At General Manager's Office of Cody Group, Bella saw the news of Deanna's acquittal and her eyes darkened with immense fury.
"Is this woman indestructible? How could she turn things around after all that?"
She gritted her teeth, her hands clenched into tight fists, feeling utterly unwilling to accept the situation.
But she knew there was no turning back now, so she took several deep breaths to calm herself down.
She stared intently at Deanna's photo on the computer, her expression inscrutable.
One day, she vowed, she would see this woman disgraced and fleeing Cloudmere like a stray dog!
Emily shared Bella's resentment.
"Why does this bitch always get so lucky and escape danger?!"
Emily slammed her phone down, her beautiful face filled with jealousy and frustration.
She even started to dislike Bella. "The Cody family's eldest daughter? Her methods are worse than those of a third-rate celebrity in our entertainment industry... Revenge is something you can't leave to others; you have to do it yourself!"
Deanna woke up from a deep sleep to find it was already evening, and the two children were nowhere in sight.
She picked up her phone from beside the pillow and saw numerous missed calls and messages from her friends Julia and Landon.
Just as she was about to respond, Landon's call came through again.
"Hello..."
"Oh my God, you finally answered! Where are you? Why haven't you come home?"
As soon as the call connected, Landon bombarded Deanna with questions without giving her a chance to speak.
Deanna smiled, knowing he was worried about her. "I'm at Mr. Mercer's house. My place isn't cleaned up yet, so I'm staying here for now. I'll go back tomorrow morning."
"Oh, you're at Mr. Mercer's... Wait, what? Where did you say you are?"
Landon's shocked voice came through the phone.
Without waiting for Deanna to answer, he questioned again, "Why are you at Mr. Mercer's house? Be honest, what's your relationship with him?"
"Get your mind out of the gutter. Mr. Mercer and I are just friends," Deanna responded irritably.
Just then, the door to the room opened, and two little heads peeked in.
When they saw their mommy sitting on the bed, their eyes lit up.
"Mommy, you're awake."
"Mommy, Uncle asked us to call you for dinner."
The two kids said in unison.
Deanna nodded at them and then spoke into the phone, "I'm going to eat now. Talk later."
"Alright, go eat. I'll come see you at home tomorrow."
Landon said before hanging up.
Later that evening, after dinner.
Old Ashley, still recovering from a serious illness, went upstairs to rest early due to lack of energy.
Deanna stayed in the living room with the two kids as they did their homework while Lance worked nearby.
Even though they didn't talk much, the scene felt inexplicably warm.
After about two hours, it was time for the kids to go to bed.
After putting them to sleep, Deanna returned to the living room.
Hearing her, Lance looked up from his documents and smiled slightly. "Are they asleep?"
"They're asleep."
Deanna nodded and walked over to Lance. "Give me your hand; let me check your pulse. You've been busy with my affairs these past few days and probably haven't rested well."
"I've been resting fine."
Lance's eyes flickered as he answered, not seeming inclined to extend his hand.
Deanna noticed this and directly grabbed his hand to check his pulse.
Fortunately, although his pulse wasn't great, it hadn't caused any physical harm overall.
Feeling a strange emotion inside her, Deanna couldn't quite describe it but didn't reject it either. "I remember I left an acupuncture set here before. Let me give you a treatment so you can sleep better tonight."
"Aren't you tired?"
Lance didn't immediately agree but instead showed concern for Deanna's well-being.
Deanna shook her head and smiled. "I rested all afternoon; I'm feeling very energetic now."
Hearing this, Lance decided not to refuse the treatment Deanna offered.
As the treatment began, perhaps due to the stress and tension of recent days, Lance fell into a deep sleep shortly after it started.
After finishing the acupuncture, Deanna looked at his peaceful sleeping face and found herself mesmerized.
She didn't know how long she stared before snapping out of it, her cheeks starting to flush.
"Deanna, what's wrong with you? It's not like you haven't seen him before. Why are you acting like a lovesick fool?"
She murmured softly, gently patting her cheeks in an attempt to cool them down.
But it didn't help much; her face remained hot.
Unable to do anything else, she decided to go outside for some fresh air.
Unbeknownst to her, as soon as she left, Lance-who should have been asleep-opened his eyes and watched her leave with a smile on his lips and an indescribable tenderness in his gaze.