Eleanor stood back slightly, reviewing the chart in her hands and noting down data.


    When she had finished answering Dr. Smith''s questions, Gina looked straight at Eleanor, a look of both immense gratitude and profound guilt in her eyes.


    Dr. Smith finished his instructions.


    "Doctor, may I have a word with Ms. Sutton?" Gina asked.


    Dr. Smith nodded and nced at Eleanor, who walked over to the bed without hesitation.


    Gina struggled to sit up straighter, and Serena rushed to help her.


    "Eleanor, I..." Gina''s voice broke, and her eyes quickly reddened. "The Goodwin family has wronged you. I never should have treated you that way. I am so... so sorry."


    Eleanor listened, her expression unreadable. After a moment of silence, she said, "Please, just focus on resting. Nothing else matters." Her tone was calm, devoid of resentment but also of warmth.


    Her neutral reaction only seemed to deepen Gina''s sense of guilt. "This research must be so exhausting for you. I feel terrible."


    "It''s my job. You don''t need to feel burdened by it," Eleanor replied. "I have data to process, so I''ll be going now."


    As Eleanor turned to leave, she sawn leaning against the doorframe, his expression heavy andplex. When she reached him, he straightened up and stepped aside to let her pass.


    Eleanor walked by him without a word. Ian watched her go. The fact that she was willing to see his family at all was more than he could have hoped for.


    Later, Dr. Smith called a meeting to formte a treatment n for Gina. In the end, they decided to stick with the previous regimen. Her body was too weak to risk an unproven alternative.


    "El, we need to elerate the


    research on your new approach and


    get to clinical trials as soon as


    possible. I sure Miss Goodwin will


    My


    consent to be a test subject, Dr.


    Smith said.


    Eleanor nodded. "I''ll do my best."


    "Mrs. Goodwin''s condition is putting more pressure on us. We''re running out of time," Dr. Smith added with a sigh.


    Eleanor knew this wasn''t just about saving Gina and Serena; it was about securing a healthy future for her own daughter.


    That evening, Eleanor sent a text ton from theb, asking him to pick up their daughter. She wouldn''t be home until ten and needed him to stay with Evelyn until then.


    Thinking of Magdalen at home alone, Eleanor felt a pang of sympathy. "Okay," she wrote back.


    At eight o''clock, Serena came in for


    a blood draw. As she sat on the sofa, watching the nurse prepare the needle, she felt a sense of déjà vù. She remembered seeing a picture of Vanessa getting her blood drawn, and the sofa in the background had looked just like this one.


    Could Vanessa have had her blood drawn here too?


    "Excuse me," Serena asked the nurse, "do you treat other patients here?" "No, this facility is not open to the public," the nurse replied.


    Serena murmured an "oh" and let the subject drop. After the blood draw, her phone buzzed with a text from Vanessa: "Henry told me Xavier is back in the country."


    Thinking of Xavier, Serena felt a wave of insecurity. She suddenly realized she wasn''t good enough for him. In that moment, a sense of peace washed over her.


    She actually hoped Eleanor and Xavier would end up together. They were a perfect match.