After speaking, Deanna turned to Lance and said, "I know you want to protect me, but at this critical moment, it's not appropriate. It will only drag Mercer Group into this mess."
"You are my fiancée and the mother of my child. If I don't stand by you now just to avoid implicating the company, then I don't deserve to be your husband!" Lance held Deanna's hand, his voice low and resolute.
Deanna was already moved by Lance's support. Hearing his words now made her heart soften even more. Just as she was about to say something, she heard his serious voice again.
"Besides, I can't stay out of this anymore. The people behind this have included me in their plans."
"How could this happen?" Deanna looked at him in astonishment.
Lance looked down at her and shared his suspicions. "Probably because they want to target you, but my presence would foil their plans. So, they dragged me into it, hoping to keep us too busy to fight back. That's why we need to do exactly what they don't want us to do. Understand?"
"I think I get it. I'll follow your lead." Deanna nodded at Lance, feeling a bit uneasy inside. After all, she was the one who had caused trouble for Lance. She couldn't understand who she had offended to be plotted against like this.
That evening, Mercer Group followed Lance's instructions and issued a statement. The announcement shocked the entire internet, earning Lance admiration from many for his integrity. After all, it was a matter of life and death, and even though the case was still unclear, Lance dared to publicly support his fiancée.
Of course, there were also those who maliciously twisted Lance's intentions online. "Typical of capitalists to speak so confidently. Even without evidence, someone died!"
"Does the law mean nothing to these rich people?"
"Lance is really reckless. Someone died from taking Genesis Labs' medicine, and he still claimed there's no problem? I wanna know how he bribed the police."
As these voices grew louder, fewer netizens praised Lance for his loyalty. After all, people tend to sympathize with the weak.
And it was an undeniable fact that someone had died after taking Genesis Labs' medicine. For a while, Mercer Group's already volatile stock market became even more chaotic.
Xavier noticed the worsening situation immediately and reported to Lance, "Sir, the stock price is still falling. Some shareholders who were on the fence have started selling their shares."
"Keep an eye on those shares and see who get them," Lance's cold voice came through the phone. He wasn't worried about those shares falling into the wrong hands because he had the confidence and strength to reclaim them.
Xavier nodded and reported some other company matters before hanging up. Deanna saw Lance put down his phone with a troubled expression and looked at him worriedly. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," Lance didn't want Deanna to worry and didn't tell her the truth.
Little did he know that even if he didn't say anything, Deanna had already guessed it. It was probably related to the announcement they had released earlier.
Given the current unfriendly sentiment towards her online, Lance's announcement might not have put him in a better position.
Thinking about this made Deanna feel heavy-hearted. While she was unhappy, someone else was thrilled because of her. Emily looked at the news on her phone with a gloating expression.
"Deanna, you finally got what you deserve! Haha, it's about time."
"A doctor like you from a non-traditional background dares to run a research institute? Ridiculous."
"Don't worry, if you get arrested, I'll visit you three times a day to make sure you're well taken care of!"
The more Emily spoke, the darker her expression became. But soon, she replaced it with a happy smile, humming a tune as she put down her phone and instructed the butler beside her, "Have the kitchen prepare a lavish meal tonight. It's a good day; I want to celebrate."
The butler looked at Emily's somewhat manic expression and didn't dare delay. He hurried to the kitchen to give orders, afraid that if he was too slow, he would become the target of Emily's outburst.
That evening, when Raphael returned from the company, he saw the butler standing at the entrance with a strange expression and couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Kai, why are you standing here? You look troubled. Did something happen?"
"Mr. Howard, madam has been acting strangely today. She's been holding her phone, sometimes laughing and sometimes looking gloomy," Kai, the butler, whispered about Emily's odd behavior.
Raphael frowned deeply after hearing this. He signaled Kai to leave and then walked alone towards the living room. There he saw Emily sitting on the sofa with a bright smile that he hadn't seen in a long time.