No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 1531

Eleanor expertly steered the conversation back to work. "Look into the exact pricing for that machine. Let's see if we can actually swing it."

Hundreds of millions of dollars was a staggering budget request.

Even with Ian's massive twenty-billion-dollar endowment padding their accounts, that kind of cash drop was no joke. The investment was supposed to sustain the lab's daily operations and fund long-term trials. Liquidating that much capital all at once for a single piece of hardware would severely strain their runway.

"Eleanor, this machine is the holy grail for our current bottleneck," Callie pressed. "Do you want me to bypass the board and pitch it directly to Mr. Goodwin?"

"No, hold off on that," Eleanor interrupted quickly. "He's drowning in his own workload right now. I don't want to drag him into the lab's operational headaches."

Callie nodded in understanding. "Got it. I'll start working the back channels for a quote."

Deep down, Eleanor knew the truth: she already owed Ian an unfathomable debt. She couldn't stomach the thought of adding to the tab.

Because of that, the machine was a massive source of anxiety. She knew she was going to buy it eventually—it was too important not to.

The only question was whose money she was going to use to do it.

Today was Evelyn's first day at her new school, and Eleanor found her mind constantly drifting, wondering how her daughter was adjusting.

Thankfully, the homeroom teacher was actively dropping photos into the parents' group chat. Spotting Evelyn laughing and running with the other kids brought a wave of immense relief to Eleanor's chest.

After her afternoon meetings wrapped up, Eleanor shot Ian a text: "I can leave early. Let's go pick up Evelyn together."

She refused to miss her daughter's first school pickup.

"Perfect. I'll wait for you at the house," Ian replied instantly.

Eleanor clocked out early at three-thirty.

By four o'clock, Ian's sleek SUV rolled into their shared garage. Eleanor grabbed her phone and walked straight over. The tinted window slid down smoothly, revealing Ian lounging behind the wheel, looking effortlessly handsome.

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