Chapter 305

When Eleanor arrived home, Hilda and Jeff had already returned home from work.

As she saw her daughter's deeply troubled expression, Hilda's maternal instincts kicked in immediately."Sweetheart, what's happened? Has Nolan done something to upset you?"

Eleanor slowly raised her eyes to meet her mother's worried gaze and gave a composed shake of her head."Nothing like that. Just some work stress."

Hilda clearly wasn't convinced, but she knew better than to push when Eleanor put up walls.

The moment Eleanor disappeared upstairs, Hilda whirled around to face Jeff with obvious concern."What are we supposed to do about this?" she asked.

When it came to her daughter's romantic troubles, she felt completely out of her depth.

Jeff let out a dismissive grunt. "Simple. We'Il line Eleanor up with someone better. They're not even officially engaged yet, so there's plenty of opportunity to change course."

Hilda shot him an exasperated look. "Maybe you should focus on getting those sons of ours settled first."

"We've paraded dozens of suitable girls in front of them, and none of them have shown the slightest interest." Jeff's expression darkened at the mention of their sons.

Every single one of them excelled professionally, yet their personal lives remained disaster zones.

Fraser, who shared Jeff's ambition and business acumen most closely, still hadn't brought home a single girlfriend.

This wouldn't do.

He would organize another series of carefully arranged introductions.

He absolutely refused to accept defeat in finding appropriate daughters-in-law. Right now, though, Eleanor remained the more urgent concern.

He would need to reach out to his network of contacts and start identifying promising candidates.

His daughter was an exceptional young woman. Nolan would definitely come to regret losing someone like her.

Completely oblivious to her parents' matchmaking schemes, Eleanor shut herself away in her bedroom.

Desperately trying to concentrate, she threw herself into her work projects.

Yet her thoughts kept drifting back to that heartwarming scene she had witnessed at the hospital.

Nolan, Elora, and Fannie had looked so natural together, like they belonged in each other's lives.

Where did that leave her? Absolutely nowhere in their perfect picture.

Her phone suddenly buzzed with a message from Nolan.

She stared at it for what felt like forever before her trembling fingers finally tapped the message open.

"Elora wants to go camping once she's released from the hospital. We had to cancel last time.Would you like to come with us?"

"Us"?

Exactly who was Nolan including in that"∪S"?

Eleanor found herself staring at the glowing screen, her fingers frozen above the keyboard.

Finally, she managed to type out a response. "I already have commitments that weekend and won't be able to join. You all should go and have fun."

The moment she hit send, Eleanor flung her phone onto the bed and forced herself back into her work.

Perhaps the fracture in their relationship had begun the instant Nolan abandoned her to race toward the hospital.

Back at the hospital, Nolan read her message with a slight frown creasing his features. She couldn't come? Was she still holding onto resentment about the proposal that never happened?

That didn't seem right, though. Petty grudges weren't her style at all.

He had laid everything out clearly for her, and he had complete faith that she would see reason.

Could she simply be drowning in work commitments?

While he wrestled with these thoughts, a soft, hesitant voice interrupted from nearby.

"Nolan, what's wrong?"

Nolan slipped his phone back into his pocket, his composed mask sliding effortlessly back into place."Eleanor won't be able to join us. Looks like it'Il just be the three of us going."

Elora's teeth caught her lower lip as she put on a show of genuine disappointment.

"This is my fault, isn't it? Have I somehow created problems between you two? Maybe I should just stay home by myself.I really don't mind being alone."

Giver her current condition, Nolan absolutely refused to abandon her like that.

"Don't overthink it. Eleanor's likely just buried under deadlines. We'll plan something for all of us another time."

Fannie quickly chimed in with enthusiastic support. "Exactly right, Elora! Eleanor runs Enigma Group. She's constantly juggling a million different projects. Don't worry yourself sick over this. Just concentrate on recovering your strength."

Their combined reassurances seemed to ease Elora's apparent anxiety. "That's good then," she responded.

Nolan studied Elora's relieved expression, yet something nagging continued to twist in his gut.

Something important was slipping through his fingers, but he couldn't identify what.

He told himself it was probably just exhaustion from these last few overwhelming days.