No More Mrs. Nice Wife (Eleanor) novel Chapter 936

"I was in a terrible state of mind that day. I went to find your father to discuss the treatment plan, and when I pushed open his office door, you were sitting at his desk, reading." Ian offered a faint smile. "You looked so startled. I must have scared you with my temper."

Eleanor turned away, but the memory was sharp and clear. She had brought her father dinner, and since he wasn't there, she had started reading one of his books. A loud bang from the door had made her jump, and she had looked up to see Ian, his face like a mask of ice, glaring at her with cold fury.

"That's not what I want to hear," she said, turning back to him, refusing to let him draw her into the past. "I told you to stick to the point. Tell me what happened between you and my father."

Ian's gaze held hers, his voice low and firm. "That *is* the point. Everything that came after happened because I met you. You were the link between me and your father. You were the only light in what was the darkest time of my life."

Eleanor's frown deepened. She hadn't come here to reminisce or listen to his sentimental recollections.

"If this is all you're going to talk about, then we have nothing left to discuss." She stood up, ready to leave.

"Fine, I'll tell you," Ian said quickly, changing his tone. "I'll tell you what you want to know about your father."

Eleanor bit her lip and sat back down, her eyes fixed on him.

Ian sighed. "My father's condition worsened six months later. The exact cause of death was never determined. Your father asked me to donate his body for research."

Eleanor looked down. If her father had received his body for research, what kind of research was it? Deep pathological analysis might have required… destructive sampling. An autopsy. The thought made her fingers clench. For a young man who had just lost his father, that would have been an almost unbearable cruelty.

For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to ask the next question. If that was the kind of research her father needed to do, Ian must have signed a mountain of paperwork.

"Later, I had the car accident and was brought to your father for treatment. Regardless of anything else, before we were married, your father was the only doctor my family and I trusted."

Eleanor swallowed hard. His story after the accident was her story. Her father had told her, and she had immediately taken a leave of absence from college to care for him. Now she understood why her father, who had initially opposed her decision, had eventually agreed.