"Can he hold on?" lan asked, his voice low.

"Our team has stabilized him for now, but we don't know for how long. The research needs to speed up."

"I know what to do," lan said, rubbing his temples.

On the other end, Principal Maxwell seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Then I'll leave Eleanor to you."

After hanging up, lan glanced back at the closed door of the break room, his expression profound.

Eleanor's anger from moments ago felt like a fine needle piercing his heart. He knew that the already fragile trust between them had been shattered even further by this incident.

Ten minutes later, lan heard the break room door open from the inside. Eleanor was looking down, adjusting her collar and slightly disheveled hair. She had the calm that often follows an emotional breakdown, but it was only on the surface. Her eyes still betrayed a deep anxiety and unease.

"Is your head still spinning?" lan asked, immediately walking over.

Eleanor looked up at him. "Could you please take me back to the lab?"

lan's heart ached slightly. He knew she wasn't over the pain; she had simply chosen

to suppress all her grief and anger to face the situation calmly.

"Alright," lan replied in a low voice, walking to his desk to grab his car keys.

The two of them left the office, one after the other, and took lan's private elevator directly down to the underground garage, where Gavin was already waiting with the

car.

The atmosphere in the car remained cold and silent during the drive. Eleanor stared out the window at the passing streets, showing no interest in talking.

lan didn't say anything either. He knew that any words would be superfluous at this moment.

The car pulled up smoothly to the entrance of the lab's main building. Eleanor thanked the man beside her and, without any hesitation, pushed open the door and got out.

lan then got out from the other side and followed her with heavy steps.

During the brief silence while waiting for the elevator, Eleanor's chaotic thoughts began to settle. The tide of anger and grievance receded, and reason once again took over.

She thought back to how she had questioned and raged at lan, and realized she shouldn't have.

Keeping the seeret from her must have been Garth's idea; he and the principal were just carrying out orders. They hadn't hidden it from her out of malicious deceit, but out of fear that knowing the truth would

affect heal state and slow

down the research.

Putting herself in his shoes, lan was innocent. He had even been working silently to save Mansfield. He was tos the one who had forcefully brought her back to the neural interface

teampu

back against the

board's power struggles and

opposition, and adding a

fifty-billion-dollar investment to the

project.

FindNovel.net

Earlier, she had been blinded by her emotions, unleashing all her fury on him, accusing and resenting him. Only now did she realize that he, too, was passively bearing the pressure of this whole situation.

He currently controlled the most

advanced neural interface research technology in the country. Even if Garth wanted to save his son, he couldnt just commandeera national

research team. As the head of a private enterprise, lan was the most suitable and capable person to advance this cause.

With a soft chime, the elevator doors opened, but Eleanor didn't step inside immediately.

She turned around, looked up at the silent man beside her, and called his name softly, "lan-I'm sorry about earlier."