Eleanor Sutton nodded. "Yes, it was him."


    "Is everything okay on his end?" A flicker of worry crossed Serena Goodwin''s face.


    "He''s handling it. Don''t worry," Eleanor reassured her.


    Serena''s heart warmed. Ever since Eleanor had returned from her studies abroad, her rtionship withn had beenpletely different, as if they were married again.


    When her brother had proposed the idea of the townhouses, Eleanor had agreed without hesitation. It meant that, aside from the wall between them, they would share a garden and a garage, raise their child together, and maybe even have meals together.


    If her brother just tried a little harder, he might be able to win Eleanor back and make her Serena''s sister-inw again.


    After dinner at the Goodwins'', Eleanor took her daughter home. The next day was the start of the weekend, and she nned to spend it with her.


    Over the weekend, Joy Thatcher came to visit, bringing her recently weaned son. Evelyn Goodwin got to experience what it was like to take care of the baby.


    It was also a chance for the two good friends to sit down for a long-overdue private chat.


    Eleanor had a lot she wanted to talk about. When she finished exining why her father had agreed to her marriage all those years ago, Joy was utterly shocked.


    "What? Your dad let you drop out of school to marry Ian Goodwin because he was investing ten billion dors in ab? He did all that to save you?"


    Eleanor nodded. "My dad''sb had limited resources back then."


    Joy blinked. "So, you were wrong all along? You thought he married you out of gratitude, but he actually married you to save you, right? He knew your mother had hereditary leukemia, and yet he still-"


    Joy couldn''t continue. This version ofn felt like a stranger to her. In her mind, tan had always been the type of man with a wandering eye, wanting to keep all the women he liked happy. Now, suddenly learning thereal reason he had married Eleanor, his image became so noble it left her speechless.


    It made sense, though. Joy knew their rtionship had only grown cold two years after they were married. Before Vanessa Shannon entered their lives, their marriage had been quite happy. The Eleanor that time was blissful speaking of husband and daughter with


    Hexh


    sweetness and contentment.


    Everything changed after Vanessa appeared. During that period, Eleanor was deeply depressed. Like any woman who discovers her husband is cheating, she gradually morphed into a bitter, resentful figure.


    But Eleanor''s personality was the opposite of someone who would scream and make a scene.


    In the first year after discovering the vague intimacy betweenn and Vanessa, she chose silence, swallowing all her grievances and pain.


    Whenn was away on business


    trips, she would call Joyte at night,


    crying about her suffering. She even tried to find fault with herself,


    wondering if she had lost here a


    After all, byrthen, Vanessa had


    be a world-ss pianist,


    dazzling and morous in the public eye.


    "Then why didn''t he exin? It wouldn''t have been hard for him to say something back then!" Joy said, then immediately offered a guess. "Was it Vanessa who stopped him? After all, as the Goodwin family''s sole blood donor, she must have been very proud and arrogant about it!"


    Eleanor nodded slightly. "Yes. They had a contract."