He smiled and was the first to answer their daughter. "Evelyn, Daddy has work to do tonight, so I probably can't stay with you."

Evelyn looked disappointed. "Then can you sleep over at our house next time?"

This time, it was lan's turn to look at Eleanor. He raised an eyebrow, a questioning smile playing on his lips.

Eleanor pretended not to hear.

When they reached her apartment door, lan didn't come in, since he had to "work."

"Daddy, don't work too late, okay?" Evelyn said with concern.

lan's heart warmed. He ruffled his daughter's hair. "I know. I'll make sure to get some rest."

Just then, Princess slipped out of the apartment and started wagging her tail at lan, as if wanting to go downstairs with him.

lan looked at Eleanor. "I'll take Princess downstairs with me."

Eleanor couldn't object. Princess seemed to prefer his place more and more these days.

She wondered what brand of dog food he was buying.

lan returned to his apartment with Princess and was about to turn on the TV to watch a game when his phone rang. It was an overseas call.

A frantic voice came from the other end. "Mr. Goodwin, we have a problem. There was a major fire at the primary manufacturing plant in Cliffmoor half an hour ago. The production workshop is severely damaged. Over a dozen workers were injured, and three are missing."

lan's brow furrowed instantly. The Cliffmoor plant was a key production base for Meridian Dynamics' most important products. With something like this happening, he had to go there in person.

"Assemble an emergency team immediately Contact the head of the Cliffmoor branch. Get the injured taken care of, whatever it costs, and fully cooperate with the

investigation. I'm flying out tonight,' lan commanded swiftly.

II

Next, lan called Gavin, telling him to file a flight plan and get the jet ready for takeoff as soon as possible.

As lan was about to leave, he realized Princess was still in his apartment. He

whistled, "Princess, come on. Let's go upstairs."

Eleanor was resting in the living room when she heard the doorbell. She got up to check and saw it was lan.

It was already nine-thirty. What could he want?

Eleanor opened the door, and lan called Princess inside. His gaze settled on Eleanor's face. "There was a major fire at one of the factories in Cliffmoor t or have to fly out there tonight. I might not be back this weekend to spend time with Evelyn, so please let her know."

Eleanor was startled, blinking as she looked at him.

lan seemed to be waiting for something, but time was short. He turned to leave.

Just then, a clear female voice came from behind him. "Stay safe."

lan's eyebrows lifted, and a slight smile touched his lips. He turned back to her and answered in a low voice, "I will."

Eleanor gently closed the door.

Upstairs, Joslyn was giving Evelyn a

bath. She sat down on the sofa, pulled out her phone and checked for recent events in Cliffmoor. Sure enough, she found posts from locals showing the fire.

The videos showed flames lighting up the sky and employees fleeing in all directions. The situation looked dire.

If she wasn't mistaken, this was a contract factory for lan's tech company, and one

of its most important international plants.

If there were any casualties, lan would likely be tied up there for a while. Eleanor

had also recently seen news about the unstable political climate in Cliffmoor.

She clutched her phone tightly. Right now, all she could hope for was that lan could handle this international incident properly and come back safely.