No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 347

Simone walked back to the lab with Eleanor, but she kept Ian’s pressure about the timeline to herself. Instead, she spoke to Eleanor in a gentle, encouraging tone, urging her to push forward while still balancing work and rest.

Eleanor was a sensitive person. Just yesterday, Simone had promised her a three-day break, but now she was suddenly urging her to speed up the experiments. Clearly, someone above was putting pressure on Simone.

That someone was Ian.

He’d come by in person today, just to oversee their progress.

Knowing Ian’s history, Eleanor didn’t take it personally. The man was a workaholic to his core—he quantified everything, from his job to his personal life to relationships. He was like a machine, always operating by the numbers and never straying from the plan.

He’d invested his money, so there had to be results.

Eleanor agreed to pick up the pace. Simone laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Don’t stress too much. Good research takes patience—there’s no rushing it.”

“I know, Professor Langley.” Eleanor nodded.

Three days later, one morning, Eleanor got a call from Xavier. He wanted to meet for lunch.

Eleanor had decided to accept Juliette’s final grant donation; she’d use it for something meaningful.

She agreed to meet, and Xavier texted her the address of the restaurant.

Eleanor left the lab a bit early, tidied up in her office, and headed out. As she stepped into the elevator, she ran into Gwenda, who was clutching a stack of files.

“Heading out?” Gwenda asked.

“Yeah, meeting a friend,” Eleanor replied.

Gwenda looked at her with genuine envy. “Eleanor, congratulations. And I want to apologize again for the way I treated you before. I’m truly sorry.”

Eleanor shook her head. “It’s all water under the bridge.”

Gwenda felt a pang of shame. She was finally realizing that her hostility toward Eleanor had mostly come from Faye’s manipulation.

Like that time she’d posted Eleanor’s photo on the university bulletin board—only now did it dawn on her that she’d just been a pawn in Faye’s game. Thankfully, Eleanor hadn’t held it against her.

If Eleanor had wanted to, she could’ve gotten her expelled. Back then, Eleanor had been married to Ian and had powerful connections; one word from anyone could’ve had Gwenda kicked out of the lab.

Vanessa, ever observant, scanned the restaurant and quickly spotted Eleanor and Xavier at the window table.

She was quietly surprised—Eleanor and Xavier’s relationship seemed to be moving fast. Last time, she’d seen them at the hospital, close and intimate. Now they were meeting alone in a romantic restaurant. How long before she received a wedding invitation from the two of them?

Vanessa flashed a smile and walked over. “Xavier, Eleanor—what a coincidence.”

Xavier nodded politely. “Vanessa, good to see you.”

“I’m here with my agent. I’ll let you two enjoy your lunch,” Vanessa said, then returned to her table with her manager.

Pulling out her phone, Vanessa snapped a discreet photo of Xavier and Eleanor and sent it to Henry.

“Henry, guess who I just ran into?” Vanessa hadn’t forgotten what Henry had said last time.

He’d always thought highly of Eleanor, convinced she had no interest in marrying into wealth again. Well, now Vanessa was going to show him—Eleanor only looked virtuous on the surface, but in private, she was clearly doing everything she could to win Xavier over.

“Seems I misjudged them. Maybe they really are together,” Henry replied, his opinion changed.