Eleanor was waiting in the lounge when she heard a woman''s voice ring out at the door.


    "Where''s my brother?" Serena.


    "Mr. Goodwin hasn''t arrived yet," the assistant replied. Then, more tentatively, she asked, "Miss Goodwin, would you like me to call his executive assistant to check?"


    "No need. Let''s not interrupt my brother and my future sister-inw''s quality time," Serena replied, her tone teasing.


    The remark stirred up old memories for Eleanor.


    "Would you like to wait for Mr. Goodwin, Miss Goodwin?" the assistant asked politely.


    "It''s fine. I''lle backter," Serena said, turning on her heel and leaving.


    The assistant held her tongue about Eleanor''s presence, wisely deciding not to mention it. If Serena knew Eleanor was here, she''d probably havee in just to spar with her.


    So Eleanor waited. And waited. Forty minutes ticked by.


    Her fingers tightened impatiently as she tapped them on the table. She nced at her watch-9:50. Still no sign ofn.


    "Would you like a fresh cup of tea, Miss Sutton?" the assistant asked, almost tiptoeing with nerves.


    The coffee delivered earlier had gone cold.


    "No, thank you." Eleanor''s voice was calm, but she stood up as she spoke. "Tell your boss I don''t have time to wait around all morning."


    The assistant rushed to interject. "Miss Sutton, Mr. Goodwin should be here any minute now. Would you mind waiting just a little longer?"


    "My time is valuable too." Eleanor''s tone was cool, matter-of-fact.


    No sooner had she finished than the door swung open.


    "Apologies. Something came up unexpectedly." He shot Eleanor a quick nce, heading straight for the desk. "Let''s begin."


    Eleanor didn''t bother to hide her displeasure. She inhaled deeply, but the familiar scent of a woman''s perfume in the air hit her like a blow to the head-Vanessa''s favorite fragrance.


    So, he''d spent the night with Vanessa? That''s why he was exhausted andte? Gavin and the assistant quietly left them alone.


    Eleanor picked up the report and returned to her seat, directly across from him.n flipped open the file, his long fingers skimming through the pages with practiced speed. His brow furrowed deeper with every turn.


    "This is the third phase data?" He looked up, a question in his eyes. "It''s notplete."


    Eleanor frowned. He''d always imed this data was over his head. Why did he suddenly understand it now? More to the point, he''d pinpointed exactly where it wascking.


    "The timeline was tight. The experiments aren''t fullyplete," she said evenly.


    "Some data needs to be verified more than once," Eleanor replied, meeting his gaze head-on. "This is scientific research, not a race against the clock. I won''t sacrifice quality for speed."


    He held her stare, unflinching. As Eleanor lifted a hand to scratch her neck-a souvenir fromst night''s run-in with a particrly vicious mosquito-the light caught a red mark just under her jaw.n''s eyes flicked from her face to her neck, and for a split second, that faint mosquito bite looked a lot like a love bite.


    Eleanor''s eyes snapped to his. "You''d rece me on my own research?"


    He leaned back in his chair, unfazed. "From what I hear, you and Xavier have been rather preupied with your romancetely. If your priorities have shifted, I won''t stand in your way."


    She red at him, the air between them turning brittle.


    A knock at the door. The assistant slipped in with two fresh coffees, set them down, and, sensing the tension, quickly retreated, closing the door without a sound.


    Suddenly,n stood and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window.


    "I heard Xavier''s team gave you a research grant," he said abruptly.


    Eleanor paused for a beat, then replied coolly, "That''s not relevant to our work here."


    "I also heard it was leftover funding from Juliette''sb after it closed,"n said, turning to look at her, eyes narrowed.


    Eleanor''s hand tightened around her pen. So he knew everything.


    Fifty million might sound like a lot, but in medical research, it was barely a drop in the bucket. Her current project alone had nearly burned through eight hundred million of his funding. From the very beginning, Eleanor''s goal in founding thisb was to push the frontiers of medicine. Her team, her equipment, her life''s work— everything was here. She wasn''t about to walk away.


    Besides, she needed his investment. Personal grievances aside,n ran the country''srgest private medical research institute-the only ce with enough resources to make her research possible.


    Outside the ss, the city sparkled under the morning sun.


    Inside, the silence was thick enough to cut.


    "If you don''t trust me, we can end this partnership now." Eleanor rose, her eyes hard as steel. "But don''t you dare question my professional integrity."


    She gathered up her report, her voice steady and clear. "If you want someone else to take over, go ahead. But let me make one thing clear: no one else in the world can take this project to the next level-no one understands it better than I do."


    Her words rang through the room, fierce and unyielding.


    Eleanor realizedn was threatening the wrong person. With this project, she wasn''t the one begging to stay. If anything, he was the one who couldn''t afford to let her go.