She was the only exception.

Lately, her appetite had been poor; even the slightest strong flavor was enough to make her nauseous.

But when she saw the concern in the old woman’s eyes, Elodie forced herself to stifle the urge to retch, her face pale but determined.

“Jarrod, get Elodie something sweet to take away that bitter taste,” the old lady instructed immediately.

Jarrod finally looked over. This time, he didn’t object. Instead of reaching for the candy, he turned to Cara. “There’s a jar of Mrs. Silverstein’s dried cranberries in the small fridge in the kitchen. Bring it here, please.”

Cara returned quickly and set the jar on the table.

Elodie’s gaze landed on the dried fruit.

She’d always preferred sweet-and-tart flavors. She rarely snacked, but every now and then she’d buy a bag of dried fruit and stash it in the kitchen’s mini-fridge.

She hadn’t expected Jarrod to know that.

Not that it mattered anymore.

After a moment’s hesitation, she moved over and sat down.

The old lady, picking up on the now-peaceful atmosphere, finally let out a satisfied smile. At least they weren’t at each other’s throats-feelings could be nurtured over time!

Yesterday, Elodie had arrived by cab, so once again her ride home had been arranged in Jarrod’s car.

Today, however, the driver was behind the wheel.

Settling into the back seat, Elodie took out the research notes Professor Charlie had sent her a few days earlier. She read through them, annotating as she went.

She had no intention of making conversation with Jarrod beside her.

The way they interacted now was hardly different from how they’d always been. The only real change: she no longer wasted warmth on his coldness. So, the car was quiet.

Jarrod, for his part, seemed uninterested in small talk. But by chance, his eyes flicked over to Elodie’s screen, catching a glimpse of the text.

“You read this kind of academic material?” he asked suddenly.

Elodie’s brows drew together. Instinctively, she flipped her phone face-down. “How much did you see?”

A cool, frosted look settled in her eyes-annoyed and displeased.

In her view, it was common courtesy not to peer at someone else’s phone or computer. It was rude and inappropriate.

Jarrod had once told her she wasn’t allowed to touch his phone or computer. Since then, she’d kept her distance, figured he’d understand mutual boundaries.

Apparently not.

Seeing Elodie’s clear, chilly expression-restrained even in her displeasure- Jarrod narrowed his eyes and answered honestly, “Nothing. I just saw some technical terms about artificial intelligence.”

Elodie thought for a second. That was probably true; her notes were written in tiny script and would be hard to read from a distance.

“Okay,” she said, putting her phone away, no longer in the mood to continue reading.

“That’s it?” Jarrod propped his head in one hand, elbow on the armrest, and fixed her with an intent stare.

“What?” Elodie didn’t understand what he meant.

He studied her calm, collected face. Even when she was upset, she held it in- never snapping, never raising her voice.

He ignored her confusion, letting out a soft, dismissive laugh. “You never really say what you want. Even when you dislike something, you don’t make it clear. You never want to argue.”

That was just it.

Even when she was angry, she stayed mild-no shouting, no drama.

So was his Mrs. Silverstein just naturally even-tempered? Or did she simply not care enough to bother?

“Would it change anything?” Elodie asked quietly, looking out the window.

If something was truly hers, she didn’t need to fight for it.

If it spared her from trouble, she wouldn’t waste energy on it.

But if she had neither-

Why bother at all?

Jarrod’s eyes lingered on her profile, the cool tension between them broken only

when his phone rang.