Eleanor's expression hardened. "I don't have time."

“I'll, uh, use the restroom. You two go ahead and talk!” Byron, ever the tactful one, quickly excused himself and slipped away.

lan frowned. “I heard Ellington, the former VP at Vaughn Group, is working under you now."

Eleanor gave a noncommittal shrug. "So what if he is?"

"He's talented. Someone you can trust," Ian offered, weighing his words.

Eleanor's brow furrowed. Was this really what he wanted to discuss?

"My mom and grandma want to see Evelyn this weekend. I'll pick her up Friday afternoon," lan added.

Gina had mentioned on the phone last time that they wanted to have Evelyn over for the weekend, so Eleanor nodded. "That's fine."

lan looked like he had more to say, but his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. "I have to go. We'll talk later."

Eleanor waited by Byron's office door. It was ten minutes before he returned. Spotting her alone, he smiled. “Mr. Goodwin already left?"

"VP Chase, I think there's an issue with one of the data sets from the last round of experiments. I wanted to double-check on your end."

"Absolutely. Let's go inside and take a look." Byron immediately shifted into work mode.

He genuinely admired Eleanor's relentless pursuit of excellence in research. Over the past few days, he'd interacted with Faye as well. She was talented, no doubt, but there was a clear gap between her and Eleanor-Faye lacked that deep- seated respect and curiosity for science that set Eleanor apart.

By four in the afternoon, Eleanor had reanalyzed the data and sent the corrected results to Simone. After reviewing them, Simone immediately called Faye in.

"Faye, research is about curiosity and discovery. How did you miss such a glaring discrepancy in the parameters?"

Faye twisted her hands behind her back, guilt flickering in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Professor. It was my mistake."

"If Eleanor hadn't caught it, we would have headed down the wrong path entirely. Do you understand how serious that is?"

"I understand."

"I know working alongside Eleanor puts pressure on you, but you need to turn that pressure into motivation. If you want to surpass her, show me what you can do. I truly hope you'll achieve something remarkable," Simone said, her tone gentle but firm.

Faye bit her lip, resentment simmering beneath her polite nod. Now even her professor was holding Eleanor up as the standard.

"Yes, Professor. I understand. I'll do better," Faye replied, her voice steady.

As she left the office, Faye clenched her fists. Simone hadn't said it outright, but Faye could sense her disappointment. And it was all Eleanor's fault.

Friday arrived in a flash. Eleanor was still at home when lan texted, "I'm here to pick up Evelyn."

She replied with a brief "Okay." Ten minutes later, she assumed he'd already left with their daughter-until the doorbell rang and she found lan on the porch, Evelyn in his arms.

Eleanor opened the door. Evelyn beamed. "Mom, where's the toy I got last time? I want to take it to Grandma's!"

As Evelyn dashed into the living room to search for her toy, Eleanor and lan stood together by the gate.

Princess, their golden retriever, bounded over, tail wagging furiously, nuzzling affectionately against lan's leg.

lan grinned and crouched down, ruffling Princess's head. Eleanor watched, unable to hide her annoyance.

At last, Evelyn emerged with a toy dinosaur clutched in her arms. "Daddy, let's

go!"

lan took her hand. "Say goodbye to Mommy."

"Bye, Mommy!" Evelyn called out, waving.

Eleanor smiled and waved back. "I'll be waiting for you to come home."

Evelyn paused at the gate, her big eyes shining. "Mom, why don't you come with

me to Grandma's? It'll be fun!"

Eleanor blinked in surprise.