Was it out of disdain, or was it because he was afraid?


    Afraid that a confrontation,ying the conflict bare, wouldpletely shatter their marriage and elerate their divorce?


    After all, Eleanor already knew about Vanessa''s existence, andn had offered no exnation. Their marriage was already fragile at that point.


    If his spection was correct, thenn''s feelings for Eleanor were incrediblyplex.


    He had invested tirelessly in the scientific researchmunity, which had helped shape the Eleanor of today. And for Mansfield Ellington''s brainputer interface project, he had spared no resource to help.


    Although Eleanor had never said she liked Mansfield, Joel knew she did and that she might even marry him in the future. So what wasn''s motive for all of this?


    Was he helping to bring about Eleanor''s second chance at love?


    For a man to do so much for his ex-wife,n''s feelings for Eleanor had to be far deeper and moreplicated than they appeared on the surface.


    *Is he atoning?* The thought struck Joel.


    In the end, Joel sighed. He was, and always would be, an outsider-a spectator who had only seen a fraction of the truth.


    ***


    Eleanor took a shower, washing her hair, and then sank into the sofa on her


    balcony, feelingpletely rxed. She gazed at the city lights in the distance, her mind a nk te. The night breeze lifted a strand of her long hair as she quietly enjoyed the view.


    A warm shower had washed away the fatigue of the past few days and cleared the heavy weight from her heart. Wrapped in afortable silk robe, she lounged on the soft balcony sofa. In the distance, the city lights merged with the starry sky, creating a scene of serene tranquility.


    At that moment, she just wanted her mind to be empty, to think of nothing at all.


    Moonlight pooled over her, sketching out the soft lines of her body. Stripped of her usual professional rigor, she possessed a pure and unadorned beauty. She had a clean, quietly striking face, full mouth, smooth skin with a healthy flush.


    Eleanor wasn''t the kind of beauty that screamed for attention, but she drew the eye and held it.


    Resting her chin on her hand, she suddenly thought of her father, that stubborn and headstrong man. If he were still alive, if he could see her now, would he feel even a glimmer of pride?


    As far back as she could remember, her father had been strict, but he had also been omnipotent. Her mother used to say that when she was three, he would hold her


    and read medical books to her, trying to instill knowledge in her.


    Eleanor could almost picture it: she, looking up at him with innocent,


    uprehending eyes, while he read with earnest seriousness, full of hope for her


    future.


    If... if she had never metn.


    What would her life be like then?


    She would have dutifullypleted her university studies, pursued a master''s and a doctorate, and then entered the world of scientific research.


    Perhaps she would have metn or Xavier Vaughn at some event, but she certainly would never have met Mansfield.


    His world was too far from hers.


    Ifn hadn''t married her...


    Then he probably would have married Vanessa. Vanessa was maniptive and scheming, but she was also beautiful and talented.


    As much as Eleanor despised her, she had to admit Vanessa was a gifted pianist.


    Was that true?


    Was his willingness to marry her not because her father had approached him with the video of her caring for him? Wasn''t it just to repay a debt of gratitude?


    What else had her father andn discussed back then? Was it about her father joining hisb to research blood disorders for his mother? After all, blood disorders were a type of leukemia, and her father was already a leading academic in the field.


    cin


    Could there have been another agreement between her father andn that she didn''t know about?


    Like that document he never made public.


    If he had truly been after the value of


    her father''s research, then their marriage was nothing more than a naked transactionn''s im of falling for her first would beughable, and her own


    moth-to-a-me love for him would


    be just as pathetic.


    Now, Eleanor hade to terms


    with everything in her past. She didn''t me anyone; she med her


    younger self for being self for being blinded by love. Now that she had settled the ounts of the past, she was only twenty-eight years old.


    She was still young, with a bright future ahead of her.


    Suddenly, everything that had happened felt unimportant.


    What mattered was the present and the future.


    The world of romance was tooplicated. She had thrown herself into it once, and from now on, she never wanted to step back in.


    She had a career she was passionate about and a beautiful, lovely daughter. That was enough.


    Eleanor took a deep breath, filled with the calm thates after untangling one''s thoughts. She made up her mind. She was done with falling in love.


    It wasn''t out of spite or fear, but a sense of responsibility to herself. She would devote all the passion and energy of her remaining years to her career and to raising her daughter.


    The road ahead might be lonely, but Eleanor felt a sense of security and peace she had never known before.


    She could prove her worth through her work, take control of her own life, and pursue


    her dreams. What did it matter if she grew old alone? She had an entire world of her own to build.


    As for love, maybe in the next life.


    Eleanor stood up and walked back into the bedroom.