Upon hearing Randall's words, Lance frowned slightly in displeasure.
He understood that Randall meant no harm and was only concerned about him, fearing that any change in plans could put him in real danger. After all, the people he was dealing with were not just any influential family, but secretive clans with centuries of heritage.
Despite this, he did not want to hear anyone speak ill of Deanna.
"Randall!"
His harsh tone was enough to make the rebellious Randall immediately behave.
Lance glanced coldly at him and warned, "Deanna is the woman I have chosen as my wife. Whether she is good or not is not for others to comment on. I do not want to hear such remarks again!"
Watching his boss defend Deanna, whom he considered presumptuous, Randall felt indignant but dared not contradict his boss.
"I understand, I won't mention it again."
Xavier, witnessing this scene, felt relieved. Previously, relying on his status as Mr. Mercer's sworn brother, Randall had been disrespectful towards the missus and had spoken harshly. Now, at last, Mr. Mercer had set him straight.
Lance, seeing that Randall had acknowledged his mistake, did not dwell on the matter further.
He relaxed his brows and asked, "How are things arranged on Mr. Martinez's end?"
It turned out that it wasn't just Lance behind this scheme; Gunner was involved too. Gunner had also had enough of these secretive families enjoying privileged treatment from the state while engaging in activities harmful to the citizens. The Martinez family, refusing to comply with them, was being suppressed!
Meanwhile, Deanna found herself in trouble again after a week of calm.
That day, like usual, Deanna was working overtime. In the evening, she received a call from an unknown number. Initially reluctant to answer what she assumed was a spam call, she was about to hang up when a sudden thought struck her. She wondered if it could be Lance, who was still missing, and decided to answer.
"Hello, is that Lance?" Deanna asked eagerly, clutching her phone.
However, there was only silence on the line.
Thinking the call had been disconnected as she heard no response, Deanna checked her phone and saw that the call was still active. She quickly brought the phone back to her ear and said anxiously, "Why aren't you speaking? Is it not convenient to talk?"
After listening to Deanna's anxious voice for a while, the person on the other end finally spoke slowly.
"Deanna, it's time for you to work."
This voice acted like a switch, instantly calming the previously anxious Deanna. Her eyes became vacant as she stood still like a soulless puppet.
The next second, Deanna repeated mechanically what the mysterious caller had said, "I need to work."
"Yes, you need to get back to work. Go to the chairman's office and pack all the data from the computer and send it to the email address I gave you. Once you've done all this, go home and sleep, forget everything."
After these instructions, the mysterious caller hung up.
Deanna's unusual behavior persisted as she murmured about working and sleeping while walking out of her office towards the chairman's office.
Previously, to facilitate Deanna's access to the office, Lance had recorded her data for the fingerprint door on the top floor. Thus, Deanna encountered no obstacles and entered the chairman's office.
...
The next morning, Cloudmere was once again rocked by major news.
It turned out that core data for Mercer Group's new quarterly adjustments had been leaked online again.
Upon hearing the news, Logan immediately rushed to the company and called a meeting to suppress the news online and modify the leaked secrets. He also had to reassure companies planning to collaborate with Mercer Group for the next quarter.
From his arrival at the company, Logan had been continuously busy without rest. Moreover, with his nerves stretched thin and his worries about Lance weighing on him, by noon, this iron-willed man collapsed.
Upon learning of Logan's collapse, Deanna disregarded her own troubled situation and rushed to the chairman's office as fast as she could.
When she arrived, she saw a crowd around Logan and shouted loudly, "Don't crowd around here; give some space for fresh air for the chairman!"
As she spoke, she pushed through the crowd and grabbed Logan's wrist to check his pulse.
Seeing this, others did not stop Deanna. Firstly because of her status and secondly because they were aware that Deanna was a doctor.
A few minutes later, as everyone watched Deanna release Logan's hand, they quickly asked with concern, "Missus, is the chairman alright?"
"It's nothing serious," Deanna replied. "Just extreme tension coupled with lack of rest recently has triggered a brief shock. He's weak now; someone help me get the chairman to the rest room for some rest."
Saying this, Deanna grabbed one of Logan's hands, ready to help him up.