At that moment, Eleanor''s phone rang. ncing at the screen, she saw Joel Kingsley''s name sh across. She picked up. "Hey, Joel."


    "Ellie, I''ve sent the files you asked for to your email."


    "Great, thank you so much."


    She turned to the man behind her. "You should go. And please, don''t interfere in my life again."


    Without another word, he turned and left.


    Eleanor waited, listening to him finish speaking with their daughter and then close the gate behind him. Only then did she finally exhale, relief softening her shoulders.


    The next morning, after dropping her daughter off at school, Eleanor headed straight to theb. Hertest experiment, the one she''d just broken ground on, still needed repeated verification. The work was tedious and demanding, but for Eleanor, every ounce of effort was worthwhile.


    Around noon, Faye Yeaton ran into Callie. In the past, Faye had always been too proud to approach him first, but today she made an exception.


    "Callie, do you have a minute to talk?"


    Callie adjusted his sses, trying—and failing—to hide his admiration for someone like Faye.


    Faye wasted no time: she pressed Callie for details about Eleanor''s breakthrough. When she heard what he had to say, shock flickered in her eyes. Eleanor had only taken over the project a few days ago-how could she already have made progress?


    Faye stood there, momentarily stunned.


    Callie''s eyes shone with genuine admiration behind his sses. "Faye, Eleanor''s


    a genius. Today''s test data showed a nearly forty percent increase in editing efficiency!"


    Under the table, Faye''s hands curled into tight fists.


    If Eleanor truly seeded, her aplishments would be even more dazzling. Next year''s top research awards—maybe even international honors—would be hers for the taking.


    Faye leaned in, voice low and coaxing. "Callie, why settle for second ce? With your talent, you could do all this and more. Just think-if these results were yours, imagine what your future would look like."


    Callie''s eyes widened, taken aback. He understood exactly what Faye was implying he just hadn''t expected her to be so blunt about it.


    "Faye, I believe in giving credit where it''s due. I could never take someone else''s work and pass it off as my own." With that, Callie hurried away.


    Faye bit back a curse, muttering under her breath, "Idiot."


    She forced herself to calm down, drawing a slow, steadying breath.


    Then, a thought struck her. She rushed back to her office, fired up herputer, and pulled up every paper Eleanor''s father had ever published. Line by line, she began a painstaking review.


    She needed to know: was Eleanor''s recent sess built on her father''s legacy? If it was, then Eleanor was in for quite the fall.


    The next three days, Eleanor worked deep into the night, scarcely leaving theb. On Friday morning, Simone Langley called a meeting, with Dr. Lyman in attendance as well.


    Meanwhile, Faye had finally uncovered a few threads in Eleanor''s father''s old papers. She decided to bring it up at the meeting.


    After all, if Eleanor''s breakthrough wasn''t truly her own-if it was merely her father''s legacy-then her reputation would take a serious hit. She''d be seen as someone riding on her father''s coattails, never truly standing on her own.


    The meeting began.


    Simone asked each team to present a summary of their week''s progress.


    Once Eleanor finished her report, Faye raised her hand. "Eleanor, I have a question. Could you rify something for me? Your father once published a paper on gene editing efficiency. Isn''t that basically the same direction as your current research?"


    Everyone in the room immediately understood what Faye was getting at.


    Joel frowned. "Faye, maybe you should focus on your own experiments."


    "Joel, I know you usually have Eleanor''s back, but this time I have to question the true originality of her work."


    Faye wasn''t backing down-not now, not ever.