After the board meeting, Deanna followed Logan back to the office.
She looked at Logan, whose face was not looking good, and didn't know how to comfort him.
Earlier in the meeting, Donald had been aggressive, forcing Logan to relinquish the right to investigate. Otherwise, Donald seemed ready to make an issue out of Lance's prolonged absence.
Deanna sat quietly beside Logan, waiting for him to calm down and see if he had any tasks for her.
Fortunately, Logan didn't stay upset for long and soon composed himself.
He looked at Deanna, who was sitting obediently on the sofa, and waved his hand. "I don't have anything for you here. You can go."
"Okay."
Deanna nodded, stood up, and prepared to leave.
At that moment, the office door was pushed open from the outside, and Old Mercer walked in with a cane.
Seeing him, both Logan and Deanna were surprised.
"Dad, why did you come down from the mountain?"
"Gramp."
Deanna also stopped and greeted him politely.
Old Mercer heard her voice, paused, and looked over. "Since you're here too, stay. It saves me the trouble of having someone find you later."
After speaking, he sat down on the sofa with his cane and coldly snorted at Logan. "With such a big issue happening, how could I not come? How are you managing the company? Why have there been two leaks of core secrets?"
Logan stood in front of his father like a student who had done something wrong.
Perhaps because Deanna was present, Logan felt a bit embarrassed but still spoke truthfully.
"After discussing with the board, we suspect there's a commercial spy on my side."
"Why didn't you detect the commercial spy in time?"
Old Mercer was visibly angry after hearing Logan's words.
Logan could only explain bitterly. "The other party is very cautious. When the first incident happened, I had people investigate and even reported it to the police, but we couldn't find out who leaked the information. This time, some of the leaked data was unique to my side, which made us realize it might be someone close to me."
Hearing this, Old Mercer's face turned extremely grim.
"It seems some people have had it too good for too long and have forgotten their place!"
Old Mercer knew that those who stayed by Logan's side were mostly people he had personally promoted.
He snorted and continued, "Since you've identified the source of the problem, have you started investigating?"
"I'll have someone investigate privately," Logan answered truthfully.
Old Mercer immediately frowned. "Privately? Why?"
Logan then recounted what had happened during the board meeting.
"Donald is worried I'll cover for my people and has taken over the investigation."
"Hmph, he's quite eager."
Old Mercer sneered and then said, "Since he wants to investigate, let him. It saves us the trouble."
Logan frowned slightly but didn't say anything. Before he could speak, Old Mercer suddenly changed his tone, his gaze becoming sharp.
"Tell me, what has Lance been doing lately?"
"Lance..."
Logan hesitated as if thinking about how to hide the truth from Old Mercer.
But Old Mercer didn't give him a chance to hide anything and spoke again. "Don't tell me Lance is handling personal matters abroad. I asked around at the business conference; Lance left with Anna before it ended."
At this point, Old Mercer paused.
Deanna, who had been standing quietly beside them, suddenly felt nervous.
Sure enough, in the next second, Old Mercer looked at her scrutinizingly. "Anna, tell me what really happened. Where is Lance now?"
Deanna looked at Logan in confusion.
Her small gesture didn't escape Old Mercer's notice.
Old Mercer frowned in displeasure. "I asked you to speak. Why are you looking at your father-in-law?"
Logan saw his father's anger and signaled Deanna to speak truthfully.
Following Logan's cue, Deanna hesitated no longer and explained what had happened with Lance.
"So you haven't found Lance yet."
Old Mercer's expression was unreadable.
Deanna nodded with difficulty and worried that he was just putting on a brave face. She tried to comfort him. "Although there's no news now, it's also good news. Gramp, don't worry. Take care of your health."
"Who said I was worried?" Old Mercer raised an eyebrow and saw Deanna's surprised look.
He snorted. "That boy has developed quite a bit of influence abroad. He surely has ways to protect himself. If there's no news after all this time, it means he's lying to you all who can't see the situation clearly."
"Lying to us?" Deanna looked at him in shock, her eyes dazed.