Julia's face froze upon hearing Deanna's words. She looked at her best friend in astonishment and asked, "So, are you supporting me to have the baby or not?"
"No matter what you choose, whether to have it or not, I will support you," Deanna replied, blinking at her.
Julia felt the question was thrown back at her, making her extremely frustrated. She ruffled her hair in exasperation and said evasively, "Forget it. Didn't they say I have three months? It's only been one month; I still have two months to think about it."
"Julia, this isn't something you can take your time with. Although you can have the procedure within three months, doing it earlier is less harmful to your body," Deanna said, looking at her friend helplessly.
Julia understood this logic well. She pressed her lips together and thought for a few seconds before insisting, "I'll think about it some more. I won't drag it out too long."
"As long as you know what you're doing," Deanna said, not wanting to pressure her friend any further. She then changed the topic.
After a while, the car stopped in front of Julia's apartment building. As they got out of the car, they saw Lionel following them.
"Miss King..." Lionel clearly had something to say to Julia.
But Julia ignored him completely. After saying goodbye to Deanna, she turned and went straight into the apartment. Watching her disappear, Lionel felt helpless.
At that moment, Deanna walked over with a serious expression and said, "Mr. Grant, why don't we find a place to talk?"
"Alright," Lionel agreed without hesitation.
Soon, they found a café near the apartment. After sitting down, Deanna spoke first, "Mr. Grant, although Julia changed her mind today, I hope you won't disturb her. A child is not a tool to avoid marriage. Besides, you and Julia don't love each other. Having a child will only complicate things further. I hope you understand that without love between parents, the child will suffer greatly."
Lionel understood what Deanna was trying to convey and had no reason to argue. He stirred his coffee in silence for a few seconds before responding.
"No matter what Miss King decides in the end, I will respect her wishes and not force her. You can rest assured about that, Miss Jones."
"Since Mr. Grant says so, I am relieved," Deanna said, taking a sip of her coffee. She then continued, "There's another matter I need to discuss with you. In a few days, I will be going abroad with Lance for a business conference. It will take about a week. Since there's nothing urgent with Julia for now, I hope you can keep an eye on the lab and research institute during this period. Of course, I'll ask Brent to assist you."
Lionel nodded and promised, "I will keep a close watch. Just make sure to stay safe while you're abroad."
"I will," Deanna nodded.
After exchanging a few more words, they parted ways.
Deanna didn't go back immediately but instead went to the research institute. She planned to arrange everything there so she could spend the next two days at home with her children and take care of Julia.
When she arrived, the renovation of the research institute was almost complete. Brent was on the first floor, directing workers to move office supplies carefully.
"Brent."
"Miss, you're here," Brent greeted her respectfully as soon as he saw her.
Deanna nodded and looked around at the newly renovated layout. "Is the renovation complete?"
"The first and second floors are done. I'm having the workers move in the office supplies so we can air it out together. The third and fourth floors are almost finished," Brent replied honestly and made an inviting gesture. "Would you like to inspect it?"
Deanna thought for a moment and did not refuse.
"Shannon, Nightingale, come with me to check out the renovated institute," she said pointedly to the two behind her.
Shannon and Nightingale nodded in response and began inspecting from the first floor.
Brent's eyes darkened slightly as he watched them.
Seeing Brent staring at Shannon and Nightingale, Deanna quickly explained, "It's not that I don't trust you, Brent. It's just that I found surveillance devices in Mr. Grant's hospital room and my home recently. I'm worried there might be some here too since we've had many outsiders coming in during the renovation."
"Miss, you don't need to explain specifically to me. I naturally believe that whatever you do has its reasons," Brent quickly retracted his gaze and complimented Deanna.
Deanna waved her hand and said, "Let's look around too."
"Yes," Brent nodded and led Deanna through each floor to inspect the renovation.
Before leaving, he couldn't help but glance back at Shannon and Nightingale's direction with a somewhat grave expression.
In less than ten minutes, Deanna had finished inspecting the entire institute. She sat in the office with Brent, waiting for Shannon and Nightingale's inspection results while discussing her upcoming trip abroad.