"Who agreed? Don't say such things," Deanna quickly retorted.
Lance pretended not to hear her, placing food on her plate with a tone of indulgence and gentleness. "Alright, stop fussing. Let's eat."
Deanna looked at the food in her bowl, feeling frustrated. This man must be doing it on purpose.
As she was thinking, Leticia's affectedly sweet voice suddenly sounded in her ear. "Lance, can you help me get that dish? I can't reach it."
She pointed to a dish in front of Deanna, holding up her bowl with an innocent look at Lance.
Lance glanced at her coldly, completely ignoring her.
Seeing this, Leticia's smile froze, but she refused to give up. "Lance..."
"Shut up. Aren't you ashamed?" Old Walsh angrily scolded, "Do you not have hands, or can't you serve yourself?"
At this moment, he was genuinely angry, even taking out his frustration on his eldest son and daughter-in-law. "You promised me you would teach her, but look at what she has done! If you can't teach her properly, I don't mind sending her to the police station for some help."
"Father, calm down," Mr. and Mrs. Walsh said, their faces flushed with embarrassment. They tried to soothe Old Walsh while casting warning glances at Leticia.
Leticia felt indignant but didn't dare to act out anymore.
Even so, Deanna still felt uncomfortable. She glanced at Leticia and then at the man beside her, poking at the food in her bowl and muttering softly, "Attracting a woman again."
"What did you say?" Lance caught a hint of her words but wasn't sure, so he turned to ask.
Deanna naturally wouldn't tell the truth. She covered up by saying, "Nothing. Thanks for the food; it's quite good."
However, to Leticia, it sounded like Deanna was showing off. Leticia's eyes darkened with jealousy. She didn't think she was any worse than Deanna, so why wouldn't Lance even look at her?
Determined to win Lance over from Deanna, Leticia stewed in her jealousy.
Unaware of this, Deanna and Lance finished their meal without further incident.
After dinner, Old Walsh and Old Hughes went to their room to play chess. Lance invited Deanna for a walk. "Do you want to go for a walk?"
"Sure, let's go," Deanna agreed. She had eaten too much due to Lance's constant feeding and needed to walk off the fullness.
Hearing their conversation, Leticia instinctively said, "Lance, I'll go too."
"Go where? Go back to your room and reflect," Ernest's stern voice interrupted.
Mrs. Walsh also disapproved. "Leticia, don't cause trouble."
"I'm not causing trouble," Leticia protested but had to watch Deanna and Lance leave under her father's stern gaze.
As Deanna and Lance walked away, Hassan's voice called out from behind them. "Miss Jones."
"Mr. Hassan, what's the matter?" Deanna asked curiously.
Hassan approached and handed her a phone with a gentle smile. "You forgot your phone. Someone seemed to call just now."
Deanna didn't know how she had left her phone behind but thanked him politely. "Thank you for bringing it over."
"You're welcome, Miss Jones. I won't disturb you and Mr. Mercer anymore. It's getting colder; don't stay outside too long," Hassan advised before nodding to Lance and leaving.
Lance watched him leave with a thoughtful expression. Although Hassan hid his feelings well, Lance sensed something.
Especially considering how much time Hassan had spent with Deanna recently, Lance couldn't help but feel annoyed. "You seem to get on well with Mr. Hassan."
"Mr. Hassan is quite nice," Deanna replied without catching the undertone in Lance's voice.
As soon as she spoke, the temperature around them seemed to drop several degrees. Oblivious, Deanna dialed back the missed call on her phone.
It turned out the call was from the kids.
The call connected quickly, and the children's cheerful voices came through. "Mommy, have you eaten?"
"Yes, I have. Have you?" Deanna asked with a smile.
The kids said they had eaten too.
Then Gregory asked, "Mommy, did you see Uncle? He came to find you."
Hearing this, Deanna glanced at Lance and noticed his displeased expression for the first time. She gave him a questioning look while responding to the kids. "Yes, he's right here with me. Do you want to talk to him?"
"Yes," the kids answered eagerly.
Deanna handed the phone to Lance. "The kids want to talk to you."