"I've never seen Mr. Mercer be so gentle with a woman before."
"Neither have I. He used to be so cold when he spoke to us, almost emotionless. I never expected to see this day. It seems Mr. Mercer is serious."
"I just don't know which family Miss Jones belongs to, but from her demeanor and the way she carries herself, she must be from a prominent family."
People couldn't stop speculating about Deanna's identity.
Hidden among the crowd, Leticia listened to the endless praises for Deanna, her face twisting with displeasure.
What extraordinary background could that wretched Deanna have? She's nothing but a debauched woman ousted from her family.
...
Over the next two days, Deanna, due to Leticia's meddling, spent every day accompanying Lance to work and social engagements.
Gradually, the entire business circle of Cloudmere knew that Lance had a very loving fiancée.
Hearing this news, Leticia grew anxious.
If things continued this way, implementing her plan would only get harder.
With a plan forming in her mind, Leticia visited Deanna's residence one evening but was stopped by the security at the foot of the hill.
"I'm sorry, miss, we haven't received any message from the missus and can't let you up the hill for now. However, if you're a friend of our missus, why don't you give her a call?"
Leticia was left speechless as she couldn't possibly call Deanna.
Just as she was unsure what to do next, a black sedan approached.
Leticia recognized it as the car usually arranged by Deanna and Lance to pick up their children.
Without thinking, she dashed from the roadside.
The screeching of brakes filled the air.
The bodyguard and driver were stunned.
They hadn't expected Leticia to suddenly dash out.
Seeing the car stop, Leticia jogged to the back seat and knocked on the window.
Soon, the window rolled down, revealing two delicate little faces.
"Auntie, why did you stop our car?"
Gregory frowned slightly, looking at Leticia with displeasure.
Leticia was momentarily stunned by how much more attractive the children were in person compared to their photos. However, she quickly recovered, slightly lowering her eyelids to hide the jealousy in her eyes and feigned gentleness: "You're Gregory, my little darling, aren't you?"
"Do you know me?" Gregory looked at her with surprise.
Chloe stared at Leticia with confusion in her eyes.
She didn't remember knowing this auntie.
Seeing this, Leticia smiled and said: "You might not know me, but I know your mommy. She went to Jando to treat an old man; that's my family's home. We had agreed earlier that I would come over to play with your mommy sometime. Unfortunately, I came at a bad time; your mommy isn't home and went out with your daddy. I didn't want to disturb them, so I've been waiting outside. It's so cold outside; could you let me come in and wait for your mommy?"
Logically, her story was sprinkled with mistakes.
But since Leticia claimed to be a friend of their mommy and mentioned the past event in Jando and the social engagements, the children weren't as guarded against her.
Especially Chloe, who judged people by their appearances, immediately smiled warmly at Leticia and invited her: "So that's it. Auntie, come into the car quickly so you don't catch a cold; otherwise, you'll have to drink bitter medicine."
"Thank you, Chloe."
Leticia hadn't expected it to go so smoothly and happily opened the door to get into the car.
Once inside the estate, she looked at the luxurious yet tasteful villa before her, and her jealousy towards Deanna intensified.
How could such a promiscuous woman like Deanna live in such a nice house? She should be despised and live in the old part of town with the poor people like before!
Perhaps her malice was too apparent because the children glanced over sensing something.
"What's wrong, pretty auntie?"
"Is everything okay?"
Realizing her emotions had slipped out, Leticia quickly covered up: "Nothing much; I just realized how big your house is; it's even nicer than my home."
"I also think our house is very nice; pretty auntie, you have good taste."
Chloe proudly squinted her eyes.
Leticia watched them and forced a smile, but her eyes were filled with sinister intent.
Soon after, they entered the villa where the butler greeted them warmly.
"Welcome back Master Gregory and Miss Chloe."
"Sam, we're back."
The children sweetly called out to him.
Hearing their soft cute voices, Sam's face creased with smiles as he hurriedly welcomed them: "Master Gregory, Miss Chloe, go put down your backpacks; I've already had dinner prepared."
"Okay," the children obediently nodded.
Then they turned to Leticia and said: "Pretty auntie, wait for us in the living room; we'll come down after we put away our backpacks."
It was then that Sam noticed Leticia standing by the side and asked with some surprise: "And who might this young lady be?"