lan's expression froze for a few seconds, but his refusal was almost instantaneous. "No."

Eleanor had expected nothing less. He'd sooner let go of any chance to mend things with her than breathe a word about the secret.

"Why?" Eleanor looked directly into his eyes, her tone calm but unyielding. "What's hidden in there? What's so important that you'd rather I continue to hate you than tell me?"

lan's throat bobbed again, his expression unreadable. "You can ask for anything else in exchange, just not that. But I can promise you, the secret has nothing to do with you, and it won't harm anyone."

Eleanor bit her lip. Even though they were divorced and she had grown so much, confronting him like this still made her eyes well up uncontrollably.

"lan, you're always like this. You high-handedly decide what I should know and what should be kept from me. That has always been the biggest problem between us."

lan saw the shimmer of tears in her red-rimmed eyes and felt a jolt. He immediately stood up and knelt on one knee before her, reaching out to wipe them away.

But as his hand approached, Eleanor slapped it away and turned her face from him in rejection.

lan's hand froze in mid-air. After a few seconds, it slowly clenched into a fist and he pulled it back. "I'm sorry."

Eleanor quickly wiped the moisture from the corner of her eye, refusing to look at him. "Since you're not willing to make the exchange, there's nothing more to talk about."

"Eleanor—" lan started to say, but she cut him off.

"You should go," she said, reopening her laptop and fixing her gaze on the screen. "I have work to do."

The dismissal was clear. Ian stood up but remained in place for a moment before finally replying, "Alright."

Eleanor didn't look up until she heard the door close.

She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. The more lan wanted to keep that document hidden, the more she felt it had something to do with her. No, with her father.

What kind of secret was lan guarding so fiercely?

Eleanor's gaze fell on the crystal ornament. In the photo, her

daughter's innocent smile was like a beam of light cutting through her sorrow, making her own lips curve into a faint smile.

Later, when Joslyn returned and saw that lan was gone, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She had hoped Eleanor would ask him to stay for lunch.

But that was just her wishful thinking. She could sense a faint air of melancholy surrounding the working figure on the sofa. Had Ma'am and Mr. Goodwin argued again?

Joslyn had been the closest third-party witness to their relationship: She had been their live-in postpartum nurse right after Evelyn was born. Her performance hadimased lan so Eleanor hired her as a housekeeper to help with the baby.

Joslyn tiptoed into the kitchen and began preparing lunch, her mind drifting back through the memories of this little family.

She first met Eleanor the week she came home from the hospital after giving birth. She remembered thinking how young the new mother was.

Though only two years older, lan seemed much more mature. While Joslyn was in charge of Evelyn's newborn care dan had hired two other senior mannies and

nutritionist to look after Eleanor. But most of the time, lan cared for her himself. As a new father, the

tenderness in his eyes was

impossible to hide.

lan also learned how to care for his daughter-changing diapers, feeding her. Whenever the baby cried, he was always the first one to wake up and hold her.

Back then, Eleanor was a happy young mother, with a doting husband, a wealthy home, and an adorable daughter.