On the way back, Lance personally drove Deanna and the others.
During the ride, the two little ones were in good spirits, chatting and laughing with Lance. However, Deanna and Old Ashley were exhausted from a day's work, even though they had rested midway. They leaned back in their seats and soon fell asleep.
Lance, while talking to the children, kept an eye on Deanna. Seeing her head tilted against the window, he slowed down the car to make the ride smoother. He gestured to the children to lower their voices, "Your mommy and great-grandma are asleep, let's talk quietly."
The children looked at their sleeping mother and nodded obediently.
Later, the car stopped at the entrance of Deanna's neighborhood. Old Ashley woke up at the slightest noise due to her age. She looked at the familiar surroundings outside the window and smiled, "We're home."
"Yes, Great-grandma woke up just in time," the children responded with cheerful smiles.
Old Ashley patted their heads and, seeing Deanna still asleep, said, "You two get out first; I'll wake your mommy."
But before she could act, Lance intervened. "Grandma, you take Gregory and Chloe upstairs. No need to wake Dr. Deanna; I'll carry her up."
"Alright, I'll take them up first," Old Ashley agreed, feeling sorry for Deanna's exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Bella had just returned home from work. Seeing her mother in the living room, she hurried over and asked, "Mommy, how did it go at the Mercer family today? What did Samantha say?"
Kelly's gentle face turned angry at the mention of this. Bella's heart sank at her mother's expression.
"Did Samantha change her mind?"
"Samantha said that Lance's marriage is his personal matter and she can't interfere. She also said if you want to marry Lance, you have to try on your own. But seeing the changes in the Mercer family, I suspect Samantha has tacitly approved of Lance being with Deanna," Kelly said with a grim face.
Bella's face darkened immediately. "Why is it like this?"
She was unwilling to accept it and hated Deanna even more. What was so special about that woman?
Kelly gritted her teeth in anger. "You don't know this, but the Mercer family mansion has changed a lot. Samantha's beloved garden has been turned into a family playground. This is clearly for children. Besides Deanna's two kids, who else in the Mercer family has children?"
Upon hearing this, Bella's face twisted with jealousy. She hadn't expected this turn of events.
Just then, her phone rang. It was her assistant calling.
"Miss Bella, I've found the information you wanted and sent it to your email."
"I got it," Bella replied and hung up.
Having already gotten answers from her mother, she wasn't too concerned about the assistant's findings. But then she thought about why Samantha had changed her attitude and decided to open the email.
After reading all the information, she was shocked speechless.
"Why is it like this?" Bella stared at her phone in disbelief.
Kelly saw her daughter's sudden change in expression and worriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Before Bella could respond, Kelly saw the information on the phone and her eyes darkened.
The phone displayed photos of Samantha and Logan playing with Deanna's two children.
"Damn you, Samantha! You're treating our Cody family like fools!" Kelly growled in anger.
Bella didn't speak, but her expression mirrored her mother's feelings.
At that moment, Jeffery walked in and saw their angry faces. He instinctively asked, "What's going on? Who made you so angry?"
"Jeffery, the Mercer family is too much! They're treating our Cody family like fools!" Kelly immediately complained upon seeing him.
She grabbed Bella's phone and showed it to Jeffery. "Look at this! Samantha and Logan are getting close to Deanna's kids while telling us they won't accept her. They're two-faced!"
Jeffery frowned as he looked at the photos on the phone. He had gathered a lot of information about Deanna from his wife and daughter, so he recognized Deanna's children.
Seeing Samantha and Logan's affectionate smiles in the photos, he thought there must be more to this story.
Otherwise, with Samantha and Logan's pride, they would never dote on children who weren't part of the Mercer family.
Thinking this, he looked up at his daughter and said, "You might want to investigate these children's father. Samantha and Logan wouldn't change their attitude for no reason."