In the luxurious presidential suite, Leticia stood firm under Old Walsh's stern gaze. Hassan stood quietly beside them, not intending to speak.
After what felt like an eternity, Old Walsh finally withdrew his imposing presence and coldly warned Leticia, "You better remember what you said today. If I find out you trouble Dr. Deanna again, you won't be part of the Walsh family anymore."
Hearing this, Leticia breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she had passed her grandfather's test.
The next morning, Deanna had breakfast with Lance and the children before heading to the pharmacy.
Since Lance moved into Hilltop Manor, he had taken over the responsibility of taking the kids to and from school. This gave Deanna more time to study medicine and develop new prescriptions.
Later that day, just as she finished preparing a patent medicine, her phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. Assuming it was a spam call, she hung up. When the number called again, she realized she might have been mistaken and answered.
"Hello, this is Deanna."
"Deanna, it's me," Leticia's playful voice came through the phone.
Hearing her voice, Deanna's smile vanished, and she responded coldly, "Oh, it's Miss Walsh. What do you want?"
"Nothing much, just wanted to see if you were free to hang out," Leticia said cheerfully.
Without hesitation, Deanna refused, "I'm not available. Find someone else, Miss Walsh."
As she prepared to hang up, Leticia's affectedly sweet voice came through again.
"Deanna, are you still holding a grudge over what happened before?"
"If you know that much, Miss Walsh, then you shouldn't be bothering me," Deanna replied icily.
Without waiting for a response, she hung up the phone. On the other end, Leticia's beautiful face twisted in anger as she stared at the disconnected call.
Clenching her phone tightly, she muttered through gritted teeth, "Damn you, Deanna. One day you'll beg me on your knees!"
After hanging up, Deanna returned to her research. For the next two days, Leticia did not call again, and Deanna went about her fulfilling daily routine. She spent her days studying prescriptions and checking on the rare herbs in the medicine field. In the evenings, she made time for Lance and the children.
Meanwhile, Leticia was also coming and going frequently. Old Walsh grew concerned that she might be causing trouble behind their backs and asked Hassan to check on her.
Late one night, Leticia returned home in a good mood. As she turned on her room light, she was startled to see someone sitting on her sofa.
"Hassan, are you crazy? It's the middle of the night! Why are you in my room scaring me?" Leticia snapped.
Hassan looked at her coldly and said, "Do you think I want to be here? If it weren't for Grandpa's orders, I wouldn't care about your business."
Leticia's expression stiffened at his words. What was that old man planning now?
Despite her inner frustration, she kept her composure and asked, "What does Grandpa want?"
"He wants to know where you've been these past few days and what you've been doing," Hassan asked bluntly.
Leticia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed her grandfather was just being cautious and didn't know what she had been up to.
Smiling slightly, she said, "I haven't been doing anything special. Just exploring Cloudmere since I've never had the chance before."
"Are you really just out playing?" Hassan asked skeptically.
Seeing his doubt, Leticia took out her phone to defend herself. "If you don't believe me, I have photos and receipts. You can check them."
Hassan didn't refuse and began examining her phone. After looking through the photos and receipts, he finally believed his cousin wasn't lying.
"If you're just out having fun, don't overdo it every day. It's late; get some rest," Hassan advised before leaving.
Watching him go, Leticia's previously calm expression darkened. "Hypocrite! What right does he have to control me?" she muttered before tossing her phone onto the bed and heading to the bathroom.
Later, after her bath, she heard a notification on her phone. Walking over quickly to check it, a smug smile spread across her face.