lan turned around, the afternoon sunlight spilling across his shoulders, but it did nothing to soften the don't-come-near-me air that clung to him.

Just then, Gavin knocked on the door and stepped inside. "Mr. Goodwin, it's time for the meeting."

Vanessa stiffened slightly as lan strode out of the office.

Gavin turned to her. "Miss Shannon, would you like to wait for Mr. Goodwin in the lounge?"

"That's all right, I need to head home," Vanessa replied, picking up her bag and leaving.

Yeaton Manor.

After listening to Vanessa, Roland was still fuming. "It's all that Eleanor's fault. If she hadn't meddled, would I be in this mess?"

Vanessa felt a surge of resentment at the mention of Eleanor. She was sure Eleanor was deliberately targeting their family.

"Dad, let's just do as lan says this time."

When Roland heard lan had another project lined up for him, his expression softened. He turned to his eldest daughter. "I heard lan's divorced. Did he do it for you?"

"Dad, maybe you don't know yet-his wife is the same Eleanor who's been making trouble for your company."

"What? Eleanor was lan's wife?" Roland was taken aback.

"Not wife. Ex-wife," Vanessa corrected him.

Roland couldn't help but laugh. “So lan divorced Eleanor just to marry you?"

Thinking that lan was still willing to help him, Roland decided it must be because of his daughter.

Vanessa didn't confirm or deny it, but Roland took it as a given. He got up, saying, "I'm going to have a word with that Jude Vaughn."

Tuesday afternoon, Eleanor and Joel ran into Jude Vaughn in the cafeteria. Jude looked far less troubled than he had in recent days.

No sooner had they sat down than Jude broke into a relieved grin. "Roland's finally out of the picture. The government's launching a new round of bidding."

"Roland actually let go of the project?" Joel asked.

Jude's expression soured. "He only gave it up because lan offered him something else. He's just off to make dirty money somewhere else. People like him should be blacklisted, honestly."

"Ian really does look out for him," Joel remarked.

Jude huffed, “Only because of his daughter—” He caught himself, glancing at Eleanor, and swallowed the rest of his words.

"Is it because of Vanessa?" Eleanor asked quietly.

Jude saw she'd already guessed and nodded, resigned. "Roland's really got it easy, always finding a lifeline, no matter how badly he's messed things up. Mr. Goodwin is helping the wrong man this time."

"At least there'll be a new bidding process." Eleanor tried to sound optimistic. "Competition's the best way to guarantee quality."

"True enough. Even some reputable international firms have called me about it."

As the conversation wrapped up, Eleanor's phone rang. She glanced at the screen, hesitated for a moment, then answered. "Hello? Grandma Magdalen Goodwin."

"Ellie, are you free tonight?" Magdalen's familiar, gentle voice came through. "Grandma, is something the matter?"

"I've just moved to your neighborhood, and I'm hosting a little housewarming dinner tonight. I'd love for you and Evelyn to come." Magdalen laughed warmly.

Eleanor thought of all the times Magdalen had cared for her-she couldn't bring herself to refuse.

"All right, I'll bring Evelyn with me," she agreed.

"Wonderful. See you tonight."

After hanging up, Eleanor checked the date. Nineteen days had already passed; just eleven more, and the divorce would finally be official.