Xavier's explanation didn't reassure Lance who looked grim.
He instructed in a deep voice, "Find out who the person is as soon as possible. Any news on the Valencia family father and son?"
"Not yet."
Xavier shook his head again, looking somewhat nervous.
He was worried that Lance would be dissatisfied with this result.
Lance was indeed very unhappy. It had been almost a month since the incident with the Valencia family father and son, yet there was still no news.
After thinking for a moment, he ordered, "Find a way to locate these two people. Mobilize all our available forces!"
"Yes." Xavier nodded in agreement and turned to carry out the order.
Later, after finishing his work, Lance packed up and went home.
At Hencard Villa, Deanna had not yet gone to bed, and the two little ones were playing in the living room.
They heard the sound of an engine in the garden and knew that Lance had returned.
"Uncle is back."
Chloe immediately dropped her Lego and happily ran to the door.
Gregory did not move, focusing intently on his Lego. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that he hadn't assembled any pieces correctly.
Deanna watched and couldn't help but laugh.
She wondered whom this child resembled-so smart yet stubborn.
Ever since he found out that Lance had lied to him that day, he had been sulking and wouldn't be coaxed no matter what Lance did.
Just as she was thinking about this, Deanna heard her daughter's cheerful voice.
"Uncle, why are you so late today?"
"There were some things I hadn't finished dealing with."
Lance held the little girl and gently lifted her up. He frowned slightly and asked, "Have you gained some weight?"
"Are you calling me fat? I'm not fat at all!"
The little girl retorted angrily, struggling to get down from Lance's arms.
Seeing this, Lance's expression turned somewhat awkward, knowing he might have said something wrong.
But before he could defend himself, the little girl stood on the ground, wrinkled her nose, and argued back, "Uncle, how can you call a girl fat? That's very impolite. And I'm not fat; Mommy said it's because my clothes are thick and add weight."
Time passed unknowingly. In November, Cloudmere had already entered early winter.
Cloudmere was somewhat northern; once winter arrived, temperatures dropped sharply. Sometimes it even snowed lightly outside.
To prevent the two children from catching a cold due to the seasonal change, Deanna had them wear thermal clothing and down jackets.
This was Lance's first time taking care of children, so he made a blunder.
The little girl didn't know this and glared at Lance angrily. "How can you call a lady like me heavy? I've decided not to talk to you for three days!"
After saying this, she turned around and ran towards her brother with short legs, looking quite united against a common enemy. "Gregory, let's not talk to Uncle together."
Unexpectedly, Gregory glanced at her disdainfully.
It was clear that he knew his sister's words were just talk; she would probably be fine by tomorrow.
Lance walked towards Deanna with a helpless smile and said awkwardly, "I seem to have upset both kids."
"I know. But don't count on me. Although Gregory still talks to me now, as a mother I know he's very upset about us lying to him together."
Deanna shrugged her shoulders, indicating she couldn't help.
Lance had no choice but to think about asking Xavier to buy some new Lego sets tomorrow to cheer up the kids.
The next morning, Lance had breakfast with the two little ones and planned to take them to kindergarten. However, they refused him.
"Uncle doesn't need to; you go to work. Mommy can take us," Gregory spoke calmly.
Chloe nodded beside him but didn't say anything. She had decided not to talk to Lance for three days and intended to stick to it.
Seeing this, Lance was truly at his wit's end.
Fortunately, Deanna said at this moment, "Mommy doesn't have time today; let your Uncle Lance take you. Mommy has to go to the manor later because there's an issue with the medicinal herbs there."
This wasn't an excuse; there really was a problem with the herbs at the manor.
For some unknown reason, some herbs had started rotting. She needed to check it out because those herbs were of high medicinal value and had taken considerable effort to cultivate until now.
Although the two little ones were unhappy about it, they didn't say anything in the end.
After finishing their meal later on, they left with Lance.
On the way there was an odd atmosphere in the car. The two little ones chatted while Lance occasionally chimed in but received no response from them.
Xavier noticed this and raised an eyebrow slightly in surprise. Had Mr. Mercer quarreled with Master Gregory and Miss Chloe?
But he soon found out why.
After dropping off the two children at school, Lance rubbed his temples in frustration as if talking to himself or asking Xavier. "I don't know who these kids take after; they're so stubborn. Gregory hasn't talked to me for days now. And Chloe decided not to talk to me for three days just because I implied she was getting chubbier yesterday."
Hearing this made Xavier chuckle quietly. He hadn't expected their usually invincible CEO would now feel helpless because of being ignored by two kids.