Another colleague sighed. "You're the technical backbone of our team. It's such a pity! If you go home now, who knows when you'll be able to return to the

workforce?"

"Who knows? Sometimes I wonder why women always have to choose between family and career. The most unfair part is that it's always the woman's career that gets sacrificed."

"Exactly. It's as if a woman's career is naturally supposed to make way for her family and kids. Why isn't it the men quitting their jobs to look after the children? If only my husband were willing to stay home with the kids... I really don't want to give up my career."

"Being a woman is so hard! Trying to balance family and a career is nearly impossible."

Eleanor Sutton stood around the corner, her feelings suddenly complicated. Ian Goodwin had been helping out a lot lately, especially when it came to taking care of their daughter.

She had been so busy with her experiments recently that she rarely thought about this issue. Subconsciously, she had just assumed it was his natural duty as a father.

But now, hearing the helpless conversation between her two female colleagues in the breakroom, she realized that what lan was doing went far beyond his basic responsibilities.

His understanding, support, and willingness to share the burden shouldn't be taken for granted.

If lan hadn't been quietly taking care of Evelyn behind the scenes, she wouldn't be able to pursue her career with such peace of mind. She might have been forced into making that agonizing choice between her child and her job too.

By the time Eleanor finally stepped into the breakroom, the two women had already left. She poured herself a cup of coffee and headed back to the lab.

At nine o'clock that evening, Eleanor returned home. Joslyn had prepared some hot soup for her. Ian was also there, keeping Evelyn company. Joslyn was secretly thrilled tonight, she had cooked dinner for both lan and Evelyn.

It seemed that once they moved to the manor, she would need to start preparing meals for all three of them every day!

Eleanor sank onto the sofa, looking exhausted. From staring at screens and microscopes all day, her eyes were slightly bloodshot.

"Put in some eye drops before you go to sleep," lan said, looking at her.

"But Mommy doesn't have any eye drops!" Evelyn chimed in.

"I'll go buy some now," lan replied.

"You don't have to," Eleanor quickly said.

But lan was already up and heading for the door. There was a pharmacy right

outside the residential complex, so it wasn't a far walk.

Ten minutes later, lan returned with a small pharmacy bag. Eleanor was no longer in

the living room. Evelyn pointed upstairs. "Mommy is upstairs!"

не

lan looked up at the second floor. hesitated for a moment before his long legs carried him toward the staircase, though every step he took carried a hint of cautious probing.

The second floor was Eleanor's private domain. Unless he was carrying their daughter up to bed, he wouldn't easily intrude.

Standing at the top of the stairs, lan heard the sound of typing coming from the study. Eleanor was still working.

He knocked lightly on the study door. Eleanor looked up, saw the pharmacy bag in his hand, and offered a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Just as she said that, her eyes started to feel dry and itchy again, and she reached up to rub them.

"Put a couple of drops in to soothe the fatigue," lan said in a low voice.

He took the small bottle of eye drops out of the bag, unscrewed the cap, but didn't hand it to her.

Eleanor paused and reached out to take it.

"I'll do it," he murmured.

Eleanor clearly didn't want him to. She shook her head. "I can do it myself."

lan stepped naturally to her side. "Tilt your head back a little and look up."

Eleanor blinked and ultimately complied.

Ian leaned in close, carefully pulling down her lower eyelid, and let a single drop fall

in.

His movements were incredibly light and steady. His fingertips were slightly cool. As

he leaned over her, the distance between them practically vanished.

After finishing one eye, he moved to the other.

For a moment, Eleanor had to keep both eyes squeezed shut. A trace of the clear liquid clung to the corners of her eyes as she leaned back

against her chair to rest Conte

Her world faded into darkness, but all her other senses became acutely heightened. She didn't hear lan packing away the pharmacy bag. instead, she could feel his breath still hovering right above her eyelashes.

He was inches away.