Eleanor let out a bright laugh. "Aren't we a little old to be going on dates?"

lan tightened his grip on her hand and countered in a low, husky voice, "We're in our early thirties—our absolute prime. In my eyes, Dr. Sutton is at the absolute peak of her allure."

The teasing was almost too much. Eleanor tried to pull her hand back. "You're full of it."

But lan refused to let go. He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he murmured a low plea, "Please humor me, Dr. Sutton."

Eleanor thought about it for a moment, but nothing immediately sprang to mind. "Where did you want to go?"

"If you don't have anywhere specific in mind, then leave the destination up to me," lan suggested.

Eleanor looked at him and nodded. "Alright. You pick."

After navigating out of the congested downtown traffic, lan's car merged onto a highway heading straight for the coastline. Gazing at the breathtaking sunset on the horizon, a flood of long-buried memories suddenly washed over Eleanor.

She had a pretty good idea of where this man was taking her!

It was The Bayview Resort, a luxury hotel nestled along the coast, nearly a hundred miles away from Ashford City. Ian owned a private presidential suite there, a place that used to be their designated romantic getaway right after they got married.

As they cruised smoothly along The Coastal Highway, lan seemed to pick up on her sudden quietness. "Did I pick the wrong place?" he asked softly.

Back when their marriage was drowning in an abyss of fatal misunderstandings, lan had tried bringing her back here in a desperate attempt to salvage what was left of them. But that night, Eleanor had fiercely refused to step foot in the suite, her resistance explosive and absolute.

Just a few days after that disastrous trip, Eleanor served him with divorce papers. It was only then that he realized just how utterly unbreakable her resolve to leave him was. He didn't even know how he had survived those agonizing days and nights. He was willing to use any ruthless tactic necessary just to keep her tied to him.

That was why he handed her his eight most lucrative, stable companies as part of the divorce settlement-because every single one of those businesses was heavily intertwined with the operations he kept under his own control.

He had also forced that shamelessly possessive additional clause on her. He knew it was despicable. He knew it was underhanded. But the truth was, he never genuinely intended to let her go. He couldn't bear to lose her.

In that suffocating darkness, he had been clawing like a madman to find any possible angle for them to remarry.

Because for the man he was back then, letting go simply wasn't an option.

"Let's go for a walk," Eleanor replied, her voice soft and soothing.

Revisiting their past might just bring a completely different kind of closure this time.

The car glided smoothly down The Coastal Highway. In the distance, the ocean surface sparkled like crushed diamonds, painting a picture-perfect view.

All those sealed-away memories began bubbling up to the surface.

lan, however, was clearly anxious about triggering her trauma. "If you don't want to go, we can easily turn around and find somewhere else."

Hearing the extreme caution lacing his words, Eleanor offered a light, easy smile. "I'm just really craving a massive seafood dinner right now."

A profound flash of gratitude sparked in lan's eyes. He knew that forcing her to confront these memories meant forcing her to remember immense pain.

For him, that time represented the soul-crushing despair of watching her walk out the door while being utterly powerless to stop it.

The car descended into the underground parking garage of the luxury hotel, and they took the private elevator straight up to the presidential level.

Pushing open the heavy double doors, a stunning, seamless expanse of ocean and sky instantly filled their vision. Eleanor's breath hitched, feeling a soft, phanton ache gently knocking against her ribs.

She set her purse aside and drifted toward the floor-to-ceiling windows to take in the view. From behind, Jan wrapped his arms securely around her waist, resting his chin gently in the crook of her neck. "It really has been a long time."

The suite looked exactly exactly as it lived in her memory, but the souls occupying it were entirely reborn.

Eleanor didn't say a word. She merely leaned back, melting into his solid warmth.

"Is the view still as beautiful as it used to be?" lan murmured against her ear. "Yeah," Eleanor hummed softly.

lan lifted his head slightly, letting out a deep, emotional sigh directly into her hair. "Ellie-"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Eleanor turned her head to look at him. "Thank me for what?"

"Thank you for being willing to come back to me." The man tightened his arms

around her like a vice. "Thank you for giving me another chance—"

Eleanor didn't say anything. Instead, she just nestled herself deeper into his embrace.

"Are you hungry?" lan asked.

"Not yet. I want to go down and walk on the beach for a bit," Eleanor said. After all, who could resist a walk on the sand when they were right by the ocean? "Alright, I'll go down with you."

The autumn beach, having been baked by the setting sun, was surprisingly warm beneath their feet.

Eleanor walked across the fine,

powdery sand, holding her blazerin

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one hand while her other hand was

naturally enveloped in lan's tan was casually carrying her shoes for her.

"Is it cold?" lan asked, looking down at her bare feet.

"No." Eleanor shook her head with a soft smile. "The sand is warm."

Stepping onto sand that still held the lingering heat of the sun brought an

indescribable sense of tranquil comfort.

Suddenly, lan spoke up. "Do you remember the very first time we came here? You loved this stretch of beach just as much back then."