"Dr. Sutton, good morning," a female assistant greeted her.


    Eleanor snapped back to reality and offered a polite smile. She walked slowly toward theboratory building, pushing aside the fragmented memories she had deliberately buried, and shifted into work mode.


    That morning, Eleanor had a meeting with Ryan to discuss preparations for the new round of experiments. To speed things up, their research had taken a much bolder step forward.


    In the cafeteria at noon, just as Eleanor and Ryan sat down, Joel approached with his tray. "Dr. Lyman, could I have a word with Dr. Sutton alone?"


    Ryan graciously stood up and moved his tray to another table. Eleanor looked at Joel in surprise. "Joel, is something important?"


    After sitting down, Joel looked at her with a profound gaze. "Ellie, I''ve suddenly realized I did something wrong, and I feel quite guilty about it."


    Eleanor was slightly taken aback. "Joel, what are you talking about?"


    Joel sighed. "Do you remember how we got in touch? I was the one who reached out to you. That period when we first started talking, I felt so happy and gratified."


    Eleanor blinked, recalling the night she had connected with Joel. He had sent an email first, and since she happened to be online, she replied immediately. After that, they had their first phone call.


    Later, they added each other on Skype and chatted frequently. At first, they talked about her father''s research. Then, Joel became interested in some of Eleanor''s theories, and the two of them like kindred spirits constantly. exchanged and discussed ideas in the field of medical research.


    A flicker of guilt shed in Joel''s eyes. "Maybe I ended up being the trigger for your divorce-without even to." He


    at


    even meaning to." He looked at


    Eleanor his expression grow


    heavier. Mr. Goodwin mentioned


    the other day that he''d seen our chat logs from four years ago He knew I used to call you Ellie back then... and said he''d misunderstood our rtionship at the time."


    Eleanor''s grip on her fork tightened. At that time, all she wanted was to be a devoted wife and mother. After all, with one person in the family constantly traveling for work, she had to take on the role of a mother and care for their daughter.


    She had always deleted her chat logs with Joel to avoid revealing her interest in medicine. Even the medical books and journals she bought were hidden in the corner of the bottom shelf of her bookcase.


    Whenevern took their daughter abroad, Eleanor would go to theb in York Windsor for a month or two, or at least a week, typically rushing home two days beforen and their daughter returned.


    Seeing Joel''s guilty expression, Eleanorforted him, "Joel, you''re overthinking it. The root of the problems between us wasn''t that."


    But the guilt in Joel''s eyes was real. "If I hadn''t contacted you so frequently during your marriage—"


    If he hadn''t affectionately called her Ellie, if he hadn''t expressed admiration and care that went beyond friendship while she was still married, perhaps—


    Eleanor looked at Joel with clear eyes. "Even without you, something or someone else would have


    be the trigger. He chose t


    hide his family''s gic condition, and chose to hide my ambitions and dreams. He chose not to ask about my personal life, and I tolerated his ambiguous rtionship with Vanessa without question. We both gave up onmunicating with each other. Ultimately, it wasn''t a healthy marriage. It was doomed to fail."