"And another thing, you got it wrong. You think killing Deanna's grandmother would make her suffer for a lifetime, but you underestimate her. She won't suffer; she will personally avenge her grandmother, making the culprit wish for death but unable to die, living a life worse than death, watching her live happily."
Lance spoke each word clearly to Eula.
Eula felt a chill run through her body upon hearing his words.
Unable to live, unable to die, and having to watch Deanna live happily...
Just the thought of that scene made Eula panic.
She didn't want to live like that.
"Hah, aren't you afraid that if I stay alive, I might escape and harm Deanna? You should know my capabilities."
Eula deliberately tried to provoke Lance.
Lance saw through her attempt and looked down at her, mocking, "Do you think I'll give you a chance to escape? After today, you'll be a cripple. Live out your remaining days here and atone for your sins."
With that, Lance turned and left, ignoring Eula.
Seeing this, Eula truly panicked.
She didn't want to live a life of misery, so she started screaming, "Lance, if you have the guts, kill me now. Otherwise, as long as I'm alive, I'll find a way to escape. When I do, I'll kill your children and make them die painfully!"
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, Lance stopped and turned back to look at her as if she were already dead.
Despite her fear, Eula continued to provoke him.
"What? Are you scared? You better kill me now, or I'll make sure your children have no place to be buried."
"Is that so? Then I'd like to see how you'll make it."
Lance's thin lips parted slightly, his voice cold to the extreme. Then, he instructed the guards outside, "Go in and cripple her hands and feet, but don't kill her. Deanna wants her alive."
"Yes!" The subordinate nodded and then walked towards Eula.
Seeing the approaching man, Eula instinctively felt fear.
However, she had no strength left to resist. Since being captured, she had only been given one meal a day, barely enough to keep her alive.
Moreover, the drugs that Lance had given her kept her body in constant pain, leaving her with no energy to fight back.
As Lance left the underground corridor, he could still faintly hear Eula's agonizing screams. He looked up at the sunlight above, hoping the days to come would be as vibrant as that light.
The subsequent days were rather peaceful. Gunner granted Deanna a long leave of absence due to her health condition, which lasted for a whole year.
However, despite the leave, Gunner began to hand over the management of the Martinez family's assets to Deanna.
Julia and Lionel's marriage was also finalized, and they began to proceed with the engagement and wedding preparations. With these plans set, Julia and Lionel approached Deanna to discuss the wedding date.
"We should have the wedding after we've given birth to our child, wait, no, we should have it after we give birth and get our figures back!" Julia shared her thoughts.
Deanna agreed wholeheartedly. Over the past month, she had been under Lance's care, resting in bed, and with all the nutritious broths she consumed daily, she had gained at least ten pounds, even feeling like her waist had doubled in size.
Thinking about this, Deanna couldn't help but secretly pinch the flesh around her waist.
She then took a deep breath and said, "Julia is due at the end of the year, and I'm a month behind her. How about we set the wedding for next April?" By then, aside from a month of postpartum rest, both she and Julia would have two months to lose weight. In any case, her wedding had to be beautiful.
Julia, being Deanna's close friend, instantly understood Deanna's thoughts and nodded in agreement without hesitation. "April sounds great, it's the perfect season of spring's warmth and blooming flowers, let's get married in April." She winked at Deanna, who returned her gesture.
Lance and Lionel, observing their little interaction, understood their intentions but did not object.
Both the King family and the Grant family, along with the Mercer family, busied themselves with the wedding preparations once the date was set.
Although the Mercer family had almost everything ready for the wedding, adding Julia's wedding meant incorporating numerous additional details. Invitations also had to be redesigned and sent out afresh.
However, none of these concerns involved Deanna.
Both Lance and the Mercer family forbade her from engaging in anything that might tire her out, likely due to her earlier miscarriage scare.
As a result, Deanna found herself idle and bored every day. The only consolation was that she wasn't alone.
Not long ago, she and Julia had gone for a check-up together, and Julia was found to be expecting twins. Lionel was thrilled, strictly adhering to the doctor's advice, which further limited Julia's freedom to move about.