The next morning, Lance woke up early. He looked at Deanna, who was sleeping restlessly in his arms and gently kissed her forehead before quietly getting out of bed to wash up.
After getting ready, he went downstairs and saw Lionel and Brent sitting in the living room.
"Good morning, Mr. Mercer."
"Good morning, sir."
Both greeted Lance in unison. Lance nodded politely and said in a cool voice, "Deanna hasn't woken up yet. She hasn't been in a good state these past few days, so I'm letting her rest today. You both can take the day off as well and handle any personal matters."
"Is Miss Deanna alright?" Brent asked with concern. He knew that if Deanna wasn't feeling well, she wouldn't take a break given her usual tenacity.
Lionel didn't speak, but his worried expression was evident. Seeing this, Lance didn't hide the truth from them. "Deanna is physically fine, but her mental state isn't great. It might be due to the progress of her research. She hasn't been sleeping well and has been having nightmares almost every night. So, I decided to let her rest and relax for a day."
"I see. Miss Deanna is under too much pressure," Brent sighed.
Lance nodded and then headed to the dining room. Later, after the three of them had breakfast, they each left the villa.
Brent went to the research institute. Lionel decided to go out for a walk since he had been cooped up in the villa for days and felt his thoughts becoming constrained.
When Deanna woke up, she found herself alone in the house. While having breakfast, she asked Shannon, "Where are Mr. Grant and Brent?"
"Brent went to the research institute, and Mr. Grant said he went out for a walk to clear his mind," Shannon replied honestly.
Deanna nodded and continued eating. Just as she finished breakfast, Julia arrived.
After a series of checks, Julia finally entered the living room. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Deanna, your security is so strict! Do you know how many times I was checked before I got in?"
"How many times?" Deanna asked curiously.
Julia held up four fingers and clicked her tongue. "Do you have some rare treasure here? Why is it so strict?"
Deanna smiled at her friend's question and deflected, "You know I had an incident before, and the person behind it hasn't been found yet. Lance is just being cautious to prevent any further trouble."
"That's being overly cautious," Julia remarked, then suddenly looked at Deanna with a thought.
Deanna was puzzled by her expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
"You said Mr. Mercer cares about you so much. If we go out later, will he send bodyguards with us and book the entire mall just for us like in those TV shows?" Julia's excitement grew as she spoke.
Deanna couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm. "What kind of TV shows have you been watching? That's so exaggerated."
"I've been bored at home lately and watching all sorts of shows," Julia shrugged, a mysterious glint in her eyes.
Deanna didn't notice and was instead intrigued by Julia's words. "Have you been at home recently? Did you quit your job?"
"Of course not! My job is everything to me. I've just been feeling down lately and wanted to rest at home, so I took a week's leave," Julia said casually.
Deanna felt a pang of sympathy. Julia was usually carefree; something significant must have happened to affect her mood for so long.
Feeling displeased, Deanna glared at her friend. "Are we still best friends? You didn't come to me when you were feeling down?"
"Uh..." Julia was taken aback by Deanna's sudden change in demeanor and regretted letting the truth slip out.
She coughed lightly and found an excuse to defend herself. "It's not that I didn't want to come to you. I heard you were busy and didn't want to disturb you."
After speaking, she clung to Deanna playfully. "Okay, don't be mad. Look, I'm feeling better now. Next time I'm down, I'll come to you!"
Deanna gave her friend a sidelong glance. She initially wanted to ask what had happened but decided against it.
Since Julia had already cheered up, Deanna didn't want to bring up anything that might upset her again.
After chatting for a while, they set off for the city mall.
When they were about to leave, Julia was stunned by the sight of the cars lined up in front and behind them and the dozens of bodyguards standing by.
"Deanna, your departure looks like that of a big shot," she teased.
Deanna could only smile helplessly. She had initially planned to bring only Shannon and Nightingale.
However, Nightingale insisted that just she and Shannon wouldn't be enough to protect Deanna and insisted on bringing all members of the Alpha Guard.
To persuade Deanna, Nightingale even revealed some information about the person behind the previous incident.