On the other side, Deanna left the hospital with the two little ones.
In the car, the two children saw the anger on their mommy's face and exchanged a worried glance.
Finally, Gregory cautiously asked, "Mommy, did you have a fight with Daddy?"
Deanna noticed their fearful and worried expressions. Although she felt guilty, she maintained a facade of anger.
She took a deep breath, as if trying to calm her anger, and slowly asked, "Gregory and Chloe, if Mommy and Daddy break up, would you want to stay with Mommy or Daddy?"
"Why would you and Daddy break up?" The two children were shocked and looked at Deanna in disbelief.
Deanna explained, "You know that Mommy hurt your Daddy yesterday. He thinks I'm dangerous and wants to send me to a sanatorium. I disagreed, so he threatened me with a breakup."
"That's impossible. Daddy would never send you away," the two children retorted without hesitation.
They didn't believe what Deanna was saying.
Seeing their determined expressions, Deanna didn't know whether to feel relieved or to cry. She tried to maintain her angry facade and said in a deep voice, "In fact, your Daddy has already kicked me out. If we go back now, we will have to move out of the manor. Think about it while you can: do you want to come with me or stay in the manor with your Daddy?"
Hearing this, the two children became anxious, especially Chloe, whose eyes filled with tears. "Mommy, please don't break up with Daddy. I don't want you to separate. I want you both together."
"Mommy, please don't go. Daddy must have a reason for making you leave," Gregory also pleaded.
After saying this, he felt he had guessed the truth and excitedly said, "Mommy, you must have misunderstood Daddy. He has done similar things before. He must be trying to protect you."
"Enough! I don't care what Lance's reasons are. I will never go to a sanatorium. If you can't bear to leave your Daddy, you can stay with him and let me leave alone!" Deanna suddenly raised her voice.
The two children were startled.
After a few seconds of shock, Chloe couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears. "I don't want Mommy and Daddy to separate!"
Hearing her heartbroken cries, Deanna felt equally distressed inside.
Gregory's eyes also reddened, but he didn't know how to persuade her.
He could see that his mommy was determined to separate from their daddy.
In this oppressive atmosphere, the car arrived at the manor.
Deanna got out of the car with a cold expression.
She waited for the two children to slowly get out and then said again, "I'm going to pack my things now. I'll leave in half an hour. If you want to come with me, pack your things and come with me. Otherwise, stay here with your daddy."
After saying this, she walked away without waiting for their response.
Watching her walk away, Chloe grabbed Gregory's sleeve anxiously. "What should we do, Gregory? Mommy looks like she really wants to leave Daddy."
"Let's call Daddy."
Gregory couldn't think of a better solution and took out his smartwatch to call Lance.
Fortunately, the call connected quickly, and Lance's gentle voice came through. "Gregory, what's wrong?"
"Daddy, Mommy is packing her things to leave. Please talk to her!" The two children spoke in unison, their voices full of urgency.
To their surprise, Lance was silent for a few seconds before replying in a stiff tone, "If she wants to leave, let her leave. You don't need to worry about her. And you are not allowed to leave. You are the Mercer family's children, understand?"
"Daddy, you want Mommy to leave?"
The two children couldn't believe what they were hearing.
Lance corrected them, "It's not that I want her to leave; it's that she wants to leave. Now I'm very tired. Stay home and be good. Your grandmother will come to pick you up later."
With that, he hung up the phone.
He was afraid of being blamed by the children.
The two children didn't know this.
After the call ended, their faces turned gloomy.
Chloe looked at her brother's unhappy face and asked again, "What should we do? Daddy told us to stay home, but Mommy said if we want to go with her, we should pack our things."
"Do you want to go with Mommy or stay here?"
Gregory looked up at her.
Chloe twisted her fingers in distress. "I want to go with Mommy but also want to stay with Daddy."
Then she seemed to think of something and looked at Gregory expectantly. "Gregory, do you think if we stay here, Mommy will come back because she misses us?"
"No!" Gregory shook his head without hesitation.
He knew his mommy's character well enough; once she decided to leave, she wouldn't care anymore.
Hearing this, Chloe's face fell.
Then she muttered to herself, "Then I'll go with Mommy. We can find a way to make Daddy and Mommy reconcile later."