Callie, standing beside her, let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, the handover isplete."


    "Callie, you should take a week off," Eleanor told him. Theb''s brainputer interface equipment needed to be packed up and sent to the facility. Once theb was cleared out, Eleanor would need to draw up a list of new equipment to purchase.


    "Alright, I''ll take a week-long trip then. Call me if anythinges up," Callie agreed. The intense work over the past month definitely called for a break.


    After seeing Garrison''s team off, Eleanor returned to her office. Looking at the soon- to-be-emptyb, she felt a sense of relief mixed with eager anticipation for her new project.


    Just then, her phone buzzed with a text message.


    It was fromn.


    [Has Dr. Bradley''s team left?]


    Eleanor was actually quite grateful ton. During this busy period, he had taken on the responsibility of picking up and dropping off their daughter. Sometimes, when she workedte, he would have Gavin bring dinner by. Though he never said anything, she appreciated the gesture.


    [Just saw them off,] Eleanor replied.


    [You''ve worked hard. Want to take Evelyn out to celebrate tonight?]


    Eleanor thought about it. A little rxation before starting the new project sounded like a good idea, and it had been a couple of weeks since she''d had a proper outing with her daughter.


    [Okay,] she replied.


    [I''ll pick you up with Evelyn at six.]


    Eleanor sat down and began browsing the news on her phone when a headline made her freeze for a few seconds.


    *Former Yeaton Holdings Chairman Rnd Yeaton Arrested for Murder, Sentencing Imminent.* Eleanor tapped on the article to read the details. Eleanor''s breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the victim''s name: Horace.


    The article briefly exined the case. Rnd had run Horace''s car off the road and into a riverte at night, causing him to drown.


    While Eleanor was still reeling from the shock, Gwenda burst in. "Eleanor, did you see the news? Horace-"


    Gwenda''s face was a mask of disbelief, and her eyes were welling up with tears. They had been ssmates, after all.


    Eleanor nodded grimly and put her phone down. "I just saw it."


    Gwenda''s voice choked with emotion. How could this happen? What kind of grudge would lead to this? And heard from Faye that. Horace had been working at eaton Holdings for a year!"


    Eleanor remained silent, images of the Horace she used to know shing through


    her mind. All she could do was sigh, feeling a sense of sorrow for her former ssmate.


    A momentter, Callie also walked


    in, clearly having just heard the


    news. He and Horace had once been


    good


    friends though they had


    drifted apart after Horace was


    expelled for his misconduct.


    But no one could have imagined that the next time they heard about him, it would be


    in a murder case.


    "Life is unpredictable," Callie sighed.


    The office was suddenly shrouded in a somber atmosphere.


    ***


    Meanwhile, in another office in theb, Faye stared at the news about her father, her expression nk. Thest time she saw her rtives, she had exposed Cathie as her father''s mistress. Her mother had wed at


    her face, almost sending her to the entire family had


    hospita


    and he


    been humiliated, hurling abuse at


    her.


    From now on, Cathie and her illegitimate son would be reviled by the family.


    Just then, Faye''s phone rang, startling her. It was her mother. She answered, "Hello? Mom."


    "Faye," her mother''s voice came through, thick with tears. "It''s over. Everything''s over-"


    Faye gripped her phone tightly. "What is it now?" she asked in a low voice.