"No," Evelyn shook her head. She had just been trying to reach for her dad''s pen and had identally knocked over the pile of documents.


    Eleanor let out a sigh of relief. As long as her daughter was okay. "Let''s clean this up together."


    "Okay, Mommy!" Evelyn said cheerfully, starting to pick up the papers. Eleanor knelt down to help. A maid rushed in. "Miss Sutton, is Evelyn alright?"


    Knowing Magdalen had sent her, Eleanor said, "Tell her that Evelyn is fine. She just knocked over some files."


    "Right away."


    As Eleanor gathered the papers, her eyes caught a few words that made her pause. She picked up a folderbeled "Rare Hematological Disease Research File." She frowned. What was this doing inn''s files?


    Hesitantly, she untied the string and pulled out the contents. When she saw the name on the first page, her eyes widened. *Gina Quinn?*


    She quickly flipped through the folder, which contained a thick stack of medical reports,b results, and research notes. As she scanned the pages, her heart sank. It was a file on an extremely rare and aggressive blood disorder-a disorder that bore a striking resemnce to the one her father had detailed in his notebook.


    Eleanor was stunned. Son''s sudden trip abroad wasn''t a romantic getaway with Vanessa after all. He had taken his mother overseas to seek treatment.


    Smith''sb, located in Drexford, was the world''s leading research facility for blood diseases. Andn had personally funded it.


    Eleanor knelt there, clutching the file, her mind racing.


    "Mommy, what are you doing? Look at this weird paper with all the circles," Evelyn said, holding up a scattered chart.


    Eleanor snapped back to the present, quicklyposing herself. She took the chart from her daughter. "This is just some of your daddy''s work. Let''s put it all back where it belongs."


    "Okay," Evelyn said, dutifully continuing to pick up the papers.


    Eleanor stood up, took a deep breath, and quickly organized the files. "Mommy, can I go y somewhere else?" Evelyn asked.


    "You can, but be careful not to knock anything else over."


    "I will, I promise!" Evelyn said before running out of the room.


    Eleanor sat down inn''s chair and opened the file again, studying it more closely. The documents detailed Gina''s treatment n and condition from the previous year.


    Her eyes scanned the key data points. The reports showed that Gina had undergone a stem cell transnt, after which her condition had stabilized, and her vitals had


    returned to normal.  S to''


    But as she flipped further, she found the follow-up reports from thest six months. Several key indicators were trending upward, showing a slight rpse.


    At the very end of the report was a consultation summary from the Drexfordb, signed by Dr. Smith himself.


    Eleanor suddenly remembered Dr.


    Smith asking her about treatment options for a rare blood disease She had suggested two different approaches. Had he been researching a new n for Gina?


    So that was whyn had insisted on apanying her on that trip. He had arranged for her to meet with. Dr. Smith to discuss the case. And Smith had brought up the topic with her six months ago.


    It had all been a setup. Ian knew she would never cooperate if he asked directly,


    so he had used the pretext of academic coboration to get her input.


    Eleanor''s heart grew heavy. Could the notes in her father''s notebook have been about Gina''s case?