Chapter 3
Early the next morning, Eleanor put on her makeup and waited by Evelyn’s bedside, cradling her daughter’s favorite little dress.
When Evelyn finally opened her eyes and saw her mother’s gentle smile, she blinked sleepily, turned over, and curled up on her side like a kitten, her small face half–buried in the pillow.-
“Evelyn, do you want to wear your pretty dress today?” Eleanor asked, her voice soft and warm.
Evelyn rolled onto her back, her gaze falling on the pink princess dress. She nodded eagerly. “Yes, please!”
Eleanor dressed her daughter with loving care, then carried her downstairs. lan was already waiting in the living room, sitting on the sofa. Taking Evelyn to school before heading to the office had become his daily routine.
“Daddy, do I look pretty?” Evelyn twirled in front of him, her eyes sparkling with delight.
lan’s gaze softened with affection. Without hesitation, he praised her, “You look beautiful.”
He gathered Evelyn into his arms while Eleanor took the backpack from Joslyn, the housekeeper, and followed them out the door.
The school was just outside their gated community–a prestigious, outrageously expensive private kindergarten in the heart of Ashford City.
When they arrived, Evelyn hopped out of the car. Eleanor walked her to the entrance, adjusted her backpack, and knelt down to say, “I’ll come pick you up early this afternoon. How about we bake a cake together when you get home?”
Evelyn nodded enthusiastically, then waved goodbye and greeted the principal and her teachers before heading inside.
Eleanor watched her daughter disappear through the doors, her heart brimming with tenderness. She turned to glance at the man waiting in the car. Sunlight and shadows danced across his face; he was as calm and enigmatic as ever. Yet, as always, lan’s eyes held a chill, the distant coldness of a winter’s night, cool and impenetrable.
“I’ll walk home,” Eleanor said as she approached the driver’s window. “You go on to work.”
At her words, lan pressed his lips together, his long, elegant fingers turning the steering wheel with practiced ease. The black Rolls–Royce glided smoothly away, merging into the morning traffic.
Eleanor watched his car disappear. Even after all these years of marriage, lan remained a stranger to her.
In the quiet chambers of her heart, she understood – what he mistook for affection was merely gratitude, a debt of kindness mistaken for love. Yet still she waited. Like a sailor’s wife staring
at empty horizons, she clung to foolish hope. Six years of tides had risen and fallen, six years of
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Chapter 3
waiting for a love that never came ashore.
Now, Eleanor no longer blamed anyone but herself–for choosing the wrong person, for living with the consequences.
She walked home in silence. Joslyn met her at the door. “Ma’am, what would you like for breakfast?”
“Just boil me a couple of eggs and half an ear of corn,” Eleanor replied quietly.
Joslyn hesitated, surprised, then hurried to the kitchen. There was something different about Eleanor’s expression today–colder, somehow, more distant than usual. And last night, there hadn’t been any of the usual arguments between her and Mr. Ashford, either.
Normally, when lan stayed away for weeks at a time, Eleanor would be upset–especially now, after Evelyn’s hospitalization. But this time, she hadn’t said a word.
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Upstairs in her third–floor study, Eleanor sat lost in thought. Just a month ago, she’d stood onstage at the Montclair Medical Forum as the top graduate of her class, delivering a keynote speech that caught the attention of a hundred leading pharmaceutical companies. With a single nod, she could have joined any research lab, secured billions in funding, launched a brilliant career.
But she had never spoken about that success–not at home, not to anyone. In the eyes of her family and the world, she was just a gilded bird trapped in a golden cage–a housewife with nothing to offer.
And then there was lan. At eighteen, he’d already become a star consultant on Wall Street. By twenty–three, he’d taken over the family firm, earning a ruthless reputation in the world of investment banking. In just four years, he’d climbed to the top of the national wealth rankings.
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