Clearly, his lover now meant more to him than his own child.
A few minutester, Xavier arrived, slightly out of breath and apologetic. "Sorry, traffic was terrible."
Eleanor smiled warmly. "It''s fine. The girls are having a great time together."
"Ian didn''t show up?" Xavier asked.
"He had something to take care of, so he left," Eleanor answered.
Xavier nced at her, a flicker of concern passing through his eyes.
At five thirty, Eleanor picked up her daughter to head home. As they walked hand in hand, her daughter looked up and asked, "Where did Daddy go?"
Eleanor squeezed her little hand gently. "Evelyn, can I ask you something?"
Seeing her mother''s serious expression, Evelyn nodded, suddenly solemn. "Of course, Mommy."
Eleanor hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "If one day, Daddy and I don''t live together anymore, would you want to stay with Daddy, or with me?"
She spoke softly, but her heart ached for her daughter''s answer.
Evelyn paused, then immediately replied without the slightest hesitation, "I want to live with you, Mommy." Her big eyes blinked curiously. "But why won''t Daddy live with us anymore?"
A sharp pain shot through Eleanor''s chest. She knew her daughter would only ever have two choices in this.
"Because Daddy and Mommy both have things we need to do. Sometimes, that means we can''t all live together," Eleanor said gently.
Evelyn seemed to half-understand. She threw her arms around her mother''s neck and dered, "I want you, Mommy. I love you most. I never want to be apart from you."
Eleanor hugged her daughter close, finally able to smile with relief.
A few minutester, her phone rang. It was Joy, sounding anxious. She exined that just a short while ago, Vanessa had been cornered in the restroom by a group of obsessive male fans, and the crowd outside nearly caused a stampede in the chaos.
Eleanor realized this was probably whyn had left his daughter behind without a word.
Clearly, Vanessa had be more important to him than his own child.
...
Around six o''clock, Faye was still workingte in theb when she saw the news and decided to call Vanessa to check on her.
Vanessa downyed the incident. "Just a scare, nothing more." Then she changed the subject. "Faye, I heard Dr. Simone Langley''s taken overn''s project. Is Eleanor still on theb roster?"
"Why are you so interested in her?" Faye asked, surprised.
Vanessaughed lightly on the other end. "I''m just curious."
Faye didn''t mind answering. "She''s out. My mentor is extremely strict about the team, and Eleanor doesn''t meet her standards."
"But didn''t she develop that breakthrough medicine? Didn''t Dr. Langley see any potential in her?"
"She just borrowed her father''s form. She doesn''t really have much talent herself. Still, she''s nning to take the elerated graduation exam this year, which surprised me."
"Eleanor''s taking the fast-track exam?" Vanessa was taken aback.
Faye''s lips curled into a self-assured smirk. "She wants to finish her undergraduate degree early."
"Do you think she''ll make it?" Vanessa pressed.
Faye let out a short, dismissiveugh. "Confidence is good, but too much of it just
bes arrogance. She''s only setting herself up for embarrassment."
For a medical student, skipping grades was notoriously difficult—almost impossible.
"So, are you joining the exam too?" Vanessa asked, genuinely interested.
Faye''s voice brimmed with pride. "Of course. It''s my advisor''s team. I wouldn''t miss it."
"I''ll be rooting for you to win the next award," Vanessa said.
A glint of determination shed in Faye''s eyes. "I will. You can count on it."
...
After hanging up, Vanessa spottedn across the hall, just finishing a call of his
own.
She held out her wrist, still bruised from the earlier chaos. "Luckily, it''s just a bruise."
Vanessa smiled and handed him a medical report. "The test results came in today. Take a look."
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