No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 1244

Ian tucked the covers around her and stood by the bed for another moment before turning to go downstairs.

He didn't leave. Instead, he sat down on the living room sofa. As the night deepened outside, he called Serena and asked her to have his daughter sleep over, offering no explanation.

After hanging up, Ian stared out the window. The city lights cast his profile in shifting shadows. The dampness from her tears was still on the back of his hand. He took out his phone and sent a message, dispatching his private jet to the Andreessen factory in Drexford to retrieve the latest upgraded model of the Helios chip.

He had made her a promise, and he intended to keep it.

***

Eleanor woke up at nine-thirty, drenched in a cold sweat. She touched her face and felt the lingering traces of tears at the corners of her eyes. She sighed.

The dream had felt so real. She dreamt that Mansfield's vital signs suddenly flatlined. The neural interface was ready, but the chip was missing. In the dream, she ripped the lab apart, searching everywhere, only to end up frozen in place as the heart monitor let out one long, shrill tone and the green line on the screen collapsed into a dead, unbroken bar.

Even now, Eleanor could feel a dull ache in her chest from her heart pounding so fiercely. Her nightgown was soaked through, but thankfully, it was just a dream.

She wiped the moisture from her eyes and got out of bed. Her phone wasn't nearby, and she remembered she might have left it on the living room sofa.

As she stepped out of her room, she saw the living room lights were on. *Joslyn must be back,* she thought.

Eleanor wanted to get a glass of water and see if her daughter was home. But as she reached the middle of the staircase, she was surprised to see someone sitting on the sofa in the light—it was Ian.

He seemed to be working, a laptop open on his knees, but he quickly turned his head to look up at the stairs.

"You're awake?" he said, closing the laptop. His voice sounded especially clear in the quiet of the night. "Joslyn had an emergency and couldn't make it back. Evelyn is sleeping at my mom's."

Eleanor froze and folded her arms across her chest without even thinking about it. She frowned. "What are you doing here?"

And how did he get in?

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