The next morning, perhaps due to a restful night, Deanna woke up early. As soon as she opened her eyes, she noticed an arm around her waist. Slightly stunned, she recalled the events of the previous night, her cheeks flushing.
She turned gently and saw Lance's unguarded handsome face in front of her, stirring indescribable feelings in her heart. Instinctively, she reached out to trace the contours of his features. After a while, she realized what she was doing and felt both embarrassed and annoyed.
Despite knowing him for so long, she still found herself infatuated with Lance. She instinctively tried to withdraw her hand, but as soon as she moved, her wrist was tightly grasped. A husky voice, rough from sleep, sounded in her ear.
"Trying to run after taking advantage of me?"
Lance flipped over, pinning Deanna beneath him. Startled, Deanna stared blankly at the man in front of her. Unbeknownst to her, this look made Lance want to tease her even more.
Lance's eyes darkened, something seemed to be surging within them, threatening to break free. Deanna's heart pounded as if it would leap out of her chest. She also noticed the changes in Lance's body, blushing furiously and stammering, "You... you better not do anything rash."
Hearing this, Lance's gaze deepened as if it could swallow her whole. Suddenly, he lowered his head and buried it in the crook of her neck, his voice muffled. "Don't move, let me hold you for a while."
Deanna had no choice but to let him hold her, not daring to move an inch. At this moment, there was a knock on the door, followed by the respectful voice of a servant.
"Dr. Deanna, Mr. Mercer, are you up? Miss Walsh asked me to inform you that breakfast is ready downstairs."
"We're up, we'll be down shortly," Deanna replied. She then pushed Lance off her in embarrassment and urged him, "Get up quickly; we can't keep everyone waiting for just the two of us."
Lance sighed deeply, inhaling the scent of the woman in his arms before finally letting go and standing up.
Meanwhile, at the end of the hallway outside, Leticia watched the servant approach and asked, "How are they? Are they up?"
"Dr. Deanna said they are up and will be out soon," the servant replied truthfully.
Leticia nodded in satisfaction and waved the servant away. Soon, she was alone in the hallway. Her eyes filled with intense jealousy as she stared at Deanna's room.
She knew exactly what had happened when a man and a woman spent a night together. But it didn't matter; one day she would make Deanna understand the consequences of touching the man she had set her sights on.
Half an hour later, Lance and Deanna emerged from their room. As soon as they stepped out, they saw Leticia standing in the hallway and frowned.
They intended to ignore her and head downstairs directly. But Leticia wasn't about to let them leave so easily; she still wanted to get close to Lance.
"Lance, you're up. Breakfast is ready; let's go down together," Leticia said, reaching out to take Lance's arm while ignoring Deanna.
Upon seeing this, Lance's face turned cold. He avoided Leticia's hand and said icily, "Miss Walsh, please behave yourself. I have a girlfriend."
With that, he turned away from Leticia and took Deanna's hand. His stern face softened into a gentle smile as he said softly, "Let's go downstairs."
"Okay," Deanna replied. Though she felt uncomfortable inside, she was pleased with Lance's response and smiled slightly.
Ignoring Leticia, they headed downstairs together. Leticia's beautiful face twisted with anger as jealousy consumed her heart.
"I can't believe it. As the eldest daughter of the Walsh family, am I really inferior to a doctor?" she muttered through gritted teeth. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she followed them downstairs.
In the dining room downstairs, other members of the Walsh family and Old Hughes were already seated. Seeing Lance holding Deanna's hand as they entered, Old Hughes's eyes flashed with warning and excitement.
If it weren't for the presence of the Walsh family members, he would have grabbed them both to ask what was going on. But he restrained himself and merely winked at Lance and Deanna.
Hassan also noticed their joined hands and his gaze darkened slightly.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting," Deanna apologized to the others.
Lance nodded slightly at them as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Walsh responded politely, "We haven't been waiting long; we just came down ourselves."
"Please take your seats," Ernest said, inviting them to sit.
Deanna and Lance nodded and sat down next to Old Hughes.
At this moment, Leticia came down from upstairs. Seeing Lance and Deanna sitting together, she walked over without hesitation and said with a coquettish smile, "Lance, I'll sit next to you today."