Chapter 1146

Back in her car, Faye's mind was still a blank. The courage she had mustered to call lan 'brother-in-law' had now transformed into an unbearable sense of shame.

lan's icy stare lingered in her mind like a haunting curse, deepening her shame.

How on earth did Vanessa maintain her relationship with him? He had given her all of Goodwin & Co.'s shares in Yeaton Holdings. Wasn't that a sign of love?

Besides, three billion was nothing to lan.

Now, Faye finally understood that the relationship between lan and Vanessa was truly over. Vanessa's dream of becoming Mrs. Goodwin was nothing but a fantasy.

This realization was like a soothing balm, bringing her a strange sense of satisfaction.

When she first heard about lan and Vanessa, she had been consumed with jealousy and envy, unable to accept that her illegitimate sister would marry better than her.

Just now, lan's disgust at being called 'brother-in-law' made it clear that Vanessa meant nothing to him anymore. The position of Mrs. Goodwin was something Vanessa could forget about.

With Yeaton Holdings now bankrupt, she had lost everything, but Vanessa wasn't much better off. A dark sense of pleasure crept into Faye's heart.

In the lab, Eleanor and Ryan were at a sterile workstation, with Callie observing nearby.

Eleanor was focused on calibrating a system. The air, thick with the smell of disinfectant, created a tense atmosphere for the three of them.

"Dr. Sutton, all parameters are calibrated. Everything is ready," Ryan said, pushing

up his glasses. His tone was precise. Although he was nearly forty, his respect for Eleanor was absolute.

Callie's eyes gleamed with

excitement and anticipation as she looked at the transparent monitoring chamber. An anesthetized lab monkey lay quietly inside, connected to a dense array of sensors and électrodes. On a large screen opposite them, complex brainwave signals danced as waveforms.

Eleanor took a deep breath, her focused gaze sweeping over every data point. "The goal this time," she said calmly, "is to use the brain-computer interface to

precisely stimulate specific areas of the cerebral cortex and observe whether it produces a measurable conscious response to external

commands."

At that moment, behind the glass of the darkened observation room outside the lab,

a tall, slender figure stood watching quietly. It was lan.

He hadn't alerted anyone to his presence, simply watching the three people at work, his gaze fixed on Eleanor.

Eleanor didn't notice him at all. She was completely absorbed in her work, her fingers flying across the control panel as she input a series of commands.

lan narrowed his eyes, recalling Garth's concerns. It was true; she needed to maintain a calm and rational state of mind to complete these experiments successfully, unaffected by any emotional disturbances.

Eleanor was completely unaware of the intense gaze from beyond the window. Her entire being was one with the instruments and data before her Her, fingers pressed the final command on the control panel. "Initiating simulation signal

injection," she announced, her eyes glued to the screen.

Outside the glass, lan stood with one hand in his trouser pocket, his posture as straight as a pine tree. The dim light traced the sharp lines of his profile, and a complex, conflicted expression flickered across his face as his deep eyes remained locked on Eleanor.

Just then, an excited expression appeared on Ryan's face inside the lab. "We have a response! Specific activation in the cortical region. The feedback signal has exceeded the normal threshold!"

Eleanor immediately leaned in to examine the detailed data, while Callie quickly recorded all parameter changes. The three of them worked seamlessly on the next step.

lan glanced at his watch. He took one last, deep look at the figure completely immersed in scientific exploration, then turned and left as quietly as he had arrived, without disturbing anyone.