No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 338

Joel adjusted his glasses and smiled. “I believe in you, Eleanor. You’ll go on to achieve great things again.”

Eleanor was just about to leave when Joel called out to her in a low voice, “Eleanor, Xavier’s a good man. If you’re ready for a new start, I wish you the best.”

She paused, turning back to reply, but Joel had already gone, his figure disappearing a little too quickly.

With a quiet sigh, Eleanor made her way to the restroom.

She had barely closed the stall door when she heard voices outside—Faye, Gwenda, and a few others.

“Did you see those rumors about Eleanor and the CEO of Vaughn Group? She’s moving on awfully fast—looks like she’s about to start a whole new chapter,” one of them whispered.

“No kidding,” Faye’s assistant chimed in, her tone dripping with envy. “She barely finalized her divorce and now she’s cozying up to the Vaughn Group’s golden boy. Gotta hand it to her—she plays her cards well.”

“But wasn’t Eleanor a housewife before? Where’d she pick up all these skills?”

“She really is talented,” Gwenda interjected. “I’ve seen her run experiments—she’s way more experienced than any of us.”

Faye scoffed. “If it weren’t for her father, would she really—”

“Would I really what?” The stall door swung open. Eleanor stepped out, utterly composed.

Faye’s face froze—she hadn’t expected Eleanor to be listening just a few feet away.

Eleanor moved to the sinks, washing her hands with deliberate calm. Through the mirror, she met each of their gazes, finally settling on Faye. “You want to know what I’m capable of? I solved the algorithm problem you’ve been stuck on in ten minutes. My paper was solicited by Nature. I hold several patents in my field. Is that enough for you?”

Faye’s face went pale, then flushed. She wanted to protest—Eleanor’s father hadn’t even lived to see the latest developments in AI, so it wasn’t like he could have coached her—but she just couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

Turning off the tap, Eleanor tossed the paper towel aside. “If you have time to gossip about my personal life, you’d be better off working on your own research.”

She shot Gwenda a glance. Gwenda’s heart skipped—thankful, at least, that she hadn’t joined in the mudslinging.

As Eleanor left, Faye’s expression soured. Clearly, she thought, Eleanor must be leaning on Xavier now—how else could she be so bold?

Back in the lab, Eleanor immersed herself in her work, pouring every ounce of focus into her experiments.

At lunchtime, Callie had just walked into the cafeteria when his phone rang. He answered, “Hello? Who’s this?”

“Is Eleanor with you?” came a deep, rich male voice.

Callie blinked, then quickly recognized him. “Mr. Goodwin? Is that you?”

Ian’s tone was cool. “Where’s Eleanor?”

Callie looked up and spotted Eleanor settling into a seat, her lunch tray in hand. “She’s in the cafeteria right now.”

“Thank you.” Ian hung up.

Eleanor was scrolling through her phone, barely having touched her food, when a sudden stir swept through the cafeteria.

“If that’s all you came to say, I’m busy,” Eleanor replied, already turning to go.

“Unblock me. And WhatsApp, too.” His voice was low, insistent.

She hesitated, then faced him.

Ian’s expression was cool, almost distant. “Don’t read into it. I just need to be able to reach you for work.”

Eleanor looked away. “Fine.”

He reached into his jacket and handed her a flash drive. “This is the latest research from Dr. Smith’s lab. I thought you could use it.”

She accepted it without hesitation—she did need more medical data for her own research.

Looking up, Eleanor met his gaze. “Next time, just have your assistant send over the files.”

Ian’s eyes lingered on her, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. “I came myself because I wanted to hear your progress firsthand.”

“There’s nothing new to report,” she said coolly. “If there is, I’ll let you know.”

He took a step closer—his presence overpowering, the faint scent of cedar and something darker hanging between them.

“Eleanor, focus on your work,” Ian said, his voice low and edged with frustration. Then he turned and walked away.