No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 523

Xavier noticed Eleanor’s subtle movement, his gaze drifting briefly toward the direction of the private dining room.

Their meal arrived, and Xavier steered the conversation toward children, lightening the mood and making everyone feel at ease.

An hour later, as they finished lunch, Xavier glanced at his watch. “It’s still early. Want to grab a coffee somewhere?”

Eleanor offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, I have a meeting at the lab this afternoon. I should get going.”

He wasn’t ready for their time together to end so soon, but seeing she had work to do, he respected her schedule.

“I really enjoyed our lunch,” Xavier said warmly. “I’ll be out of the country for a couple of weeks, so I probably won’t be back until after the eleventh. Let’s catch up then.” His gaze lingered on Eleanor, thoughtful and deep.

She smiled, nodding. “Of course. Focus on your work, and let’s meet when you’re back.”

Xavier had always admired Eleanor’s easy grace, but now it struck him more than ever that, in her eyes, he was only a friend. Since they’d met, this was probably the first time she’d ever reached out to him of her own accord; all their prior encounters had been thanks to his careful orchestration or chance meetings he’d engineered.

Eleanor walked him to the restaurant entrance. Just then, Ellington appeared and greeted Xavier. “Mr. Vaughn, it’s been a while.”

“Looking for Ms. Sutton?” Xavier asked casually.

“Yes, I have some business to discuss with her,” Ellington replied with a pleasant smile.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. I should get going.” Xavier didn’t want to intrude on Eleanor’s work, so he turned to her and said, “Eleanor, I hope you’ll consider joining the National Research Team. It’s a great platform for your talents.”

“Thank you, I’ll think about it,” Eleanor replied, giving him a grateful smile.

Ellington’s assistant approached, holding a document for Eleanor to sign. She finished signing and, as she turned, she saw Ian emerging with several international guests.

Ian’s eyes landed behind her, and after murmuring something to the executives at his side, he headed straight for Eleanor.

She frowned, turning to leave.

“Can we talk?” Ian called from behind her. Eleanor ignored him and kept walking.

Ellington greeted Ian. “Good afternoon, Mr. Goodwin.”

Ian nodded curtly before striding after Eleanor.

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