Chapter 646

Chapter 646

Though Clarence strongly opposed Bodhi's methods, he had to admit that deep down, he'd always been curious about this child's situation himself.

Now that Lucas had made this hypothesis...

Between him and Eleanor, who was telling the truth? Was the child different or not?

Those few sentences had completely muddied Clarence's judgment. He couldn't determine whether the child held any research value.

But today's collaboration was essentially settled.

Clarence stopped dwelling on it and soon rose to leave. Both parties went their separate ways.

As he departed, Clarence shook hands with Lucas again. "Rest assured, gentlemen. With your help, I'm confident our partnership will proceed smoothly."

For Clarence, this collaboration was naturally smooth sailing.

He'd successfully secured Lucas's support and left satisfied.

Lucas and Eleanor, on the other hand, had offered benefits in exchange for nothing but Clarence's empty promises.

Eleanor sighed silently, pinching the bridge of her nose with visible exhaustion. "We sacrificed quite a bit this time. When we tally everything up, I'm afraid this loss won't be a small figure."

She was about to calculate their losses when Lucas stopped her, shaking his head. "Forget it. To get our child back, any price is worth paying. Those losses are nothing compared to our son."

He tried to comfort her. "Instead of counting our losses, let's count what we have left. Maybe things aren't as bad as we think."

Eleanor had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Lucas was right.

Compared to their child, these sacrifices were what they should be making anyway.

If they hadn't found a way to connect with Clarence, their losses might have been far more devastating. That they still had so much left was already an unexpectedly good outcome.

After returning, they each went back to their respective companies to continue preparations.

Going forward, they'd have to charge into battle for Clarence.

Their current losses wouldn't be the end. There would be more to come.

But if they could bring down Bodhi and everyone else circling like vultures behind him, it would all be worth it.

News of Eleanor and Lucas's meeting with Secretary Fisher quickly spread through underground channels.

While others were still speculating, Aiden immediately understood what had happened. This had to be related to Eleanor asking him for Clarence's contact information.

He frowned, quietly monitoring recent movements at Lucas and Eleanor's companies.

The outside rumors turned out to be conservative.

They'd probably already successfully established a partnership with Clarence.

"Eleanor moved so quickly..."

Aiden fell into thought, murmuring to himself, "No, that's not right. Clarence was still abroad at that time. They must have had another connection. Getting in with Clarence isn't that simple."

Even if Eleanor wanted to hide this from the outside world, it didn't mean there would be no whispers.

At least Linda would know something.

She and Eleanor were in frequent contact. Aiden couldn't believe this matter could be kept from Linda, yet from beginning to end, she hadn't shown any sign of it in front of him.

Aiden didn't want to suspect Linda.

He wouldn't let himself overthink it. After finding Linda, he took care of the child with her as usual, subtly probing, "Have you heard the rumors going around lately?"

Linda looked puzzled. "What rumors?"

"Word is that Eleanor has already made contact with Secretary Fisher. They're probably working together."

As he spoke, he watched Linda's expression closely.

If she was willing to tell the truth, it would at least prove she hadn't deliberately hidden these things from him.

But the result left Aiden deeply disappointed.

Linda shook her head with a perfectly normal expression. "I don't really pay attention to those things. Eleanor doesn't tell me about her company's partnerships either. It should be normal for her to work with the government, right?"

She didn't notice Aiden's increasingly disappointed look.

"Why bring this up suddenly?" Linda turned to look at Aiden. "Why not just ask Eleanor directly?"

"It's nothing."

Aiden lowered his head with a bitter smile. "I just came to keep you company."

He should have known.

When Linda chose to marry him, a major reason was to help Eleanor find a partner. How could he possibly compare to Eleanor in her heart?

He looked up bitterly, meeting Linda's shocked eyes.

Only then did he realize he'd accidentally said these thoughts aloud.

Linda was stunned. After a long silence, she finally averted her gaze, flustered, trying to redirect her attention.

Unable to respond to Aiden in that moment.

It was then that Aiden's reminder made Linda realize she had indeed been neglecting him too much.

They were already married.

But to her, the most important person was still Eleanor. She'd subconsciously overlooked this before. Only now did she realize how much this must hurt Aiden.

Linda didn't dare look up at Aiden's disappointed eyes.

When she didn't respond for a long time and finally came back to herself, she found that Aiden had already left without a word. Only she and the child remained in the room.

She hadn't thought much of being alone before.

But after living with someone else for so long, now that the house was suddenly empty, she was starting to feel unaccustomed to it.

That night, Aiden didn't come home.

Linda had no one to confide in. She wanted to see Eleanor, but felt Eleanor was too busy lately and shouldn't be bothered right now.

She wandered aimlessly with the child.

When Ophelia called, she realized she'd forgotten they had plans to go shopping together.

When she met Ophelia, Linda seemed distracted.

"Linda?"

Ophelia waved her hand in front of her face, puzzled. "You've been absent-minded all day. Did you fight with Aiden?"

She'd only been joking.

After all, anyone could see how much Aiden cared about Linda. How could they possibly fight?

However, Linda's reaction left Ophelia stunned.

Looking at Linda's silence, she said incredulously, "You actually fought? How is that possible! Is it—"

"Don't."

Linda forced a smile, changing the subject. "It's not as serious as you think. He's just away on business for a while. He'll be back soon."

So Ophelia said nothing more.

But after returning home, Ophelia quietly contacted Eleanor, telling her that Linda had been in a bad mood lately and had possibly fought with Aiden.

Eleanor was also quite surprised.

She knew Linda wouldn't voluntarily leak her information.

But she hadn't expected Linda would keep her secrets at the cost of having a conflict with Aiden.

Now that their relationship was strained, even though it wasn't what she'd wanted, it had still happened because of her. Eleanor couldn't help feeling guilty.

So she took the initiative to invite Linda to meet.

Linda was surprised that Eleanor suddenly had time to see her, but still brought the child along.