Gwenda beamed, "We've all been looking forward to having you back!"

Eleanor glanced at Gwenda's open, guileless face and couldn't help but trust her words. She smiled and nodded in response.

Now that Faye was gone, Gwenda seemed much more grounded and focused on her work. In fact, she'd even received praise from Simone Langley recently.

"I'm heading to the break room anyway-they've got a new coffee bar set up. I'll bring you a cup."

"Thank you," Eleanor replied with a nod.

Her office was spotless and neatly arranged. Eleanor set down her laptop and stood by the wide window, gazing out at the city skyline. The view was spectacular; the entire atmosphere here felt invigorating.

A short while later, Gwenda returned with a steaming cup of coffee. The rich aroma filled the room as Eleanor sipped gratefully, powering up her computer to review data and prepare for the ten o'clock meeting.

At ten sharp, everyone gathered in the conference room. Simone turned to Eleanor. "Did you wrap up things on the other side?"

"It's all been handed over. I'll be focusing entirely on the current research project now."

Simone nodded with approval. "Good. Now that you're free from the other responsibilities, I want you to give this project your full attention. Upper management is watching the progress closely."

Eleanor's fingers tightened unconsciously around her pen. Was lan still pushing for faster results?

The meeting ended at eleven. Back in her office, Eleanor decided to seek out Simone for a private conversation.

As she stepped out into the hallway with her folders, she caught sight of a tall figure ahead, speaking on the phone. Ian's tone was icy and commanding. "Send more people to the Everprosper negotiations. I need those patents."

Sensing someone behind him, lan glanced over his shoulder, his gaze sharp. When he saw Eleanor, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Eleanor met his gaze, then walked past him, clutching her documents.

While Eleanor was talking with Simone, lan knocked and entered the office. Simone looked up, a bit surprised. "Ian, what brings you here?"

"I'm here for a project update," lan replied. Even in a plain white shirt, he exuded an undeniable authority.

"I was just discussing some details with Eleanor. Why don't you join us?" Simone offered.

lan gave a slight nod and deliberately chose the armchair furthest from Eleanor.

Recently, Simone had been supervising Eleanor's experimentation. As Simone described the current progress, Eleanor listened, acutely aware of lan's gaze fixed on her. She pressed her lips together in irritation.

"In the next phase, we'll be expanding the sample size. If everything goes smoothly, we should move to animal trials in about two months—"

Eleanor nodded. "Thank you, Professor Langley. I'll get back to work." She closed her folder, stood up, and left the room.

Simone looked a little surprised, then glanced at lan, whose expression remained unreadable. She immediately understood.

"Ian, has the Everprosper Biotech acquisition been resolved?" Simone asked.

"Not yet. They haven't budged on my offer," lan replied, a steely glint in his eyes.

Simone nodded. She knew Everprosper's patent portfolio was critical to Eleanor's research.

After updating him on the project's progress, lan drummed his long fingers on the armrest. "Eleanor is back now. We need to accelerate the timeline."

"I'll stay on top of it," Simone assured him.

lan glanced at his watch and stood. Instead of leaving the building, he made his way to Eleanor's office.

She was paging through her experiment reports when the door opened. She looked up as lan strode in.

"Can we talk?" He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.

"There's nothing to discuss. Please leave." Eleanor's voice was cold and resolute. "I'll be acquiring Everprosper Biotech soon. They hold nine patents, three of which will directly benefit your research," Ian began, unbuttoning his collar with long, deft fingers. In the harsh white light, the sharp line of his collarbone stood out, lending him an air of casual, almost dangerous allure.

Eleanor didn't even bother looking up. "Are you finished?"

Just then, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen-Xavier. Shooting lan a quick look, she answered with him still in the room. "Hello, Xavier. What's up?"

"I'm free."

"Great, I'll be there."

She hung up, ran a frustrated hand through her bangs, and fixed lan with a frosty stare. "If you're done, you can go."

lan adjusted his cuffs slowly, his voice suddenly cold. "The Everprosper patents will be transferred to the lab in a week. I hope you don't waste my 'investment."" The way he said "investment" was laced with barely contained frustration. Eleanor watched as he left, then checked her calendar. On Thursday, she was scheduled to attend the launch of the Grayson Foundation's new talent initiative.