No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 493

Just as the elevator doors slid shut behind Eleanor, she heard Vanessa’s laughter ring out from the lobby. “Ian, come on! Everyone’s waiting for you! Mr. Ellington, you should join us for a drink, too!”

Eleanor caught a faint trace of Ellington’s reply. “I’ll pass, thanks. I still have work to finish.”

She made her way to the hotel entrance, where the security guard spotted her and hurried over. “Ms. Sutton.”

Eleanor nodded in greeting, then walked to the VIP parking lot beside the hotel. She slid into her car, turned on some music, and let the night breeze carry her home, savoring the solitude of the drive.

Halfway there, her car—her faithful Porsche Cayenne of five years—suddenly sputtered and died. Eleanor glanced at the dashboard, sighed, and patted the steering wheel. “Guess it’s time for a new one.”

She called a tow truck to take the car to the repair shop, then texted Ellington, asking if he could send someone to handle it in the morning.

Ellington, always considerate, arranged for his assistant to bring a car over for her temporary use.

That evening, Eleanor relaxed at home, a soothing face mask on, lost in a novel. Her phone chimed with a new message. She checked—it was from Xavier.

“Heard from Ellington that your car broke down. Thinking about getting a new one?” Xavier asked.

Eleanor replied honestly, “Yeah, I’m planning to check out some options on Saturday.”

“Need company? I know a thing or two about cars,” Xavier offered.

She politely declined. “Thanks, but I’ve already made plans with a friend.”

She was thinking of inviting Joy.

“No problem. If you need any help, just let me know—I’m free,” Xavier replied.

Eleanor smiled at his message, touched by his thoughtfulness. But as she closed her eyes, it was Ian’s infuriating face that floated up in her mind. The last time, he’d tried to use their daughter’s custody as leverage to test her feelings for Xavier—truly despicable.

But no matter what tricks Ian pulled, nothing could shake Eleanor’s determination to keep custody of her daughter. If Ian wanted to take her child away, he’d have to do it over her dead body.

Another week passed in its steady rhythm—commuting between home and the lab. The final rounds of testing went smoothly, with promising results in the animal trials. Eleanor felt confident in the research; after all, the data spoke for itself.

On Friday night, she confirmed plans with Joy to go car shopping the next morning. Eleanor had decided: it was time for a Bentley.

Early Saturday, Joy rolled up in her Mercedes to pick up Eleanor and her daughter, Evelyn. Joslyn joined them for the outing.

At the Bentley showroom, the sales manager greeted them warmly. “Good morning, ladies. Is there a particular model you’d like to see today?”

“We’ll just have a look around first,” Joy replied.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, glinting off polished chrome. Eleanor wandered hand-in-hand with Evelyn, the sales manager beaming as he walked alongside, ready with details whenever Eleanor paused to inspect a car.

Passing a deep blue Bentley Continental GT, the manager couldn’t help but gush, “This one matches your style perfectly, miss. Would you like to take it for a spin?”

Eleanor smiled, shaking her head. “I need something for school runs. Not considering a sports car.”

What a coincidence. Joy looked between them—had they really not coordinated this in advance?

They hadn’t. Though now Eleanor remembered Ellington had asked her, while handling the old car, what she wanted next—and she’d casually mentioned a Bentley. Had Xavier heard it from Ellington? Or was it truly just happenstance?

“Mr. Vaughn, you know each other?” the manager asked, surprised.

“Yes, Miss Sutton’s a good friend of mine,” Xavier said, putting a little extra emphasis on “good.” The manager immediately understood and turned an even warmer smile on Eleanor.

Xavier took in the Bentayga Eleanor had chosen. “Excellent taste. This one suits you.”

He could already picture Eleanor behind the wheel—confident, stylish, completely in her element.

“Eleanor, you should have Mr. Vaughn join you for the test drive. We’ll watch Evelyn,” Joy suggested.

Eleanor had to admit, having a man along for the ride might make her feel more comfortable. She glanced at Xavier, but before she could ask, he smiled. “I’d be honored.”

“Thank you,” Eleanor replied.

The manager quickly arranged the paperwork. Joy took Evelyn’s hand. “Let’s go check out the kids’ area, Evelyn.”

“Okay!” Evelyn agreed cheerfully.

The test drive car eased out of the dealership. In a nearby parking spot, another Bentley came to a halt. The driver hadn’t even shut off the engine before spotting Eleanor and Xavier together in the test car.