For the next few days, Eleanor focused on preparing for her new experiment. She also took her daughter to Goodwin Manor for dinner, as she would be leaving for a conference in Montir at the end of the month.


    She received an email from Aaron, urging her not to miss the rare opportunity he had secured for her. Eleanor cherished such academic exchanges.


    She nned to pack and leave right after her daughter''s kindergarten graduation ceremony tomorrow.


    Right now, Eleanor was logging into Dr. Smith''s internal server, intending to record some parameters to reference during the conference.


    Her eyes fell on the locked file at the bottom of the list again. She paused, bit her lip, and clicked on it. A password box appeared.


    She began trying different passwords. She went through all the dates she andn might have shared: their daughter''s birthday, her own birthday,n''s birthday, and other important dates like their anniversary.


    After more than a dozen failed attempts, Eleanor rested her forehead in her hand, a headache starting to form. What password couldn possibly have used?


    Even Dr. Smith was tight-lipped about this file. What kind of data was inside?


    Finally, after finding the data she needed, Eleanor shut down herputer and went to bed early with her daughter.


    ***


    The next day, the kindergarten held a social event for the children in the morning, with the graduation performance scheduled for two-thirty in the afternoon at the cultural auditorium.


    At two o''clock, Serena Goodwin arrived at the auditorium''s parking lot with her grandmother and mother. Today was Evelyn''s big performance, and none of them wanted to miss it.


    "Have you asked ifn is here yet? He can''t miss something like this!" Magdalen urged her granddaughter.


    "I already asked my brother. He''s on his way," Serena replied, helping her grandmother toward the auditorium. Gina Quinn followed, with Lanny and his men behind them.


    Inside the auditorium, each parent had a ticket with an assigned seat, and everyone cooperated by finding their designated spots.


    Eleanor was already in her seat. She had given the Goodwin family four tickets and kept one for herself.


    After seating her grandmother and mother, Serena noticed she had one ticket left that wasn''t next to theirs. She wondered if it was the seat next to Eleanor''s.


    Eleanor was looking at her phone when someone squeezed past her. She instinctively shifted over without looking up.


    It wasn''t until the familiar scent of cedar reached her that she froze slightly and turned to look.


    "Not yet," Eleanor replied.


    A few rows above them, Serena saw her brother take his seat. She quickly leaned over to her grandmother and mother. "Ian''s here. He''s sitting with Ellie."


    The old woman nodded. "Good. At least he wasn''tte."


    Suddenly, the house lights dimmed. The show was about to begin.


    The first performance was Evelyn''s ss. Soon, a line of small, cherubic figures walked onto the stage. Even though they were all in makeup and matching costumes, Eleanor e spotted her daughter center stage at nce. At the same time, she also saw Vivian. Eleanor Scanned the crowd for Xavier and his family, but it was too dark to see them.


    fir


    Though the children on stage made a few mistakes, their performance was filled with pure innocence, and the parents in the audience chuckled,pletely charmed.


    Eleanor couldn''t help but smile, raising her phone to record. Beside her,n


    watched his daughter, his eyes filled with pride and admiration.


    It was the look of a father''s validation for his child.


    As Magdalen and Gina watched, their eyes grew misty.


    Next, other sses took the stage.


    A little whileter, Serena''s phone rang. It was the partner she had recently decided to work with on an She ducked


    import export businessthet


    out of her seat to take the call.