Upon hearing Emily's words, Mia smiled. After all, if her daughter's life was good, hers would be too. However, her good mood didn't last long as she thought of another matter.
"Emily, don't just be happy. Call Raphael and tell him to come home for dinner tonight. Make sure you coax him well; don't let him be seduced by other women," Mia advised earnestly.
Emily's smile froze. The excitement from the invitation had made her forget that her relationship with Raphael was on the brink of collapse. Their marriage had already been intruded upon by a third party. The thought made Emily feel nauseous. Yet, she couldn't bear to give up Raphael and the wealth that came with him. Especially now that Raphael had joined the board of Mercer Group, she wanted to see Deanna's reaction.
In the following days, Cloudmere's financial circles were abuzz, possibly due to the changes in Mercer Group's board members.
The Howard family, thanks to Raphael, became the new elite in Cloudmere, ranking among the top five families.
Reports about Raphael were everywhere on the internet and TV.
Deanna would turn off the news whenever she saw them, preferring not to be bothered.
However, not everyone could remain as calm as Deanna, like Garrett. He harbored intense hatred towards the increasingly affluent Howard family. In his view, Raphael had risen by stepping on the Jones family, all because of Mia and Emily. He vowed not to let those two women off.
Days passed, and the Howard family's spotlight began to fade. Meanwhile, Lance's investigation into Raphael's finances yielded results.
"Mr. Mercer, we found that two months ago, five accounts intermittently transferred anonymous funds from abroad to Howard Group. A week ago, Raphael deposited gold worth $1. 2 billion in a Swiss bank," Xavier reported.
"$1. 2 billion in gold? How did he get so much gold?" Lance questioned sharply.
Xavier shook his head. "We haven't traced the source of the gold yet; it seems to have appeared out of nowhere."
"Impossible. We must have overlooked something. Continue the investigation and don't spare anyone in the Howard family," Lance ordered sternly.
Xavier nodded and left. Soon, Lance was alone in his office, deep in thought. The silence was broken by a phone call from Deanna.
"What's up?" Lance asked softly.
Deanna's sweet voice came through. "Samantha contacted me earlier; she wants us to have dinner at the mansion tonight. Grandpa is back from the nursing home."
"Alright, I'll leave work early and pick you up," Lance replied with a smile and then asked about home.
Deanna answered each question and asked if he was tired from work. After a bit of affectionate conversation, they hung up and went about their tasks.
Deanna put down her phone, humming happily as she prepared some gifts for the evening. As she turned around, she saw Eula standing at the hallway entrance, her smile fading slightly. "Good afternoon, Miss Eula," she greeted politely before attempting to leave.
"Stop," Eula commanded sharply.
The maids and Sam frowned at Eula's domineering tone but quickly softened when Eula approached Deanna with a forced smile. "Miss Jones, I'm so bored upstairs alone. Come chat with me," Eula said sweetly but firmly dragged Deanna upstairs without giving her a chance to refuse.
Deanna instinctively tried to resist but stopped when Eula whispered coldly, "Don't struggle. Even injured, I'm stronger than you. Unless you want to embarrass yourself or trouble Lance, follow me."
"What do you want?" Deanna gritted her teeth.
Eula ignored her and pulled her upstairs with more force. The maids noticed nothing unusual, though Sam found their behavior odd but couldn't pinpoint why.
Soon, they reached the third-floor room. Once inside, Deanna broke free and stepped back, glaring at Eula. "Now that we're alone, what do you want to say?"