Deanna shook her head. "It's not that urgent. I just want to finish quickly so I can go back soon. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave."
She ended her sentence with a joke.
Lance raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why wouldn't you be able to leave?"
"Probably because I'm too good, and Mr. Grant wants me to stay."
Deanna briefly mentioned Lionel's attempt to recruit her.
Lance immediately rejected the idea. "No way. If you stay, what will happen to Gregory, Chloe, and me?"
"I know, that's why I didn't agree."
Seeing the anxious look on Lance's face, Deanna smiled slyly like a little fox.
She continued, "If tomorrow's experiment goes well, I should be able to return the day after tomorrow or the day after that."
Upon hearing this, Lance's eyes sparkled, and he smiled. "Then I'll come to pick you up."
"If you're not busy, then come and get me."
Deanna didn't catch the hidden meaning in Lance's words and responded with a smile.
Lance nodded in agreement.
After chatting for a while, their dinner was delivered by the hotel service.
After dinner, Deanna talked with the two little ones for a bit before going to rest.
After the call ended, the two little ones looked at Lance eagerly.
"Daddy, we want to go find Mommy tomorrow too."
They knew Lance planned to visit Deanna.
Lance didn't want to bring two little tagalongs and shook his head. "No, you have school."
Hearing this, Gregory seemed to have anticipated it and gave his sister a look.
Chloe understood and tugged on Lance's sleeve, pleading, "Daddy, please."
Faced with his daughter's pleading, Lance wavered a bit but quickly firmed up when he thought about the rare alone time with Deanna.
The two little ones were very unhappy about this.
"Hmph, bad Daddy! We're not talking to you anymore!"
They held hands and turned to leave the study but took small steps, waiting for Lance to call them back.
However, even when they reached the study door, they didn't hear Lance's voice of compromise. They stopped angrily and turned to look at Lance, emphasizing, "Daddy, we're angry. Are you sure you don't want to make it up to us?"
"If you let us go see Mommy with you, we won't be angry."
Chloe nodded in agreement beside Gregory.
Lance couldn't help but laugh at their childish words. "It's okay. You can stay angry. I don't mind."
The two little ones were stunned, looking at their daddy in disbelief.
"Daddy, you're too much! I'm not talking to you for a week. Gregory, let's go. If he doesn't take us to see Mommy, we'll go ourselves."
Chloe said this while pulling Gregory along to leave.
Lance frowned at her words.
Given her past behavior, she might actually do it.
After thinking for a moment, Lance called Sam and instructed, "I'm leaving tomorrow. Make sure someone watches Gregory and Chloe 24/7. Don't let them sneak off to Sealand."
"Master Gregory and Miss Chloe wouldn't dare do that, right?" Sam thought Lance was being overly cautious.
Lance chuckled. "Don't underestimate them. They're quite bold."
Indeed, they were.
The next morning, after having breakfast with the two little ones and their grandmother, Lance was ready to leave but couldn't find the two little ones when saying goodbye.
"Grandma, have you seen Gregory and Chloe?"
Lance frowned at Old Ashley.
Old Ashley looked around and said curiously, "They were here just now. Maybe they went upstairs. I'll go call them."
But Lance didn't believe it.
Especially when he saw a piece of bright yellow clothing sticking out from the trunk of his car.
He remembered Chloe was wearing a bright yellow hoodie that morning.
"No need to call them, Grandma. I know where they are."
Lance stopped Old Ashley from looking for them and walked toward the car.
In the trunk, the two little ones didn't know they had been discovered. They huddled together in the dark space.
Gregory felt uneasy. "Chloe, do you think Daddy won't find us?"
"Don't worry. Daddy is in a hurry to find Mommy. He won't notice us."
Chloe comforted her brother.
Just as she finished speaking, sunlight suddenly shone into the dark trunk.
Lance stood outside the trunk, looking at them leisurely. "Should I pull you out, or will you come out yourselves?"
Gregory stared blankly at the tall man in front of him and then complained to his sister, "Didn't you say Daddy wouldn't find us?"
"In theory, Daddy shouldn't have found us."
Chloe was also dumbfounded, not understanding how their daddy discovered them.
Seeing the two little ones still staring at him foolishly, Lance raised an eyebrow and warned them. "Aren't you coming out yet?"
With no other choice, the two little ones reluctantly climbed out of the trunk.