That evening, while Deanna was playing with the two little ones, she suddenly received a call from her friend.
"Deanna, are you still my best friend?"
"Of course I am. What's wrong?"
Deanna was puzzled by Julia's questioning tone.
Then she heard Julia's indignant voice, "Since you're my best friend, when Lionel gets out of the hospital, you have to help me give him a hard time. That treacherous man! I took care of him out of the goodness of my heart, and he repaid me with betrayal!"
Hearing this, Deanna couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
It seemed that something had happened between her friend and Lionel after they left today.
"What did Mr. Grant do to make you so angry?" Deanna asked curiously.
Julia hesitated for a moment but didn't share the details with Deanna. She just said angrily, "Just remember what I said. If you're my friend, help me give Lionel a hard time!"
"Alright, I understand."
Deanna knew her friend didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press further. She figured she would find out sooner or later.
After chatting for a few more minutes, they ended the call.
The two little ones, seeing their mommy hang up the phone, curiously asked, "Mommy, what did Godmother say?"
They had heard Godmother howling several times on the phone but couldn't make out what she was saying.
Deanna thought about her conversation with her friend and ruffled the two little ones' black hair with a bright smile. "It seems you might have a godfather soon."
"A godfather?"
The two little ones were stunned for a moment before they reacted and crowded around Deanna, their eyes sparkling with gossip.
Deanna knew what they wanted to ask and didn't wait for them to speak. She explained proactively, "If nothing unexpected happens, the Uncle Lionel you've met might become your godfather."
"Wow, Godmother is finally not single anymore."
The two little ones were happy for Julia.
Compared to this warm atmosphere, things were much more serious on Lance's side.
He was dealing with some documents when he received a call from Logan.
"There's a board meeting tomorrow. Be prepared. Others might criticize you for your recent disappearance, and there might be a new board member attending."
"Did you hear something?"
Lance wasn't too concerned about the first part of the message but was intrigued by the latter part. He narrowed his eyes dangerously.
Logan didn't deny it. "Remember I told you about a mysterious person in the stock market buying up scattered shares? We never found out who it was. This board meeting wasn't organized by us but by Donald's people. They even reminded me to add an extra chair for the meeting."
Hearing this, Lance didn't speak. He tapped his fingers on the table rhythmically, creating a sense of pressure.
After a few seconds, Lance said coldly, "In that case, we'll deal with whatever comes our way and see what tricks they have up their sleeves."
The next morning at ten o'clock, Mercer Group's board meeting started on time.
Logan and Lance looked at the empty chair with deep eyes.
"Colby, didn't you say to add an extra chair? Why is it still empty?"
This question came from one of the Mercer family's board members.
Colby frowned slightly and replied coldly, "Maybe they're stuck in traffic. Let's wait."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lance heard a somewhat familiar voice from the door.
"Sorry for being late. There was traffic. Thank you for waiting."
Raphael walked in with a gentlemanly smile and a commanding presence, heading towards the empty chair.
Lance and Logan didn't relax their brows upon seeing him. They clearly hadn't expected Raphael to be the new board member.
The others also had varied expressions.
They were all familiar with Raphael, the young head of the Howard family who had recently taken over the Jones Group with great momentum.
Raphael noticed the gazes around him and nodded politely with a smile. "Hello everyone, my name is Raphael Howard. I believe many of you know me. By chance, I became a small shareholder of Mercer Group."
As he spoke, he glanced at Lance with a seemingly friendly yet provocative look.
Logan ignored his gaze and said coldly, "I hope Mr. Howard will be on time for future meetings. Let's begin."
The meeting lasted three hours and ended at one in the afternoon.
Lance was about to leave with Xavier when someone called out to him.
"Mr. Mercer, wait."
Raphael had already walked up to Lance.
Lance looked at him coldly. "What do you want?"
"It's nothing much. During the meeting, I saw how serious you were and didn't want to disturb you. I wanted to thank you for your past care and hope we can work well together in the future."
Raphael extended his right hand as if to make peace.
Lance looked down at his hand without any intention of shaking it. He chuckled and said, "Xavier, explain the rules to the newcomer, Mr. Howard."