"The two kids are tired from playing. Why don't they stay over at our place tonight?" Samantha suggested over the phone to Deanna.
To Deanna, this sounded dangerous. "No, I'll come to pick them up in a bit," she replied, cutting Samantha off and hanging up immediately.
Putting down her phone, she looked at Lance with a cold smile. Clearly furious, her words were sharp. "Mr. Mercer, your lies are getting smoother. The kids are at your parents' house, yet you said you didn't know. I should never have trusted you. I'm going to get the kids now, and you better not try to stop me!"
With that, Deanna turned and left. Lance quickly followed her.
Deanna noticed his movement and glared at him coldly. "What, Mr. Mercer, are you trying to stop me?"
"You misunderstand. I'm not trying to stop you; I want to take you to the mansion," Lance replied with a bitter smile.
He knew Deanna had misunderstood him and that anything he said might make things worse, so he chose to say as little as possible.
Thus, on the way to the mansion, they remained silent.
At the mansion, knowing Deanna was coming to pick up the kids, the elderly couple reluctantly woke them up.
When Deanna arrived, she saw the two children dressed and sitting on the living room sofa. The kids noticed their mother's displeased expression and looked a bit scared.
"Mommy..." they began.
"Come with me," Deanna said coldly, pulling them up from the sofa and making to leave.
Samantha frowned at the rough manner and showed her displeasure. Before she could say anything, Lance stopped her.
"Mom, don't say anything."
"You want me to stay quiet? Look at how she's treating my grandchildren!" Samantha retorted angrily.
Lance could only explain helplessly, "Dr. Deanna misunderstood that we were trying to take the kids away, so she's understandably upset."
As he finished speaking, he saw Deanna leading the kids out of the living room and quickly followed them.
Unfortunately, he was a step too late and could only watch as Deanna and the kids drove away.
On the way back, the kids knew they were in trouble and looked at their expressionless mother driving.
"Mommy, we were wrong," they admitted in unison.
Deanna glanced at them coldly. Seeing their fearful eyes, she couldn't bring herself to scold them. She took a deep breath and said calmly, "We'll talk about it when we get home."
The kids nodded obediently.
Later that evening at home, Deanna confronted the kids.
"Why did you lie to your teacher? If you wanted to see Uncle Lance, you could have told me. Why did you lie?"
By now, she had figured out that she had misunderstood Lance. He hadn't come to pick up the kids; they had lied to their teacher to see him and left through the back door because they feared she wouldn't agree.
The kids hung their heads in shame. "We were afraid you wouldn't let us. You and Uncle Lance fought, and you wouldn't let him come over."
Deanna felt conflicted hearing this. "I never said he couldn't come over... But that's not the point. You can't do this again. Leaving without a word makes me worry, understand?"
"Does that mean you'll let Uncle Lance come over?" they asked hopefully.
Deanna remained silent. "That's an adult matter. You kids shouldn't worry about it. Just remember what I said: don't leave without telling me where you're going. If it happens again, I'll have to punish you."
Hearing this, the kids realized their mother wasn't ready to reconcile with Uncle Lance and their hopeful eyes dimmed.
"We understand," they replied weakly.
Deanna didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. She finally waved them off. "Alright, go to bed. You have school tomorrow."
The kids nodded and went to their room.
Once inside, Chloe looked at her brother and pouted. "I think we made things worse. What if Mommy never lets us see Uncle again?"
Gregory was also worried, especially remembering how their mother hadn't been kind to Uncle Lance when she picked them up.
Seeing her brother's silence, Chloe suggested, "Should we ask Godmother for help?"
"Okay, I'll call Godmother. You lock the door," Gregory agreed, dividing the tasks with his sister.
Soon, the call connected, and Julia's cheerful voice came through.
"Little darlings, why are you still awake? Missing your Godmother?"
"Godmother, we messed up," Gregory said pitifully.
Julia immediately grew concerned. "What happened? Tell Godmother, and she'll help you."