Eleanor seemed unfazed by Serena's words. With wry smile, she murmured, "If I could live my life over again, I'd never make such a stupid mistake."

Serena let out a derisive huff, ready to retort, but then her eyes caught a tall figure striding toward them at the end of the hallway. Instantly, her face lit up. "lan!"

At the sound of his name, Eleanor stiffened ever so slightly, but she didn't turn around.

lan approached at an unhurried pace, his gaze lingering briefly on Eleanor's back before shifting to Serena. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to ask her what right she has to take over your eight companies!" Serena shot back, her tone bristling with indignation.

lan's brow furrowed; his voice was cool and distant. "This is between me and her. Stay out of it."

Serena blinked, clearly not expecting that response from her brother. "But—"

"Go home." lan's tone was curt and left no room for argument.

Serena bit her lip, shooting Eleanor a glare full of resentment before reluctantly turning to leave.

Silence settled over the hallway.

Eleanor finally turned to face lan, her expression icy. "Mr. Goodwin, I'd appreciate

it if you could keep your family from interfering in my life again.”

The formality in her voice made lan's eyes darken.

He looked at the woman in front of him. Her eyes no longer held any of their old warmth or affection-only the indifferent distance you'd show a stranger.

After a moment, lan said quietly, "Don't let anything Serena said get to you."

Eleanor gave a bitter little smile. "She's right, though. I really did waste six years of my life on you."

"Is that really what you want to say?" lan's voice had an edge of frost.

"It's the truth. If you don't like hearing it, Mr. Goodwin, you're welcome not to listen." Eleanor's eyes met his, cold and unwavering.

At that, Joel-who had been standing quietly nearby-stepped in. "Mr. Goodwin,

we have a meeting to attend. If there's nothing urgent, we'll be going."

With that, Joel and Eleanor headed toward the conference room together.

lan watched them go, his expression unreadable.

Back in the conference room, Byron looked at Eleanor with concern. "Miss Sutton, are you alright?"

Eleanor shook her head lightly. "Sorry for the delay, everyone. Let's continue." After the meeting wrapped up, Byron hurried back to his office to meet with lan.

They discussed the progress of the current research projects. After a thoughtful pause, Byron spoke up. “Mr. Goodwin, we're planning to purchase several international pharmaceutical patents. We'll need a substantial amount of funding. Right now, the budget's a bit tight."

lan nodded. "Submit a request to headquarters for whatever you need. I'll approve it."

A wave of relief washed over Byron. With the biotech project still in its early

stages, funding had been a constant headache-money just kept pouring in with little to show for it so far.

Thankfully, Goodwin & Co. was large enough to absorb the costs, and the company remained enthusiastic about investing in the project.

Byron figured that, aside from lan's ambition to make a mark in medical science,

having his wife as the lead researcher had to be a major factor.

No sooner had he seen lan out than Byron's assistant hurried in, clutching an iPad.

"Mr. Chase, have you seen the news online?"

Byron looked up, surprised. "What news?"

"Mr. Goodwin and Miss Sutton are getting divorced. Apparently, the paperwork's already been filed."

Byron stared in shock. "What? They're getting divorced?"

But hadn't Mr. Goodwin just approved a huge funding request for their research? Was everything he'd done really unrelated to Miss Sutton after all?