Seeing the food arriving, Eleanor realized she was indeed hungry. She nodded. "Okay, let's eat first! We shouldn't starve ourselves."

Eleanor was just deciding what to get when lan picked up the serving utensils and naturally placed the most tender piece of the steamed fish onto her plate.

At the same time, he said to Joel, "Dr. Kingsley is a real talent in this field. Your ideas have always been incredibly forward-thinking. I admire that."

Eleanor blinked and turned to look at the man beside her. His tone was even, giving nothing away, but why did she feel like there was an underlying meaning to his words?

Joel smiled and pushed up his glasses. "You flatter me, Mr. Goodwin. I'm just doing my job."

Eleanor stared at lan, her gaze filled with scrutiny. Ian noticed her looking but didn't meet her eyes. He simply murmured, "Eat up. Have it while it's hot."

Eleanor didn't look away, as if trying to see right through him.

lan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and his eyes flickered behind his glasses.

Eleanor could tell that his praise for Joel carried a clear hint of hostility.

Obviously, Joel had picked up on it too, but he merely kept his smile and didn't say anything else, turning to converse with the manager on his other side.

lan grew uncomfortable under Eleanor's gaze. He knew he hadn't managed to hide his petty jealousy after all.

He didn't want to upset her, especially not at an occasion like today. He turned back to meet her eyes, trying to change the subject, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Is the fish not to your liking?"

Eleanor just felt bad for Joel. He had poured so much blood, sweat, and tears into this project, and lan shouldn't be treating him this way.

Suddenly, lan reached under the table and grasped Eleanor's hand, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. Then, leaning closer to her, he muttered in a voice only she could hear, "I'm sorry. I was wrong."

Before Eleanor could process this, he leaned into her ear and confessed, "I admit it. I'm jealous."

Eleanor looked at him. Through his lenses, lan's eyes reflected his helplessness and awkward feelings.

She pulled her hand back and said flatly, "Just eat."

lan studied her expression for a moment. Seeing her eating the fish he had put on her plate, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he had survived this hurdle.

Joel seemed to sense that the tension between lan and Eleanor had dissipated, and he did his best to keep chatting with the manager.

Eleanor's phone rang. She checked the screen and saw it was Gwenda calling. She stood up and stepped aside to answer.

"Hey Gwenda, what's up?"

"Eleanor, guess who just showed up? Faye Yeaton's mother came looking for you. She was crying and bagging to see you and Joel Hooks like she wants to ask you to let Faye off the hook."

"Where is she now?"

"I managed to talk her into leaving, but she'll definitely be back."

Eleanor acknowledged, "Got it. Thanks for handling that."

"No problem. Dealing with this kind of stuff puts anyone in a bad mood. Did Joel's product launch go smoothly?"

"It went great."

"Awesome, I'll let you go then!"

Eleanor returned to her seat. A fresh plate of shrimp had just been brought to the table.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed lan meticulously peeling a shrimp His movements were elegant, but his jawline was slightly tense, inexplicably giving off an air of loneliness.

He almost looked like a pouting child.

Then, he casually dropped the

freshly peeled shrimp onto Eleanor's

Eleano

plate. He looked up just as E

was watching him and offered a small smile. "Here, have some shrimp."

A soft spot in Eleanor's heart melted just a little.