After hearing Deanna's words, Lance realized he had been neglecting his two children due to his busy schedule at the company. He felt a pang of guilt.
He nodded and smiled, "In that case, why don't we go out for dinner today? We can also take a walk outside. It's been a while since I accompanied you shopping."
"Sure," Deanna readily agreed.
The two little ones were ecstatic when they heard they would be going out for dinner and playing outside for a while.
Soon, the family quickly got ready and headed out.
Before leaving, Lance had Xavier book a private restaurant.
During the meal, the two little ones curiously asked Lance, "Daddy, what have you been busy with lately? We've tried to find you several times but couldn't."
"Daddy has been a bit busy recently, but it won't be like this in the future. I'll make sure to free up my evenings to spend time with you," Lance said earnestly.
For the past five years, he had missed out on his children's growth, which was an irreparable regret for him. He didn't want to miss out in the future.
The two little ones were naturally happy to hear this.
However, they sensibly said, "Daddy, you don't have to make special time for us. Making money is important too."
If Daddy didn't make money, Mommy would have to work hard. They didn't want Mommy to be too tired.
Lance didn't know what was on their minds; he just thought his children were very well-behaved.
Later, after dinner, the family went to a nearby pedestrian street for some fun.
They played for two hours until it was completely dark.
Deanna checked the time and saw it was almost nine o'clock. She called everyone to head back home.
Once home, the two little ones were exhausted and kept yawning.
Chloe reached out to Deanna and said sweetly, "Mommy, I'm sleepy. Can you carry me?"
"Alright, Mommy will carry you," Deanna said as she bent down to pick up her daughter. She then turned to Lance and whispered, "I'll take them to wash up. You should go wash up too."
Lance nodded and watched as Deanna and the children left before heading back to his bedroom.
About half an hour later, Deanna settled the children and returned to the room. She found Lance sitting on the edge of the bed in a dark robe, reading a document.
"Why aren't you reading on the bed?" she asked.
"I was waiting for you. There's something I want to show you," Lance replied, motioning for Deanna to sit beside him.
Curious, Deanna walked over and asked, "What is it?"
Instead of answering immediately, Lance handed her a file folder. "Open it and see."
"What is this?" Deanna asked as she opened the folder and pulled out the documents inside. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at Lance.
Before she could say anything, Lance explained, "I met with Garrett the day before yesterday. I intended to get back those shares for you, but Garrett wasn't sincere about giving them back. So I took the liberty of exchanging those shares for this company."
Lance paused to observe Deanna's reaction. Seeing no displeasure on her face, he continued, "I know this company was founded by your mother and that she put a lot of effort into it. It had great potential but has been declining under Garrett's management. I thought getting this company back would be better than getting those shares."
Hearing this, Deanna knew Lance was thinking of her. She took his hand and gently shook her head. "You don't need to explain. I trust you wouldn't do anything to harm me. And you're right; those shares are not as valuable as this company. It's my mother's legacy; I can't watch Garrett ruin it."
"I'm glad you understand," Lance said with relief.
Deanna then thought of something else and looked at him seriously. "Besides the shares, did Garrett ask for anything else?"
Knowing Garrett well, she was sure he wouldn't miss an opportunity to extort something more.
Lance understood her concern and gently ran his fingers through her black hair. "It's nothing valuable, just a small project."
Despite his words, Deanna couldn't help but frown. Anything Mercer Group was interested in couldn't be a small project.
Reading her thoughts, Lance explained in detail, "I know what you're worried about, but it really is just a small project. It's from a company Mercer Group casually invested in before and has no real connection with Mercer Group. But Garrett doesn't know that."
"As long as it has no connection with Mercer Group. Garrett is hard to shake off once he latches on," Deanna said with relief.
She didn't want Lance to get entangled with Garrett because of her.