Chapter 536

"Not watching where you're going?" lan narrowed his eyes at her, but there wasn't a trace of anger in his voice.

Eleanor took a step back, unwilling to acknowledge him. She brushed past and headed into the conference room.

The two entered one after the other, drawing curious glances from everyone already seated. Eleanor slipped into her usual spot, while lan pulled out the chair next to Simone and sat down.

"Alright, since everyone's here, let's go over the results of the new drug trials," Simone began, her tone brisk.

Halfway through the meeting, Simone turned to Eleanor. "Eleanor, how's the data verification coming along for Group Three?"

Lost in her own thoughts, Eleanor didn't react.

"Ellie?" Simone called again, and Gwenda, seated beside Eleanor, discreetly tapped her under the table.

Eleanor snapped back to reality, realizing everyone was watching her. She looked at Simone. "Professor Langley, sorry-what did you say?"

Simone sighed. "Ellie, what's been going on with you the past couple of weeks? You seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

Eleanor's fingers fidgeted with the papers in front of her. "Professor Langley, I— I'm fine. Really."

lan's voice cut through the room, cold and sharp. "We're at a critical stage in the clinical trials. Everyone needs to be diligent with their monitoring."

A hush fell over the table.

He hadn't called anyone out by name, but everyone knew his words were aimed squarely at Eleanor.

"lan, Eleanor's work lately has actually-" Simone tried to defend her.

"I don't want excuses." lan's gaze locked on Eleanor. Ever since Gavin mentioned seeing her and Mansfield Ellington acting cozy together, lan had been convinced her current distracted state was all down to some messy relationship drama. Eleanor met his stare and forced herself to stay composed. "Understood."

Gwenda leaned over and whispered a reminder about Simone's earlier question. Eleanor quickly found the relevant page in her notes and delivered a concise, clear analysis.

Simone cleared her throat, moving on. "Next, I'll go over what we can expect from the patients in the coming days."

Just then, Eleanor's phone chimed with a message-everyone else had set their phones to silent, but she'd forgotten. The phone, sitting on the table, immediately caught her attention. She snatched it up, her movements tense, as if she'd been waiting for something important.

Disappointment flickered in her eyes as she read the message. With a quiet sigh, she set her phone back down and switched it to silent.

Across the table, a pair of cool, unreadable eyes never left her. Ian knew exactly whom she was waiting to hear from.

A moment later, though her phone stayed silent, the screen lit up with another notification. Eleanor's subtle glance at her phone was enough to make lan's brow furrow in displeasure.

As she scrolled through her messages, lan tapped his long fingers against the table in warning. "No phones during the meeting."

"Eleanor, is it something urgent?" Simone asked tactfully.

Eleanor gave a quick nod. "Professor Langley, if you'll excuse me, I need to step out."

She got up to leave, and almost immediately, lan pushed back his chair and followed her out.

She'd barely made it a few steps down the hallway when lan's voice sounded behind her. "If you're too busy with your love life, maybe Evelyn should come stay with me for a while."