"Don't worry, I have bodyguards with me, and they're the elite kind. You don't need to stress over me." Lillian offered a reassuring smile. "You guys go on ahead. I have to settle things here before I can leave."
Nathan grew anxious. "No way. With everything going down, how can I just leave? What good is leaving a few bodyguards? I'll call the cops. The police have to do something about this, right?"
Lillian chuckled lightly. "It's a domestic dispute. What can the police really do? At most, they'll mediate and offer some warnings. It won't solve the root of the problem. Trust me, with me here, I'll handle it. You don't need to worry so much."
"Then I have to stay and keep an eye on you," Nathan insisted.
"Me too. I'm staying," Victor chimed in. "How can two grown men run off the second there's trouble?"
"This really isn't the time to play the macho hero," Lillian said firmly. "Take the equipment and go. If an uncontrollable conflict breaks out, I can't risk anything happening to the gear."
"Ms. Mercer is right," Emma agreed. "Please, Mr. Knight, Mr. Cole, take the equipment back first."
Standing off to the side, Celia Bennett was on the verge of tears, though she fought hard to hold them back.
Hearing Lillian offer to stay and fix the mess, her heart swelled with immense gratitude.
But she was terrified.
She was terrified that this nightmare would haunt her endlessly.
She had a deep, instinctual fear of those people outside.
Yet, with Lillian going out of her way to help, Celia knew she couldn't cower in the background.
"Ms. Mercer, this is my mess. I shouldn't drag you all into it. Let me go out there and face them," Celia pleaded. "They just want money. I'll give them a little cash and make them leave. At least... at least it won't delay the work."
Lillian immediately flared with anger. "How can you even think that? They don't deserve to be called your parents, and you still want to pay them off?"
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