Soon, the two of them arrived in the living room downstairs.
Eula originally wanted to sit next to Lance, but Lance stopped her.
"You sit over there."
"Why? Didn't we always sit together and drink before?"
Eula pretended not to understand Lance's distancing, frowning with a look of dissatisfaction.
Lance knew she was pretending and said directly, "You said it yourself, that was before. Now is now. It's different."
"What's different?"
Eula was still unwilling to give up and simply plopped down next to Lance.
She didn't believe that if she sat down, Lance would still make her move.
However, Lance didn't make her move but instead stood up himself and went to sit on a single sofa nearby.
Seeing this, Eula's face immediately fell.
"Lance, don't you think you've been very cold to me lately?"
"When was I ever warm to you?"
Lance looked at her indifferently, leaving Eula speechless.
She snorted lightly, seemingly venting her frustration on the wine bottle cork as she forcefully pulled it out. "I noticed that ever since you got engaged, you've changed. I finally get to visit you, and you don't even take me out. You've become so distant. Clearly, you're prioritizing your fiancée over your friends."
Despite her words, she still poured Lance a glass of wine and handed it over.
Lance didn't take it immediately but said calmly, "People always change."
For some reason, Eula felt a vague sense of unease upon hearing this.
She gripped the wine glass tightly, accidentally shattering it.
The glass fell onto the coffee table, red wine mixing with Eula's blood and spreading across the surface.
Seeing this, Lance frowned and handed her some tissues.
Eula felt a bit guilty and awkward.
"Uh, I didn't mean to use that much force."
She tried to cover up her embarrassment and quickly cleaned up the table. "I'll go get another glass."
Lance didn't stop her.
He wanted to use this conversation to make his stance clear to Eula.
Eula didn't know this and felt secretly pleased when she saw that Lance didn't refuse.
So, she still held a special place in Lance's heart.
After all, this man didn't have much patience.
Soon, Eula returned with a new glass, poured Lance half a glass of wine again, and brought up the topic once more. "When will you take me out for fun? I came all this way, and you just left me with your friends. Isn't that irresponsible?"
She was extremely jealous of Lance accompanying Deanna abroad.
She had almost lost her life for this man and even lost the chance to be a mother, yet she couldn't win his heart. She was truly unwilling to accept this!
This time, Lance took the glass but didn't drink. Instead, he placed it on the table.
Then he looked up at Eula and said in a cold voice, "We didn't go for fun; we went to handle Deanna's family matters. It's not suitable for outsiders."
"How am I an outsider?"
Eula was very dissatisfied with Lance's description. "After all these years of life-and-death situations together, you don't even consider me one of your own? I saved your life for nothing!"
By the end of her words, she was genuinely angry, her eyes reddening with either anger or grievance.
Lance remained unmoved, looking at her indifferently.
His deep, dark eyes seemed to see through people's true thoughts.
Finally, Eula couldn't stand the oppressive atmosphere any longer and broke the silence first.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"
She said this with a look of grievance on her face and continued, "I treat you like a brother, but you guard against me in every way and treat me like an outsider. You're breaking my heart."
Despite this, Lance continued to watch her performance with a cold expression.
Faced with such an unyielding man, Eula really felt like she couldn't continue speaking.
Fortunately, at this moment, Lance finally spoke.
"A brother? But I've never considered a woman as a brother. Besides, we're partners. As long as there are interests involved, that's enough. Anything else would affect our cooperation. Also, I don't want Deanna to misunderstand anything. So keeping a distance is good for both of us."
These words were almost a direct rejection of Eula.
Eula's face immediately turned grim.
At this moment, she understood that Lance had already seen through her thoughts!
But now she couldn't bring up the matter again.
Because his words not only rejected her but also warned her to behave herself; otherwise, their cooperation would end.
Thus, without drinking a single sip of wine, the two parted on bad terms.
Lance didn't care about Eula leaving with a dark face. He leisurely went upstairs to check on the children's sleeping positions in the nursery room to see if they needed their blankets adjusted.
After doing all this, he returned to his study to continue his previously interrupted work.