Bella watched Lance care so much about Deanna, and jealousy churned within her. She clenched her fists tightly, struggling to keep her emotions in check. She felt left out as Lance and the others talked, seemingly like a family, while she couldn't get a word in. She had been there for days, so why couldn't Lance see her worth?
Taking a deep breath, Bella forced herself into the conversation. "Now that Lance is awake, we haven't informed Dr. Cohen. I'll go get him."
"Thank you," Samantha nodded at her, then turned back to fuss over Lance. Bella felt ignored and bit her lip hard before leaving.
Soon, she returned with Braylon. Seeing his friend awake, Braylon smiled, "You're finally awake. How do you feel?"
"Sore all over," Lance replied with a frown.
Braylon chuckled, "Of course you do. You've been lying here for a week." He stepped forward to examine Lance. The others stood quietly by, watching intently.
After a moment, Braylon put away his tools and smiled, "Your vitals have improved a lot. With Dr. Deanna's continued treatment, you'll be free of toxins in a week."
Lance nodded but soon fell back into a deep sleep due to his weakened state. Bella's eyes gleamed as she saw this.
She then suggested kindly, "Since Lance is awake, Samantha, you should go home and rest. I'll stay and take care of him."
"No need. I'll arrange someone to stay," Samantha refused without hesitation. She didn't trust Bella to be alone there.
Bella had no choice but to leave with Samantha.
The next morning, Lance woke up early, perhaps from too much sleep. He turned his head slightly and saw Deanna still asleep in the next bed, feeling a pang of heartache.
After some time, there was a knock on the door, followed by Xavier's voice. "Mr. Mercer, are you awake?"
"Come in," Lance responded softly.
Xavier entered with a food box in hand. Lance sat up in bed with a frown, and Xavier quickly moved to help him, asking with concern, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. How about your injuries?" Lance asked.
Xavier smiled, "I'm fully recovered." He set out breakfast for Lance and handed it to him.
As Lance ate, he asked about what had happened while he was unconscious. Xavier reported everything without omission.
"The captured attacker is tough; no matter how we interrogate him, he won't reveal who sent him. But Miss Cody told us that Alonso was behind it. After learning you were safe, Alonso tried to kidnap Dr. Deanna, but she escaped."
Hearing this, Lance's eyes filled with anger. "What's the situation with the Valencia family now?"
"After Dr. Deanna's incident, the chairman took people to the Valencia family but couldn't arrest Alonso due to lack of evidence. The chairman has been suppressing the Valencia family since then, and now Explority Group is in a big crisis," Xavier explained.
Lance's face darkened as he listened. "Find a way to get useful evidence from that attacker and uncover his organization."
"I understand," Xavier nodded and prepared to leave.
Just as he stepped out, Lance called him back. "Wait."
"What's wrong?" Xavier turned around in confusion.
Lance squinted as he recalled something. "You said Bella told you Alonso was behind this. How did she know?"
"Oh, that's because Alonso wanted to collaborate with Miss Cody. Miss Cody pretended to agree but informed Lady Samantha when she arrived. However, they didn't expect Alonso to target Dr. Deanna instead of you," Xavier explained.
Lance listened and felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint it immediately.
After pondering for a moment, he decided not to take any chances and coldly instructed, "Investigate Bella privately."
"Do you suspect Miss Cody?" Xavier asked in surprise.
"We'll know if there's an issue after investigating," Lance replied sternly.
Hearing this, Xavier said no more and left.
As he opened the door, he almost bumped into Braylon coming in.