Eleanor listened quietly, offering no opinion.


    "Ellie," Dr. Smith said suddenly, his tone serious. "When he said he''d bear all the consequences, it wasn''t an empty promise. It''s what he''s always done. He''s ced his greatest hope in your hands, but I believe that after weighing all the options, he knows you''re the most trustworthy person for the job."


    Eleanor lowered her gaze. Did she want to take such a risk? Of course not. But in a moment like this, all she could think about was preventing her own daughter from ever facing this disease.


    Saving the Goodwin women was the same as saving her own daughter.


    "I understand, Doctor." Eleanor took a deep breath, her eyes sharpening with focus. "We will seed."


    When Eleanor pushed the door open, she nearly ran inton. She stepped back, and he froze, his eyes fixed on her.


    "I''m going to get things ready," she told him. "You should prepare your sister mentally for what''s toe."


    "Right,"n nodded. "I''ll talk to her."


    "Also, we''re running low on blood samples. Have Vanessae in," Eleanor added, looking up at him.


    "Okay. I''ll contact her and have her here first thing in the morning,"n replied in a low voice.


    Dr. Smith and Eleanor began preparing the reagents, and a heavy tension settled over theb.


    A little whileter, Serena pushed open the door to Eleanor''s office. She took a deep breath and said, "Ellie, I''m ready. Just tell me what you need me to do."


    Eleanor looked at her. The once-spoiled and willful girl seemed to have truly matured over the past few weeks. It was strange to think that Eleanor herself was less than two years older.


    "Don''t worry," Eleanor said, her voice a little softer than usual. "The process might be ufortable, but we''ll monitor you constantly to ensure your safety."


    Serena shook her head. "I''m not afraid. As long as it can help my mom, I''ll do whatever it takes."


    "Good." Eleanor nodded. That was all that mattered.


    Tonight, Ian would be taking Evelyn home while Eleanor workedte. It was also


    the night they would begin Serena''s first experimental treatment.


    At six o''clock


    Serena was lying on the bed as a nurse prepped her for


    an IV. She flinched instinctively, but


    when she met a


    of steady eyes watching over her, she rxed


    Dressed in a whiteb coat, Eleanor stood by her side like a guardian angel.


    Just as Serena was drifting off, she suddenly reached a hand toward Eleanor. "Ellie-" she murmured.


    Eleanor, who was mixing a solution nearby, heard her but gave no reaction. A momentter, a new form containing extracts from Vanessa''s fresh blood was slowly introduced into Serena''s IV line.


    Theb was silent. All eyes were fixed on the monitoring screens, watching the data curves.


    The minutes ticked by.


    At first, there was no significant


    change in the data. Serena simply


    looked like she was asleep. After


    half an hour her heart rate began to fluctuate slightly, and her body temperature rose a fraction of a degree.


    "Vitals are generally stable. No signs of rejection or toxic reactions." Dr. Smith pushed his sses up his nose, letting out a visible sigh of relief. "We''ve made it through phase one."


    That evening, tan stayed home to


    put Evelyn to bed while Eleanor remained at theb to keep watch dat At ten-thirty a message fromn came through Evelyn put up a little fuss, but she''s asleep now. I stay with her."*


    *"Okay,"* Eleanor texted back.


    At three in the morning, Eleanor fought off waves of exhaustion as she checked Serena''stest metrics. Later, she and Dr. Smith were in the break room, trying to stay awake with coffee.


    "It looks like our gamble paid off," Dr. Smith said, relieved. "Miss Goodwin''s immune response is strengthening, with almost no toxic side effects."


    Eleanor nodded, remaining objective and calm. "We can''t let our guard down yet. We''ll need more blood for in-vitro testing tomorrow."


    Dr. Smith nodded in agreement.