No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 337

Evelyn stretched out her arms. “Mommy, sleep with me.”

Eleanor remembered that Xavier was going to handle some things online, so she didn’t have to worry about it. She crawled back into bed, pulling her soft little girl into her arms, and drifted off again.

It was the weekend, and Eleanor wanted to let herself relax for once.

They slept in until nearly nine. Downstairs, Joslyn had already prepared a delicious breakfast. Evelyn was absorbed in her new coloring book while Eleanor sipped her coffee and considered hiring a French tutor to help her daughter improve her language skills.

She decided to leave the arrangements to Ellington. He would have HR put out a job posting and handle the interviews through the company’s usual process.

Eleanor was playing with Princess, their golden retriever, when her phone rang from the sofa. She reached over and glanced at the screen, surprised to see that Mansfield Ellington was calling.

Wasn’t he supposed to be on base right now?

She stepped out into the garden and answered, “Hello, Mr. Ellington!”

On the other end, Mansfield chuckled. “Still keeping it formal with me, Eleanor?”

Eleanor laughed softly. “Sorry, force of habit. Old habits die hard, you know.”

He seemed to smile at that, his voice low and warm. “I saw you trending online.”

Eleanor froze for a second. So he’d seen it too.

“Would you—mind explaining what’s going on between you and Xavier?” Mansfield asked, then quickly added, “I don’t mean anything by it. If you’ve found someone you like, I—I wish you all the best.”

“Xavier and I are just friends,” Eleanor replied.

It was the truth.

“Really?” Mansfield pressed.

“He’s helped me a lot, even saved my life once. We’re good friends, nothing more,” she said.

Mansfield gave a quiet laugh. “Understood. Just like me, then—another friend in your circle.”

It was only now that Mansfield realized just how many accomplished men surrounded Eleanor. The thought made him feel a twinge of pressure.

Eleanor heard the subtle probing in his tone and paused, then smiled. “That’s right. You’re all my friends.”

“I’ll call you again sometime. I have to head out on a mission,” Mansfield said, clearly reluctant to hang up but duty-bound.

“All right, take care,” Eleanor said, not wanting to keep him.

No sooner had Mansfield’s call ended than her WhatsApp chimed twice—messages from Serena.

“Eleanor, you’re really rushing to make things official with Xavier, aren’t you?”

The weekend passed pleasantly, and soon a new workweek began.

Before she knew it, Friday had rolled around again.

Today was the big meeting called by Dr. Lyman. Nearly everyone from the lab was present.

Joel came in and sat beside Eleanor as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She greeted him with a smile.

During the subsequent discussion, Faye made a point of showcasing her contributions. Since Eleanor had solved that last major hurdle for Meridian Dynamics, the joint research had progressed smoothly, and several breakthroughs had been made.

Dr. Lyman nodded approvingly. “Excellent work. It’s good to see our collaboration with Meridian Dynamics bearing fruit.”

“Eleanor, how’s your own lab coming along since you started over?” Faye suddenly turned toward her.

Every eye in the room shifted to Eleanor, all curious about her new research direction.

She smiled. “At the moment, I’m still developing the theoretical framework. I’ll share more once I have something concrete.”

Faye’s lips curled in satisfaction. As she expected, Eleanor’s ‘genius’ reputation was finally on shaky ground. No one’s luck lasted forever.

After the meeting, Joel caught up with Eleanor, speaking quietly. “Are you really still in the theoretical phase? If you need any help, just let me know.”

Eleanor gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Joel. I’m just getting the new experiments underway, so it’s too early to say anything definite.”