Xavier watched his retreating figure, feeling utterly devastated.
"What's wrong with being single? It's all because of you giving me so much work every day. I don't have any time left to find a girlfriend."
Despite his complaints, Xavier still chased after Mr. Mercer, got him some ginger soup from the inn, and dutifully performed his role as a personal assistant.
Meanwhile, Deanna returned home and was immediately urged by the two little ones and Julia to take a bath.
It was only then that she finally relaxed and felt alive again.
Leaning against the edge of the bathtub, she couldn't help but recall the scene when Lance came to find her. She wished she could bury herself in the water and never come out.
How could she cry like that in front of Lance? It was so embarrassing!
"Ahhh-I'm too ashamed to face anyone!" Deanna shouted in frustration.
Julia heard the commotion outside and quickly knocked on the door with concern, "Deanna, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about me."
After saying that, Deanna pinched her nose and submerged herself in the water.
After a while, she resurfaced, feeling much calmer.
However, thinking about the earlier events made her heart race.
Especially when Lance held her to comfort her; at that moment, she felt an incredible sense of security.
After her bath, Deanna changed into clean clothes and went out. The two little ones immediately brought her some warm ginger soup.
Deanna wasn't very fond of the strong ginger taste, but she forced herself to drink it for the sake of the children and her friend.
Julia smiled as she saw some color return to Deanna's face and apologized again, "I'm sorry, Deanna. If I hadn't acted on my own, none of this would have happened."
"It's okay, I know you didn't mean it."
Deanna shook her head, not holding a grudge.
However, she did express her disapproval, "But don't come up with such ideas again. My relationship with Lance is... complicated. I haven't figured out how to handle it yet, so let's leave it for now."
She then looked at the two little ones with a mix of helplessness and amusement.
"And you two, no more meddling. I won't stop you from interacting with him, but don't force Mommy."
"Got it, Mommy." The two little ones nodded obediently, realizing they hadn't thought things through.
Especially what Uncle Lance had done to Mommy made them dissatisfied; they felt that Uncle Lance hadn't taken good care of Mommy.
Julia, however, picked up on something different from Deanna's words.
She looked over curiously, "Come on, tell me honestly. Do you have some secret with Mr. Mercer?"
"Since you said it's a secret, it can't be told."
Deanna didn't want to reveal that Lance was the children's father to her friend just yet.
She knew that given her friend's personality, she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret.
And her two little geniuses would definitely get the information out of her friend.
Julia felt like a cat scratching at her heart, desperate to know what the secret was.
As she pestered Deanna, there was a knock on the door.
Deanna quickly used it as an excuse to push her away and urged, "Go open the door."
Julia wrinkled her nose but went to open the door anyway.
Outside stood Lance, who had changed his clothes and was holding some cold medicine that Xavier had gotten from the inn's front desk.
Seeing Julia at the door, he asked, "Is Dr. Deanna ready?"
"Does Mr. Mercer need something?"
Julia didn't answer but instead blocked the doorway, clearly not intending to let him in.
Lance noticed her displeasure but didn't say anything. He replied in a deep voice, "I was worried about Dr. Deanna and came to check on her."
"Oh, you can rest assured. As long as you don't upset our Deanna, she'll be fine." Julia deliberately mocked Lance with her words.
Xavier watched from behind in awe and couldn't help but give Julia an admiring look.
No wonder she was Dr. Deanna's friend; she was just as bold as Dr. Deanna.
Lance's face darkened slightly.
Inside the room, Deanna was equally stunned.
Coming back to her senses, she felt both touched and amused.
"Julia, stop it. Let Mr. Mercer in."
She intervened to stop Julia's antics.
After all, Lance had helped bring her back when she got lost.
Julia reluctantly stepped aside and let him in.
The two little ones saw Lance enter but didn't greet him warmly as usual. Instead, they turned their heads away in displeasure.
Lance noticed this and smiled wryly, knowing he had upset them.
He looked at Deanna sitting on the bed and asked, "How are you feeling? Is there any discomfort? I got some cold medicine from the front desk. If you're not feeling well, you can take it."
"I'm fine. Thank you for bringing me back," Deanna said softly in gratitude.