From His Wife to His Uncle's Wife novel Chapter 321

The company retreat was over, but nobody was ready to move on. People kept glancing around, sizing each other up, as if they were all in on some big secret.

Someone tugged Skyler’s sleeve. “Come on, Skyler, fess up. Are you the traitor in our group?”

Skyler, who was single, barely in her twenties, with a gentle sort of prettiness, suddenly found herself at the center of suspicion.

She looked like she was about to burst into tears. “It’s not me, I swear! I haven’t even said a word to the big boss!”

She felt so wronged it was almost funny.

“Why don’t you suspect Eleanor?” she blurted out.

“Eleanor’s married, so she’s off the suspect list,” someone shot back.

Eleanor, feeling a little guilty for Skyler, decided to play along. “Exactly, Skyler. I’ve got a husband. Don’t start rumors or you’ll make him jealous.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Besides, Mr. Clarkson probably just wanted to mess with us anyway,” another coworker said.

On the ride back, Eleanor made sure to sit right next to Skyler, keeping as much distance from Max as possible. As soon as they got off the bus, she called a cab and sped away, desperate to avoid any connection to Max.

Max watched her go and almost laughed out of frustration. He called her up. “Why are you running? You’re having dinner at The Clarkson Estate tonight.”

“Oh, I just don’t want my coworkers to notice anything. If you hadn’t said all that stuff last night, I wouldn’t be so paranoid right now,” she grumbled.

Eleanor told the driver to take her to The Clarkson Estate instead.

She ended up getting home a little before Max.

Marleigh’s face lit up as soon as she saw her. “Eleanor, where’s Max? Did he upset you? Why didn’t you two come home together?”

Eleanor gave an awkward smile. “It’s nothing, Mom. We had a team event and I just grabbed a cab first. He’ll be home soon.”

George scoffed. “He doesn’t want to go public with your relationship, does he? Wait until I talk to him about that.”

“Dad, it’s not like that…” Eleanor tried to explain, but George had already decided Max was guilty of a hundred different things.

When Max walked in the door, he was immediately met with a pair of suspicious stares.

“Max, don’t forget where you come from. If you’re married, act like it. Why are you hiding it?”

Max just stared back. “Dad, are you okay?”

George huffed. “Don’t talk nonsense.”

Eleanor braced herself, expecting Max to throw her under the bus, but instead he said, “Sure, we could make it public, but then she’d have to deal with a lot of gossip. People would just assume she only did well because of me.”

She almost wanted to ask if he was giving her special treatment.

Billy smiled. “Eleanor, don’t sell yourself short. You’re way more capable than you realize.”

“Keep at it. Let everyone see what you can do.”

His encouragement gave her a much-needed boost. She nodded with determination. “I will. I promise.”

Eleanor spent the next two days working with the marketing team on her presentation. They went through draft after draft until she finally had one she was happy with.

The Clarkson Corporation’s product launch was coming up fast, and she knew the audience would be packed with top media outlets from across the country.

Pretending not to be nervous was pointless.

She practiced her script until she knew it by heart, but she still worried she’d freeze up on that massive stage.

Max had been busy, too. The moment he got back from his business trip, he started looking everywhere for her.

He finally found her in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror, practicing her speech and flashing a perfect smile. Max leaned on the doorframe, watching her with a soft grin, thinking she looked absolutely radiant.

Eleanor finished her practice run, then caught sight of him in the doorway and nearly jumped out of her skin.