"Can he hold on?"n asked, his voice low.


    "Our team has stabilized him for now, but we don''t know for how long. The research needs to speed up."


    "I know what to do,"n said, rubbing his temples.


    On the other end, Principal Maxwell seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Then I''ll leave Eleanor to you."


    After hanging up,n nced back at the closed door of the break room, his expression profound.


    Eleanor''s anger from moments ago felt like a fine needle piercing his heart. He knew that the already fragile trust between them had been shattered even further by this incident.


    Ten minutester,n heard the break room door open from the inside. Eleanor was looking down, adjusting her cor and slightly disheveled hair. She had the calm that often follows an emotional breakdown, but it was only on the surface. Her eyes still betrayed a deep anxiety and unease.


    "Is your head still spinning?"n asked, immediately walking over.


    Eleanor looked up at him. "Could you please take me back to theb?"


    to suppress all her grief and anger to face the situation calmly.


    "Alright,"n replied in a low voice, walking to his desk to grab his car keys.


    The two of them left the office, one after the other, and tookn''s private elevator directly down to the underground garage, where Gavin was already waiting with the


    car.


    The atmosphere in the car remained cold and silent during the drive. Eleanor stared out the window at the passing streets, showing no interest in talking.


    The car pulled up smoothly to the entrance of theb''s main building. Eleanor thanked the man beside her and, without any hesitation, pushed open the door and got out.


    During the brief silence while waiting for the elevator, Eleanor''s chaotic thoughts began to settle. The tide of anger and grievance receded, and reason once again took over.


    She thought back to how she had questioned and raged atn, and realized she shouldn''t have.


    Keeping the seeret from her must have been Garth''s idea; he and the principal were just carrying out orders. They hadn''t hidden it from her out of malicious deceit, but out of fear that knowing the truth would


    affect heal state and slow


    down the research.


    Putting herself in his shoes,n was innocent. He had even been working silently to save Mansfield. He was tos the one who had forcefully brought her back to the neural interface


    teampu


    back against the


    board''s power struggles and


    opposition, and adding a


    fifty-billion-dor investment to the


    project.


    Earlier, she had been blinded by her emotions, unleashing all her fury on him, using and resenting him. Only now did she realize that he, too, was passively bearing the pressure of this whole situation.


    He currently controlled the most


    advanced neural interface research technology in the country. Even if Garth wanted to save his son, he couldnt justmandeera national


    research team. As the head of a private enterprise,n was the most suitable and capable person to advance this cause.


    With a soft chime, the elevator doors opened, but Eleanor didn''t step inside immediately.


    She turned around, looked up at the silent man beside her, and called his name softly, n-I''m sorry about earlier."