No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 1246

The doorbell rang, pulling Ian back from his thoughts. He got up, walked to the door, and opened it to find a delivery person holding a bag of food.

Ian took it and placed it on the dining table. He glanced up toward the second floor before setting out the meal. Then he went upstairs to get Eleanor.

She was staring at a screen, completely engrossed in a string of data, so deep in thought that she didn't even notice him standing in the doorway.

Under the warm glow of the desk lamp, Eleanor rested her chin on her hand, completely immersed in a sea of numbers. Her profile was soft, a few strands of hair falling forward, her brow slightly furrowed.

The scene overlapped with Ian's memory of that quiet girl reading in the library.

The emotions stirred by his recollection washed over him again. He took a deep breath, schooling his features, and raised his hand to knock twice on the doorframe.

The sound startled Eleanor, and she turned to look at the doorway.

"The food's here. Come eat something first," Ian said.

Eleanor glanced at the time. She had been working for half an hour without realizing it. She stood up and walked toward the door, casually tucking her long hair behind her ear.

So natural, so casual, yet she carried an invisible air of distance.

Downstairs, Eleanor saw the neatly arranged dishes on the table. She got up to pour two glasses of water.

They sat across from each other, a silence settling between them.

They ate in silence. Eleanor didn’t have much of an appetite. The meal came with two small bowls of soup; she finished one and barely touched anything else.

Ian ate with her until she was done, then he put down his utensils. "Go get some rest. I'll clean up."

"Close the door on your way out," Eleanor said calmly over her shoulder as she headed upstairs again.

"Don't stay up too late," Ian called after her.

That night, Evelyn Goodwin cuddled up to Eleanor and whispered, "Mommy, can you invent a medicine that makes people never get old? I never want you to leave me."

Eleanor's heart tightened. "Why do you say that, sweetie?" she asked softly.

"I don't want Mommy to get old," Evelyn said sadly. "I want you to be young forever."

Eleanor sighed softly. For a moment, she had worried that she had somehow hurt her daughter or made her feel insecure. But her answer was a relief; it was just a sign of how much her daughter loved her.

Eleanor hugged her daughter tightly. "Okay," she cooed. "Mommy will see if she can find a medicine for immortality."

***

Three days later, Eleanor received a call first thing in the morning. The chip had arrived on schedule.

It was being sent directly to the state-of-the-art research lab on the top floor of Meridian Dynamics. The facility had the best testing equipment and environment in the country, making it the perfect place to verify the Helios chip's performance.