Two days later, Lionel arrived at Cloudmere Airport with a research team.
Deanna had already received the news and rented a bus to pick them up.
Upon arriving at the airport, she saw Lionel and his team standing at the entrance and quickly got off the bus.
"Mr. Grant."
"Miss Jones."
Lionel saw Deanna, a slight smile lifting his usually cold face, and walked over with his suitcase.
The others behind him looked at Deanna curiously.
Noticing their gazes, Deanna politely nodded and smiled, "You must be Mr. Grant's team?"
"Hello, Miss Jones," they greeted her politely.
Deanna smiled back and invited them onto the bus.
On the way to the hotel, she sat next to Lionel at the front of the bus.
Lionel began to introduce his team, "Some of these people were sent to me by your master. He contacted me and asked me to bring them along. They will be working at the research institute here from now on."
"People sent by my master?" Deanna was surprised and turned to look at the team.
Unfortunately, she couldn't tell which ones were her master's people.
Lionel noticed her curiosity and smiled, "I'll introduce them to you later. They will be stationed at the research institute with you."
"No rush. You all must be tired from the journey. Rest well today. Tomorrow, I plan to organize a dinner so everyone can get to know each other. We can start work the day after. What do you think?" Deanna shared her thoughts.
Lionel nodded, "That sounds good. We have some equipment arriving tomorrow or the day after. Without it, we can't start working anyway."
"You're right. The herbs you brought are crucial."
Deanna nodded in agreement.
Unbeknownst to her, Lionel found her serious expression particularly charming and couldn't help but stare.
Fortunately, he quickly regained his composure, so Deanna didn't notice anything unusual.
After about ten minutes, the bus stopped in front of a hotel owned by Mercer Group.
As soon as Deanna got off the bus, she saw Lance standing at the hotel entrance and was surprised, "Lance, what are you doing here?"
She said this while running towards Lance with a smile.
Lance saw her running in heels and cautioned, "Slow down, be careful not to fall."
"I won't fall," Deanna replied cheerfully.
Lance looked at her helplessly and then glanced at Lionel in the distance.
Coincidentally, Lionel was also looking at them.
Their eyes met, and an invisible spark seemed to ignite between the two men.
Lionel was the first to speak, walking over to Lance with a polite smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Mr. Mercer, we meet again."
"Yes, we do. Mr. Grant, if you had arrived earlier, you could have witnessed my proposal to Deanna," Lance responded pointedly.
Lionel understood that Lance was showing off and felt a complex mix of emotions.
He was indeed late by quite a bit.
Deanna listened to Lance's boastful tone and suddenly had a thought. Could he be here out of jealousy?
The idea made her feel a bit speechless.
Sensing the tension between the two men, Deanna tugged on Lance's sleeve and whispered, "That's enough. Mr. Grant is an important guest invited by my master."
Without waiting for Lance's reaction, she turned to Lionel and said, "It's almost noon. Let me take you to check in so you can have lunch and rest."
"Thank you, Miss Jones."
Lionel didn't refuse her offer and then looked at Lance with a challenging smile, "Mr. Mercer, perhaps you should find a place to rest first. We have many people, and it might take Miss Jones a while. Besides, I have some research matters to discuss with her."
Lance narrowed his eyes dangerously at Lionel's provoking smile.
"If it's work-related, then it's important. I'll have my assistant handle your check-in."
He signaled Xavier with his eyes.
Xavier understood immediately and stepped forward with a smile, "Sir, may I have your ID card?"
Lionel hesitated but eventually handed over his ID card.
Xavier took it and nodded before heading inside with the rest of the team to handle the check-in process.
Soon, only Deanna, Lance, and Lionel were left at the hotel entrance.
Remembering what Lionel had said earlier, Deanna suggested, "Let's go inside. I recall there's a lounge in the hotel lobby where we can discuss research matters while we wait for them to finish checking in."