"Pfft!"
Joanna burst out laughing despite herself.
If anyone else had said that, she would not have felt that there was anything wrong with those words, but coming from the giant iceberg, it felt like a big fat joke.
"Hahahaha! Mr. CEO, did a ghost possess you or something? How could those words come out of your mouth? Oh, that's a
good joke!"
Ace's handsome face grew colder and colder.
He pursed his thin lips, looked expressionlessly at the woman who had bent over with laughter, and said slowly. "Is it really that funny?"
"Damn right it is."
Joanna tried to contain her laughter and looked at Ace mockingly. "You really are trying everything in the book to get me to withdraw charges, aren't you? Unfortunately, even though we've been married for three years, you still don't understand what kind of person I am…"
"You think if you say something nice to me, I'll do anything you say, just like old times?"
Joanna shook her head and laughed at Ace's arrogance.
"Before, you were my husband. I listened to what you said because I cared about you. But now, you're just my ex–husband.
Your requests are nothing to me now. Why should I do what you want me to?"
Joanna's words pierced into Ace's heart like a sharp knife.
Although it did not make a big wound, the empty feeling it left behind was still unpleasant.
He only realized now that he seemed to have lost a very good woman…
Ace smiled self–deprecatingly. His voice was clear and chilly as he asked, "Am I really that kind of person in your eyes?"
Joanna shrugged, "Obviously?"
"Hahaha! You're too full of yourself!"
Ace's eyes became even colder and more aloof. His voice was cold and sharp. "If I want to save Alice, I have a hundred ways to save her. The reason I spent so much time negotiating with you is because I hope you can quell your anger. But now… I'm running out of patience. I'm done with this!"
Joanna felt that there were other meaning behind those words, so she said, "I knew it, you really are planning something big in
secret. Face me head on if you're a man!"
Ace did not answer. He opened the document before him and said coldly, "You can leave now!"
"Ace Moran, I warn you, you better not play any dirty tricks. I'll make you pay if you do!"
Joanna's fist smashed onto the desk in front of Ace to emphasize her fierce warning.
Ace did not say anything else to her. He simply picked up the phone and told the security to come escort her out.
Joanna was fuming. She left reluctantly.
She had come all this way but did not get any useful information at all. What a waste of time!
She desperately needed to vent all the negative emotions, so she opened the chat with the stranger again and sent a row of angry emojis.
As if that wasn't enough, she also sent another wall of text.
"I'm so mad! SO MAD! My ex–husband is so annoying!"
"He's already your ex–husband but he still makes you mad. Maybe you're still in love with him?"
"Nonsense!"
Joanna gritted his teeth and typed a new message. "My hate for him just hasn't subsided yet. If I could, I really wanted to chop him into pieces and feed him to the fish."
"Good idea. I'll buy you a knife if you need it."
The guy's reply made Joanna laugh out loud. "You're the best, Mr. Moon."
Looking at the his profile picture of the moon on the sea, she could almost feel the breeze blowing against her hair. She instantly felt less angry. She strode out of the Moran Group building with light steps.
What Joanna did not realize was that Ace was currently staring at her petite, nimble figure.
He leaned in front of the shiny French window, his deep eyes locked onto Joanna…
She seemed so small, just a tiny black dot in his vision, but he felt like he could not deal with her at all!
The reason why he released her nanny was really because he simply did not want to make her sad. Why wouldn't she believe him?
At that moment, Ace's phone rang.
With a slight frown, he said, "Okay, do it!"
Under the night sky, a white private jet was parked in a private hangar a distance away from the city center.
Alice, escorted by several strong–looking men, boarded the plane with trepidation.
"Ace, I knew you would save me!"
At the sight of the dignified man sitting inside the jet, the originally uneasy Alice excitedly threw herself at him.
However, Ace's expression was cold, maybe even slightly annoyed.
"Tonight, the jet will send you to beach City, where you'll stay for the rest of your pregnancy. You will not make any contact with the outside world until the baby is born."
His voice that was devoid of emotion flustered Alice.
"What's the meaning of this, Ace? Are you trying to hide me away? How's that any different from going to jail?"
Ace's handsome face was expressionless as he coldly snorted, "You can choose to go back and go to jail if you want!"
"No!"
Alice was very emotional. She immediately transformed into a weak, helpless girl with tears streaming down her cheeks. She said pitifully, "Ace, what's wrong with you? Why are you being so cold to me?"
"You know I'm innocent! Shouldn't you help me clear my name? Instead, you're hiding me out of sight like I'm some kind of embarrassment! Don't you think this is really unfair to me?"
"Unfair?"
Ace coldly said, "You want to talk about fairness in front of Joanna Pierce? Don't you think that's the biggest unfairness of all?"
Alice was shocked by his cold attitude. She swallowed hard and said cautiously. "I… I don't understand what you mean."
She could clearly feel that the man was no longer as easily fooled as before.
"You're pregnant with my brother's child. That's his only descendant. For the sake of his bloodline, Joanna could only compromise unconditionally."
Ace's eyes were sharp and piercing. "You use this to usurp Joanna from the position that rightfully belonged to her. You think
this is fair?"
"… …"
Alice lowered her head and had no reply.
"If you had simply kept to yourself, I wouldn't have said anything, and you could get everything that you want. Unfortunately…
you're too greedy, too malicious. I won't let you do as you please anymore!"
Ace was utterly disappointed with Alice.
He could not figure out how his excellent and upright elder brother could have fallen for a woman like her and even had a child
with her. Even before he died, his last words to Ace was to take care of Alice and their child…
"Enough talking. Just go!"
Ace finished speaking and got up to leave.
Alice cried and blocked his path. "You misunderstood me, Ace! I'm not greedy! I just want to give birth to Dylan's baby safely and give him a legitimate identity! It was your idea to divorce Miss Joanna and marry me! How come in the end, it's all my fault" Alice's words made Ace fall silent.
He suddenly wondered, if there was no Alice and no baby, would he have divorced Joanna?
He probably would have. After all, the marriage between him and Joanna was only a contractual marriage. There was no love between them. A divorce was probably only a matter of time.
"Ace, I know I've made a mistake. I promise you I'll behave myself from now on. I'll stay far away from Miss Joanna. All I want is to be with you and raise Dylan's only child well. Please, give me another chance." Alice grabbed Ace's arm and begged hard.
"The baby will be born in a few months. Do you really want him to come into this world in hiding as an illegitimate child? Do you want him to have no father, no legal identity?"
Alice's round of questioning made Ace frown.
He looked coldly at Alice's slightly bulging stomach. In the end, he relented. "We'll talk again after the baby is born!"
"Okay. I trust you, Ace. I'll do whatever you ask of me!"
Alice knew when to push her advantage and when to compromise. She said pitifully, "I'll wait for you, wherever I am. The baby and I will be waiting for you!"
The private jet roared into the sky.
Sitting inside his limousine, Ace stared with a gloomy expression at the plane that gradually turned into a tiny dot.
"Brother, you won't blame me for doing this, will you?"
The next day.
Before the trial, Joanna received news that Alice had committed suicide…