. ‘Security,’ she rasped, pressing a button on the intercom. Long after Sebastian and Cyrus were thrown out, Elodie remained frozen in her chair, reeling. S