Joel adjusted his sses and smiled. “I believe in you, Eleanor. You''ll go on to achieve great things again."


    Eleanor was just about to leave when Joel called out to her in a low voice, "Eleanor, Xavier''s a good man. If you''re ready for a new start, I wish you the best."


    She paused, turning back to reply, but Joel had already gone, his figure disappearing a little too quickly.


    With a quiet sigh, Eleanor made her way to the restroom.


    She had barely closed the stall door when she heard voices outside Faye, Gwenda, and a few others.


    "Did you see those rumors about Eleanor and the CEO of Vaughn Group? She''s moving on awfully fast-looks like she''s about to start a whole new chapter," one of them whispered.


    "No kidding," Faye''s assistant chimed in, her tone dripping with envy. "She barely finalized her divorce and now she''s cozying up to the Vaughn Group''s golden boy. Gotta hand it to her-she ys her cards well."


    "But wasn''t Eleanor a housewife before? Where''d she pick up all these skills?"


    "She really is talented," Gwenda interjected. "I''ve seen her run experiments- she''s way more experienced than any of us."


    Faye scoffed. "If it weren''t for her father, would she really-"


    "Would I really what?" The stall door swung open. Eleanor stepped out, utterlyposed.


    Faye''s face froze-she hadn''t expected Eleanor to be listening just a few feet away.


    Eleanor moved to the sinks, washing her hands with deliberate calm. Through the mirror, she met each of their gazes, finally settling on Faye. "You want to know what I''m capable of? I solved the algorithm problem you''ve been stuck on in ten minutes. My paper was solicited by Nature. I hold several patents in my field. Is that enough for you?"


    Faye''s face went pale, then flushed. She wanted to protest-Eleanor''s father hadn''t even lived to see thetest developments in Al, so it wasn''t like he could have coached her but she just couldn''t bring herself to say it out loud.


    Turning off the tap, Eleanor tossed the paper towel aside. "If you have time to gossip about my personal life, you''d be better off working on your own research."


    She shot Gwenda a nce. Gwenda''s heart skipped-thankful, at least, that she hadn''t joined in the mudslinging.


    As Eleanor left, Faye''s expression soured. Clearly, she thought, Eleanor must be leaning on Xavier now-how else could she be so bold?


    Back in theb, Eleanor immersed herself in her work, pouring every ounce of focus into her experiments.


    At lunchtime, Callie had just walked into the cafeteria when his phone rang. He answered, "Hello? Who''s this?"


    "Is Eleanor with you?" came a deep, rich male voice.


    Callie blinked, then quickly recognized him. "Mr. Goodwin? Is that you?"


    Callie looked up and spotted Eleanor settling into a seat, her lunch tray in hand. "She''s in the cafeteria right now."


    "Thank you."n hung up.


    Eleanor was scrolling through her phone, barely having touched her food, when a sudden stir swept through the cafeteria.


    "Oh my god, is that..."


    n? What''s he doing here?"


    A few young women whispered excitedly.


    Eleanor nced up. There he wasn, unmistakable in a tailored ck suit, hismanding presence drawing stares from across the room.


    His gaze swept the cafeteria and finallynded on her.


    Eleanor instinctively tightened her grip on her phone. After theirst argument, she''d blocked his number, deleted him from every messaging app-wiped out every possible way for him to reach her.


    And yet, here he was at her workce.


    She hadn''t wanted lunch to begin with-now, seeing him, her appetite vanishedpletely.


    She picked up her tray and stood. Ian''s brow furrowed, and he followed her out of the cafeteria.


    Once they reached a quiet hallway, Eleanor turned to face him. "If you''re here, I hope it''s for work."


    "I''ll only discuss business with you. Anything else is off limits." Eleanor folded her arms, her posture rigid with resolve.


    "I wasn''t myself that day,"n said quietly. "I''m sorry."


    "If that''s all you came to say, I''m busy," Eleanor replied, already turning to go.


    "Unblock me. And WhatsApp, too." His voice was low, insistent.


    She hesitated, then faced him.


    to reach you for work."


    Eleanor looked away. "Fine."


    He reached into his jacket and handed her a sh drive. "This is thetest


    research from Dr. Smith''sb. I thought you could use it."


    She epted it without hesitation-she did need more medical data for her own research.


    Looking up, Eleanor met his gaze. "Next time, just have your assistant send over the files."


    "There''s nothing new to report," she said coolly. "If there is, I''ll let you know."


    He took a step closer-his presence overpowering, the faint scent of cedar and something darker hanging between them.


    "Eleanor, focus on your work,”n said, his voice low and edged with frustration. Then he turned and walked away.