Old Hughes was clearly taken aback by Deanna's words, almost choking on his own saliva. He instinctively glanced at Deanna, noticing her calm demeanor, as if she hadn't realized what she had just said.
The Walsh family members were equally stunned. After a moment, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh's faces turned peculiar. Leticia's anger was evident. Just as she was about to reprimand Deanna, Hassan shot her a warning look. Leticia, seeing this, had no choice but to swallow her words.
Hassan, noticing her compliance, turned to Deanna with a slight smile and said, "Miss Jones has quite a sense of humor."
"Not really," Deanna responded nonchalantly.
Hassan didn't mind and raised his glass for a toast, saying courteously, "Then for the next few days, I'll leave my grandfather in your capable hands, Miss Jones."
"That's fine, but I hope that during the treatment, Mr. Hassan ensures that no irrelevant people disturb me. After all, I don't have the best temper," Deanna replied pointedly.
Hassan caught her implication, a strange light flashing in his eyes as he looked at Deanna in surprise.
Clearly, he hadn't expected Deanna to express her dislike for his cousin so directly. This was different from the women he usually encountered and piqued his interest in her. Leticia, on the other hand, was fuming but dared not speak up due to her cousin's warning. She could only glare at Deanna resentfully.
Old Hughes, seeing Deanna handle the situation well, said nothing and continued chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Walsh. Mrs. Walsh also remained silent. In their view, Dr. Deanna hadn't done anything wrong; it was always their daughter who was provoking.
Thus, the meal proceeded relatively harmoniously. Old Hughes, being elderly and tired from a day of travel and activity, retired to his room to rest.
Deanna, needing to prepare herbs for the next day's treatment, asked Hassan for a guest room and busied herself inside.
Unbeknownst to her, someone was watching her from outside the door. After some time, Deanna finally finished processing all the herbs she had brought and stood up to stretch.
Noticing it was almost eleven o'clock, she tidied up briefly and left the room to go rest.
As she stepped out, she saw Leticia standing in the hallway, scrolling through her phone. Initially intending to ignore her and leave directly, Deanna was stopped by Leticia who had already noticed her.
"Stop!" Leticia commanded.
"Is there something you need?" Deanna asked coldly.
Leticia raised her chin arrogantly and sneered at Deanna, "I've never been so humiliated in my life as I was today. You better be able to cure my grandfather; otherwise, I won't let this go!"
"You're insane," Deanna retorted dismissively before walking past her back to her room.
Leticia clenched her fists in anger. This arrogant woman would eventually kneel and apologize to her!
The next morning, perhaps due to the change in environment, Deanna woke up early. Seeing it was only around six o'clock, she decided to go downstairs for a morning run. As she stepped out of her room, she ran into Hassan dressed in casual attire.
"Mr. Hassan," she greeted politely.
Hassan nodded with a faint smile, his eyes scanning Deanna's casual outfit. "Are you going for a run?" he asked.
"Yes, Mr. Hassan, are you as well?" Deanna inquired.
Hassan didn't deny it and even invited her, "Since we're both exercising, let's go together."
Deanna couldn't refuse and nodded in agreement. A few minutes later, they were jogging side by side from the villa's entrance. Unbeknownst to them, this scene was witnessed by Leticia from the second-floor balcony. Her face darkened immediately.
"This wretched woman dares to seduce my cousin without even considering if she's worthy!" she cursed angrily before an idea seemed to strike her. Malicious intent flashed in her eyes as she turned and left the room.
After nearly an hour, Deanna and Hassan returned from their run. As they entered the living room, they saw Mrs. Walsh and Leticia sitting on the sofa. Mrs. Walsh scrutinized Deanna with a frown before greeting her with a forced smile, "Dr. Deanna is up quite early."
"Not really; I might have trouble sleeping in a new environment," Deanna replied carefully.
She sensed that Mrs. Walsh seemed somewhat displeased with her but couldn't fathom why.
At that moment, Leticia spoke up, "Hassan, since when did you get so close with Miss Jones that you go jogging together? You never took me along when I wanted to exercise with you."
Hearing this sarcastic remark made everything clear to Deanna. It seemed that Miss Walsh had said something to Mrs. Walsh that caused a misunderstanding and led to Mrs. Walsh's displeasure with her.