The doctor did not immediately respond to Julia's words.
She turned her gaze to Lionel.
Lionel naturally disagreed. "Doctor, we still need to discuss this."
With that, he ignored Julia's struggles and pulled her away.
Deanna saw this and quickly followed.
"Mr. Grant, where are you taking Julia?"
"Deanna, help me! I don't want to go with him."
Seeing Deanna chasing after them, Julia quickly called for help.
But Lionel held her wrist tightly, making it impossible for her to break free.
Lionel stopped and looked back. "Miss Jones, I need to have a serious talk with Miss King. I promise I won't harm her in any way."
"Who wants to talk to you? I refuse! Deanna, don't listen to him. Help me!"
Julia angrily shouted from the side.
Deanna looked at the two, feeling very conflicted.
After thinking for a moment, she came up with a compromise. "How about I go with you?"
"Miss Jones, this is a private matter between Miss King and me."
Lionel frowned as he spoke.
Clearly, he hoped Deanna wouldn't interfere.
Seeing this, Deanna looked apologetically at Julia and tried to persuade her. "Julia, why don't you have a proper talk with Mr. Grant? If you're worried, I'll have Shannon go with you to protect you."
"I don't want to talk to him."
Julia pouted.
Deanna had no choice but to coax her gently. "Julia, don't be stubborn. Have a proper talk with Mr. Grant. He's not a tyrant. Explain your thoughts clearly. I believe he won't make things difficult for you. If worse comes to worst, I'll be here for you."
Hearing this, Julia still looked reluctant but eventually agreed.
After seeing them off, Deanna, still worried, didn't return to the villa but went back to the estate.
In the living room, Old Ashley saw her and greeted her warmly. "You're back. Where's Julia? Did she go back?"
"Yes, she did."
Deanna replied as she walked over and sat next to her grandmother.
Her grandmother looked at her with concern. "How was the check-up at the hospital today?"
"It went well."
Since she didn't know Julia's situation yet, Deanna didn't tell the truth.
She stayed home watching TV with her grandmother for a while and then went to the backyard garden to loosen the soil around the herb beds. Finally, three hours later, she received a call from Julia.
"How did the talk go?"
Deanna answered the phone with concern.
Julia's weak voice came through. "We cleared things up. I won't keep the baby. He will accompany me to the hospital tomorrow and take care of me until I recover."
Although she didn't know what they had discussed, Deanna was somewhat satisfied with Lionel's responsible approach.
At least he knew how to take care of people.
Thinking about it, she asked, "Do you need me to go with you to the hospital tomorrow?"
"Yes!"
Julia answered without hesitation.
No matter what, she wasn't familiar with Lionel. Even though she agreed to let him take care of her, she still felt awkward about it.
Hearing this, Deanna naturally wouldn't refuse.
After chatting for a while longer, they hung up the phone.
Before Deanna could put down her phone, she received a call from Lionel.
"Mr. Grant, what can I do for you?"
"Miss Jones, I'd like to request a month's leave."
Lionel got straight to the point.
Knowing that he was asking for leave to take care of her friend, Deanna agreed. "Alright, I'll approve your leave. It's perfect timing since our research hasn't made much progress lately. We can all take a break and relax our minds."
Hearing this, Lionel breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, he knew Deanna was being considerate of him.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry for keeping this from you."
"When I first found out about this, I was indeed quite angry. Julia is not just my friend; she's family. I won't allow anyone to bully her."
Deanna's tone softened. "However, your attitude showed me your sincerity. Given what I know about you, I believe it wasn't intentional. So as long as you and Julia have sorted things out, it's fine."
Lionel responded with a quiet thank you.
Deanna smiled and said lightly, "I'll leave Julia in your care then."
"Don't worry; I'll take good care of her."
After saying that, Lionel hung up the phone.
Putting down her phone, Deanna felt much lighter.
Although she had approved Lionel's month-long leave, she didn't plan on taking a break herself.
Even if working alone would slow down progress significantly, she didn't want to waste time.
Thinking about returning to the villa tomorrow, Deanna decided to pick up the kids in the evening.
The kids were overjoyed to see their mom coming to pick them up again.
"Mommy, didn't you leave today?"
"Mommy, are you leaving?"
They held Deanna's hands on either side and looked at her eagerly.
Although Deanna didn't want to disappoint them, she told them the truth. "Mommy had something to do today and didn't leave. But I'll be leaving tomorrow."