During Lance's recovery, Deanna was also resting at the Dayton villa. Over the days, her suspicions grew.
First, Dayton claimed to love her deeply, but he never got close to her. He always maintained a safe distance, saying it was to avoid harming the baby.
But she could see through this excuse. A truly affectionate person wouldn't behave like that.
Of course, Deanna couldn't bring herself to be close to him either; she rejected him from the bottom of her heart.
She also noticed that sometimes his gaze was filled with mischief. Most importantly, he obstructed her attempts to explore the outside world.
She had mentioned wanting to search online for information about her identity, but Dayton said the internet at home was down and couldn't be fixed temporarily.
When she wanted to go outside, he stopped her, claiming she wasn't fully recovered and it wasn't safe.
In short, he had all sorts of excuses. Given that she knew nothing at the moment, Deanna decided not to expose Dayton's lies. She wanted to see what he was up to.
Thus, Deanna stayed calm and continued her recovery at the Poole family estate. While she remained patient, Lance couldn't sit still.
After three days of rest, Lance's old ailments were temporarily suppressed. As soon as he felt slightly better, he hurried to the dock to find Bella.
Seeing the woman hanging in mid-air, barely alive, Lance felt no satisfaction; instead, his hatred grew. This woman was still alive, while his Deanna and unborn child might not be.
"Put her down," Lance ordered his men. They quickly complied and laid Bella on the ground. She was dazed and confused.
Lance looked down at her expressionlessly and commanded, "Bring cold water and wake her up."
The splash of water jolted Bella awake, making her cough violently. As she struggled to breathe, a pair of clean, bright shoes appeared before her eyes. She recognized them as Lance's usual brand.
Before she could look up, the man crouched down and suddenly grabbed her by the neck. "Bella, I want to dig out your heart and see if you have one! You didn't even spare a child. Are you even human?"
Lance tightened his grip on Bella's neck. At that moment, he truly wanted to strangle this vicious woman. Bella was on the verge of being choked to death; her eyes rolled back from lack of oxygen.
Just as Bella was about to pass out, Lance released her abruptly, tossing her aside like garbage. Bella lay on the ground, clutching her neck, coughing and gasping for air.
Tears streamed down her face as she trembled in fear.
She thought she was going to die just now. At that moment, she realized clearly that she didn't want to die; she wanted to live.
Lance's cold voice came from above again. "I'll ask you one last time: who is the mastermind behind this?"
"Will you let me go if I tell you?" Bella asked weakly, lifting her head with difficulty.
Lance met her gaze with a mocking and icy look. "Do you think you are in a position to negotiate with me?"
Bella's body stiffened, but she persisted, "As long as you promise not to kill me, I'll tell you who the mastermind is!"
Hearing this, Lance's eyes narrowed dangerously. He then looked at Bella and sneered coldly.
"Kill you? Killing you would be too easy. I want you to spend your life repenting for what you've done to Deanna and my child!"
Bella's face turned pale. Making her repent for Deanna was worse than killing her!
However, she had no choice in this matter. "The person behind me... I don't know exactly who it is. The one who contacted me is a foreign man, and above him is another boss."
Bella weakly revealed what she knew. Eula, who had just arrived, overheard this and felt a chill in her heart but maintained a calm exterior as she approached them.
Lance then asked, "Do you remember what that man looks like?"
"I remember..." Before Bella could finish nodding, she fainted from exhaustion.
Eula breathed a sigh of relief. She feared Bella would describe Avery's appearance but was glad she passed out.
Lance was not pleased; they were so close to getting crucial information, but now Bella had fainted. "Take her for treatment and protect her well. If anything happens to her, I'll hold you all responsible!"
The last two sentences were added when Lance saw Eula because he feared she might kill Bella to silence her.
In fact, Eula did have that thought.