“It’s fine, just sit over there,” Elodie said, gesturing to the far side of the room.

Without sparing Jarrod another glance, she turned and made her way to a seat by the window. Still, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling swirling in her mind.

She sat down.

Jarrod didn’t move or say a word.

Her suspicions only grew, but Elodie’s face remained perfectly composed.

Even if it was Jarrod, so what? After three years of marriage, what difference would it make—one more time or one less? Nothing would change. She was never the kind of woman to tie herself up in rules or emotional shackles.

“Are you cold? Do you want a jacket?” Watts glanced at her thin cardigan and, noting the chill in the sea air, pointed to his own coat. “If you don’t mind, you can wear mine.”

“No, I’m fine,” Elodie replied, giving Watts a puzzled look.

Her suspicions were confirmed.

Watts really did seem to be looking out for her, going above and beyond.

It was… odd.

But Watts didn’t push. He just let her be.

Elodie’s stomach was unsettled; she barely touched her food, choosing instead to sip a cup of warm honey water.

Halfway through, Watts excused himself to take a phone call.

Elodie pulled out her phone and messaged Esmeralda, telling her to come down for breakfast.

She had just hit send when someone slid into the seat across from her.

Patricia, bare-faced today but still striking, smiled warmly at Elodie, her gaze subtly scanning Elodie’s expression.

“How did you sleep last night?”

The question sounded awfully familiar.

Watts had asked her the same thing earlier.

“What time did you all finish up last night?” Elodie deflected, sidestepping the question.

Patricia arched a brow, resting her chin on one hand. “Sometime after three, I guess. I couldn’t sleep, so I just came down here.”

But Patricia was quick to steer the conversation back. “Actually, after you left yesterday, Watts was really worried about you said you didn’t seem like yourself. So I told him your room number, and he went straight up to check on you.”

Elodie’s hand tightened ever so slightly around her mug.

This was not what she’d expected.

Her earlier guess was suddenly thrown off course.

“Watts came to see me?” Elodie kept her voice and expression steady, betraying nothing.

Patricia tilted her head, a sly smile on her lips. “Yeah. He was genuinely worried something was wrong. After I told him where you were, he went up. So… did anything happen between you two?”

While Patricia spoke, Jarrod walked past them on his way to the buffet. He caught every word.

Patricia’s question was clear as day-she was talking about, well, that.

Jarrod slowed, pausing for a split second. His gaze flickered to Patricia, then landed on Elodie, his eyes cool and unreadable.

A faint tension settled over the table.

Patricia glanced at him, her lips quirking in a half-smile, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Then-

“Jarrod?”

Sylvie had just come in and waved him over, shooting a withering look at Elodie, barely hiding her annoyance.

She hated how Elodie always seemed to be hovering near Jarrod.

Jarrod broke eye contact, turned, and strode away without a word.

He hadn’t said anything at all, which

Latricia raise an eyebrow. She

d him for a moment, the

I her focus back to Elodie.

Elodie, feeling uncertain about the

whole situation, took a sip of

water before replying, “I wentney

bed

early last night.”

Patricia didn’t quite seem to get what Elodie meant, her gaze lingering on Elodie’s face for a beat.

Elodie offered nothing more.

But inside, she was picking apart the timeline, examining every clue.

If Patricia was telling the truth, then maybe it really had been Watts.

But something about Jarrod’s reaction still felt off.

Elodie dropped her eyes to the table, thinking it through. She needed answers-at

least enough to settle her own mind.

She decided she might as well just ask her “ex-husband” herself.