Unable to find Lance, the two kids decided to head home. Just as they reached the street and were about to hail a cab, a black sedan pulled up in front of them.
"Gregory, Chloe, what are you doing here?" Logan rolled down the window, looking surprised at the sight of the two children.
Seeing him, the kids breathed a sigh of relief. "It's Gramp! We came to surprise Uncle Lance, but he went out for a meeting," Chloe explained with a sweet smile.
Logan, naturally, couldn't let the kids take a cab home alone. Missing them dearly, he decided to take them back to the Mercer family mansion.
At the mansion, Samantha received a message from her husband and was overjoyed. "Butler, have the kitchen prepare a few more dishes. Chloe and Gregory are coming for dinner."
"Someone, clean up the playground in the yard. Chloe and Gregory will play there later."
"And make sure their rooms are tidied up too," Samantha's excited voice echoed through the living room.
Before long, Logan arrived at the estate with the two children. "Gregory, Chloe, let me have a good look at you," Samantha ran over enthusiastically and hugged them tightly.
Due to the cold war between Lance and Deanna, they hadn't seen the children in a while and missed them terribly. Under their warm reception, the kids gradually relaxed and had a great time. Exhausted from playing, they eventually fell asleep in the arms of the elderly couple.
After letting her grandmother rest, Deanna waited in the living room for Lance to bring the kids back. As it approached ten o'clock and there was no sign of them, she frowned. Was he planning not to return the children?
Her face darkened at the thought. Unable to wait any longer, she grabbed her car keys and headed out to fetch them herself.
In the study of Hencard Villa, Lance was wearing a bathrobe and working on company documents. Sam knocked on the door and entered with a hint of excitement. "Mr. Mercer, Miss Jones is here. She's downstairs."
Lance was momentarily stunned and looked surprised. "Why is she here?" Despite his words, he promptly got up and left the study. His mood lightened considerably.
In a few minutes, Lance was in the living room. Seeing Deanna sitting on the sofa softened his stern features. Before he could speak, Deanna stood up and turned to him coldly. "Lance, I didn't expect you to be so despicable. Give me back my children!"
Lance's smile froze instantly. "What do you mean by that?" He frowned.
Deanna, too angry to notice his reaction, continued to berate him. "You know exactly what I mean. You took advantage of the children's ignorance and affection for you to take them away behind my back. Do you think you can just take them from me? As long as I'm here, you won't take my children away, even if you're their biological father from the Mercer family. Now return my children, or I'll call the police!"
Lance's face changed as he began to understand what had happened. "I didn't take the children."
"You're lying! The school teacher told me you picked them up from the back gate," Deanna said angrily, clenching her fists and glaring at him with red eyes.
Seeing her distress pained Lance but also made him worry more. He took a deep breath and said seriously, "Why would I lie? If I wanted to take them from you, I would have done it as soon as I knew their identities. Why wait until now?"
Deanna was momentarily speechless. Lance's expression turned serious. "The important thing now is to find the children. Have you tried contacting them?"
Deanna calmed down slightly upon hearing this. "I thought Gregory and Chloe were with you, so I didn't call them. I'll contact them now."
She quickly pulled out her phone and called Gregory. Lance also took out his phone to contact Xavier and asked him to check the kindergarten's back gate surveillance for clues about the children's whereabouts.
Fortunately, Deanna's call was answered quickly, but it wasn't her son's voice on the other end. "Who are you? Why do you have my son's smartwatch?" Deanna's face grew tense.
Samantha hurriedly explained over the phone, "Dr. Deanna, don't misunderstand. I'm Lance's mother. We're just so happy that we forgot to inform you; the children are with us."