Deanna was momentarily frightened when she saw the young man, standing frozen in place.
At that moment, Xavier also jumped down from the helicopter.
He was surprised to see the young man standing beside him, "Randall, it's actually you who came in person."
After speaking, he pointed at Randall Mercer and respectfully introduced him to Deanna, "Missus, this is Randall Mercer, Mr. Mercer's chief confidant. He has always been protecting Mr. Mercer in the shadows and handling matters Mr. Mercer cannot personally attend to."
Randall, the young man, was the mysterious person who had been in contact with Xavier.
Hearing Xavier's words, Randall frowned and disagreed as he spoke to Deanna.
"Missus shouldn't have come here. This area is chaotic and dangers could arise at any moment. We might not be able to look after you then."
His words almost outright stated that Deanna was a burden.
Deanna naturally picked up on the unwelcoming tone in his words.
Her delicate eyebrows tightly knitted together, she responded coldly, "I brought my own people. If something happens, you don't need to worry about me."
"Ha, Missus speaks lightly. If something happens to you, can we really ignore it? If so, when the boss returns, torture awaits us."
Randall scoffed coldly, his gaze mocking.
Seeing his expression darkened Deanna's face instantly. She met his gaze and said sternly, "Since I told you not to bother about me, I won't make Lance trouble you. Your primary task now is to find Lance; nothing else matters!"
Their eyes locked, and the air was thick with tension.
Xavier, seeing the atmosphere souring between them, quickly stepped in to mediate.
"Randall, show some respect to Missus. She is also worried about Mr. Mercer and came here because of that."
"If she really cared for Mr. Mercer, she should have stayed put and waited for Mr. Mercer's return instead of risking herself and making Mr. Mercer's efforts go in vain."
Randall huffed lightly, clearly holding a significant grudge against Deanna.
Deanna sensed this hostility and felt inexplicably angry and confused.
Her face cold, she retorted with rising force, "What I should or shouldn't do is not for you to comment on. And don't underestimate me; although I may not be as skilled in combat as you are, as a doctor, I can certainly take care of myself! You could use the time you spend arguing with me to search more locations!"
Seeing the sudden shift in the woman's demeanor before him, Randall's eyes flickered slightly.
"Since Missus has said so, I will take my leave first. Xavier, take good care of Missus."
With that, he gave Xavier a meaningful look and turned to leave.
Xavier watched his retreating figure, his brow furrowing slightly.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Randall was deliberately causing trouble to avoid taking Missus along.
As he was lost in thought, Deanna's cold voice reached his ears, "Take me to where Lance had an accident."
"Missus, perhaps we should go tomorrow? It's getting dark soon, and it might not be safe to head out to sea now."
Xavier tried to persuade Deanna.
Seemingly worried she might disagree, he continued, "I think you could first talk to Miss Eula about what happened and then decide based on the situation whether to go to the scene to help search for people. Otherwise, we might just end up causing trouble for others without knowing anything."
Deanna considered his words for a moment and found them reasonable.
She asked Xavier to take her to Eula.
Fortunately, when they went looking for her, Eula had just returned from the sea.
Seeing Deanna approaching her, Eula immediately showed an unwelcoming expression, "Why are you here?"
Without waiting for Deanna's response, she scolded Xavier sharply.
"What were you thinking? When Lance left, didn't he instruct you to keep a close eye on her? Don't you know it's dangerous for her to come here? Take her back immediately!"
"Miss Eula, Missus rushed here because she heard Mr. Mercer was in trouble," Xavier quickly spoke up for his Missus.
Little did he know that Eula wasn't concerned about Deanna but actually found her presence bothersome.
Although Lance was in trouble now, she believed in his capabilities; he surely wouldn't be harmed.
She didn't want Deanna here; otherwise, once they found Lance, her own contributions would be overshadowed by Deanna's presence in Lance's eyes.
Thus, Eula's expression grew even uglier as she scolded, "What use is her rushing over? Can she dive into the sea to search for people or confront those armed militants? Don't let it be that she ends up delivering herself right into the militants' hands and we have to divert resources to rescue her!"
...
Xavier was left speechless by the rebuke.
Deanna's face also turned very unpleasant.
This was the second time today she had been deemed a hindrance.
And one of those times was by her romantic rival!