In the old mansion, because of the presence of the two little ones, Old Mercer did not return to the nursing home immediately.
He played with the two children in the garden.
Logan was there to assist.
Samantha accompanied Old Ashley in a nearby pavilion, chatting and watching the others play.
At this moment, Lance entered with Deanna in his arms.
The two little ones saw them and immediately ran over joyfully.
"Daddy, Mommy."
"You're here."
Logan and Samantha also smiled at them.
Old Mercer nodded in greeting.
After greeting everyone, Deanna and Lance sat down and joined the conversation.
During this time, Samantha brought up a topic, "Deanna, it's only a month until the New Year. Do you and your grandmother have any plans?"
"We haven't made any plans yet. Is there something you need, Samantha?"
Deanna looked over in confusion.
Before Samantha could speak, Old Mercer interjected, "If you don't have any plans, why don't our families celebrate together this year? It would be lively."
Hearing this, Deanna had no objections but still wanted to consult her grandmother.
"What does Grandma say?"
"I'm fine with it. Celebrating together would be lively."
Grandma replied with a smile.
Seeing this, Deanna agreed to Samantha's suggestion and said with a smile, "Then we'll trouble you this year, Samantha."
"We're all family; there's no trouble at all."
Samantha responded with a mock scolding look.
Old Mercer, hearing this, felt moved and said, "Since our families are celebrating together, I won't go back to the mountain today. In the future, you can bring Gregory and Chloe over to keep me company."
"Okay, Grandpa."
Lance and Deanna nodded in unison.
In the following days, although Deanna had the two little ones acknowledge their ancestry, life soon returned to normal.
The outside world was very curious about the three of them, but Lance protected them well. Apart from the information from the banquet day, the media got no new material.
Meanwhile, Garrett spent nearly half a month resolving the company's crisis.
At the same time, Emily had been in detention for half a month.
Mia was extremely anxious about this, especially since she saw that the Howard family was doing nothing. She was both angry and resentful, knowing that if she wanted her daughter out, she couldn't rely on the Howard family but had to depend on themselves.
That night, she sat on the living room sofa, waiting for Garrett to come home.
It was midnight when Garrett finally returned, reeking of alcohol.
Seeing her sitting on the sofa, Garrett frowned and asked, "Why aren't you resting?"
"I'm waiting for you. When do you plan to get Emily out?"
Mia said as she approached to help Garrett sit on the sofa.
Garrett did not refuse her assistance. Once seated, he said in a deep voice, "Don't think about it. Unless the Mercer family relents, no one can get Emily out."
"Not even you?"
Mia looked at him in astonishment.
Garrett snorted coldly, "After all these days, haven't you realized that Deanna doesn't acknowledge me as her father? Besides, letting Emily stay in there for three months is good. Last time, one month wasn't enough for her to learn her lesson. This time three months will surely make her remember. Let's see if she dares to provoke Deanna again!"
Hearing this, Mia was very dissatisfied.
If Garrett didn't care about Emily, her three-month detention would be certain.
"No way. We can't let Emily stay in there for three months. If she does, she'll be ruined. And the Howard family won't want a daughter-in-law who's been in jail."
"You think it's that easy? If you're so capable, why don't you figure out how to save her yourself?"
Garrett was irritated by Mia's nagging.
Mia was momentarily speechless and couldn't argue back.
She glared at him angrily and said furiously, "I think you're just unwilling to do anything that might upset Deanna now that she's wealthy."
"So what if I am? Do you think Deanna is still the poor little girl we used to bully? She has a significant status now. You may not want a good life, but I do!"
Garrett didn't hide his regret regarding Deanna.
After speaking, he seemed to think of something and warned, "I'm telling you, you'd better not do anything foolish for Emily's sake. Otherwise, I won't help you either. This is my last warning: do not provoke Deanna!"
Seeing his serious expression, Mia knew he wasn't joking. He truly wouldn't help Emily anymore. She felt a chill in her heart.
For wealth and status, this man could abandon his daughter. Would he also abandon her someday?
At that moment, Mia felt an unprecedented sense of crisis.
Clearly, she could no longer rely on this man. Instead, she needed to start preparing for herself in case he abandoned her someday!