Eleanor walked over to her cabinet and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, she saw a message lan had sent half an hour ago.

"I had the hotel send over some afternoon tea to help you recharge. See you

tonight."

Eleanor typed a quick reply. "Thanks."

"Just got out of the lab?" he texted back instantly, correctly guessing that she had left her phone in the office.

"Yes, just finished."

"Good. Go eat." Ian didn't bother her any further.

Eleanor sent a smiling emoji and sat down on the sofa. As Gwenda unpacked the pastries, Eleanor eagerly took a bite of a macaron, her eyes narrowing in pure bliss. "Mmm, this is so good. I'm so lucky to be working with you, Eleanor!" Gwenda chimed in.

Eleanor chuckled at her antics and picked up a sandwich. "Eat up, then. I can't finish this all by myself."

"Eleanor, be honest. Are you and Mr. Goodwin getting back together?" Gwenda asked bluntly. Back in the lab, both she and Callie called Eleanor by her first name. Beyond being colleagues, they were former classmates and close friends.

Eleanor was slightly taken aback. "Who said that?"

"Just rumors. A lot of people at work are gossiping about it." Gwenda's inner gossip was bubbling to the surface. She was practically vibrating with excitement at the chance to hear it straight from the source.

"There's no such thing," Eleanor replied flatly.

Gwenda let out a disappointed sound. Then, remembering the whole fiasco with Vanessa Shannon, she wondered if Eleanor was still bothered by it.

"Eleanor, honestly, Mr. Goodwin is—" Gwenda suddenly felt the urge to put in a good word for lan, especially since she was currently stuffing her face with his pastries.

Seeing Gwenda's hesitant expression, Eleanor spoke calmly. "A lot of our misunderstandings have been cleared up. We can both look back at the past with clear heads now. That's all."

Gwenda blinked, sudden realization washing over her. The incident with Vanessa had only happened about half a year ago. Even if Eleanor wanted to reconcile she shouldn't rush it. After all, Gwenda had witnessed the whole ordeal firsthand.

Vanessa had been so impossibly arrogant back then, completely dismissing Eleanor. Even Faye Yeaton had ridden Vanessa's

coattails, flaunting her smug pride in Eleanor's face. And all of that suffering was indirectly brought upon Eleanor by lan.

"You're right, Eleanor. You should definitely make Mr. Goodwin sweat. You can't let

him think he can just win you back that easily. Make him wait a year or two."

Eleanor picked up a fruit tart and took a small bite, the sweet and tangy flavors melting on her tongue.

"I haven't thought about getting remarried," Eleanor said out of nowhere.

Gwenda gasped again. She only meant to advise Eleanor to play hard to get, not to swear off the relationship entirely! She was still rooting for Eleanor to reclaim her title as Mrs. Goodwin.

Besides, a top-tier man like lan was too good to let fall into someone else's hands.

"Right, right. You can't rush these things. The boss used to be a bit... you know. Even though he's behaving much better now, he definitely needs more observation."

After saying that, Gwenda looked at her with pure envy. "Plus, you've got money, a stellar career, and a

beautiful daughter. Even without

being married, you're already miles ahead of most people. If you find Someone who truly loves you, that's just the icing on the cake?"

Eleanor took a sip of her tea. She couldn't deny that lan had done a lot for her recently, but there were far too many harsh realities standing in the way for her not to be cautious.