Deanna explained her actions.
Julia nodded in satisfaction. "Good thing you didn't give out my contact information, or I wouldn't have let you off easily."
Hearing this, Deanna was relieved by her quick thinking.
However, she couldn't help but gossip, "So, you have no interest in Mr. Grant?"
"No," Julia admitted with a nod.
With no other choice, Deanna had to politely decline Lionel on behalf of her friend.
When Lionel received Deanna's message, his expression turned complicated.
Forget it. After what happened, as the victim, she probably couldn't accept it right away. He would wait until Miss King calmed down before approaching her again.
After leaving Julia's house, Deanna went straight back to the estate.
Originally, she planned to go directly to the study to continue organizing materials. However, as she reached the door, the scene of finding the surveillance camera at the hospital that morning flashed in her mind, making her uneasy.
"Shannon, start checking from the study and see if there are any surveillance devices installed in the house," she instructed Shannon.
Shannon thought the missus was being overly cautious and reassured her, "Don't worry, missus. The estate has always been protected by people sent by Mr. Mercer. It's impossible for anyone to sneak in."
Deanna trusted Lance's abilities, but the force behind the scenes was also formidable. Better safe than sorry.
So, she insisted Shannon check.
Seeing this, Shannon said no more and decided to use the results to reassure her missus.
But the results shocked and provoked her.
The reason was simple: Shannon found two of the latest audio surveillance devices in the study and living room.
Almost immediately after discovering these devices, she contacted her boss.
Half an hour later, Lance walked in from outside, exuding a cold aura.
Seeing him, Deanna's previously panicked heart calmed down a bit.
"Lance."
"Don't be afraid. I'm here," Lance stepped forward and held Deanna's hand, his voice steady and comforting.
Even so, Deanna was still uneasy.
She gripped Lance's hand tightly and said with a trembling voice, "These people are too brazen!"
Lance didn't speak, but his darkened face already conveyed his mood.
He narrowed his eyes dangerously, his black pupils filled with icy coldness.
At this moment, he was truly angry.
"Investigate thoroughly! Check everyone who has entered and exited the estate during this period!" Lance ordered sharply.
Xavier, standing nearby, quickly took the order and dared not delay.
After a while, Deanna calmed down and looked at the man beside her. She couldn't help but feel grateful. "Luckily, you didn't agree to my plan last night. Otherwise, they would know everything we were going to do."
After speaking, she thought of something else and her face turned pale.
Lance noticed her change and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Lance, since we've been monitored too, those things we talked about last night were obviously heard by them. What should we do now? They must know that I have the special medicine's data," Deanna said anxiously, clutching Lance's wrist.
Seeing Deanna's anxiety, Lance felt distressed. He turned his hand to hold hers and comforted her, "Don't worry. I forgot to tell you that the surveillance devices are not real-time; they record and need someone to replace the memory cards periodically."
"So our conversation wasn't leaked."
Deanna looked at him uncertainly.
Lance nodded affirmatively. "Rest assured, it wasn't leaked."
Hearing this, Deanna breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Lance suddenly changed his tone and said solemnly, "Although our conversation wasn't leaked, since they could place surveillance devices in our home and the hospital, they probably wouldn't miss the research institute either."
Deanna's nerves tightened again.
"Then what should we do? Move to another place?" She looked at Lance for help.
Lance narrowed his eyes and said, "Moving is necessary, but we need a two-pronged approach."
As he spoke, he leaned close to Deanna's ear and whispered.
After a moment, Deanna nodded in understanding. "I know what to do now. I'll contact Mr. Grant and tell him I'll pick him up tomorrow."
...
The next morning, Lance took Deanna to pick up Lionel.
After picking him up, the three went to another property Lance owned in Cloudmere.
On the way there, Deanna roughly explained the plan to Lionel.
"This property has a basement. We'll conduct our research there. In the house, Lance will find two body doubles with similar builds to cover for us. This way, we can reduce the risk of leaks."
"In that case, I'll stay here to avoid traveling back and forth daily and arousing suspicion," Lionel suggested after hearing the plan.
Deanna was tempted by the idea too.
Maybe she should move here as well?
With the research institute still under renovation and not much to do usually, moving here would allow her to focus on cracking the code.