"Years ago, this road was built by the Scholarship Foundation to honor the legendary figure of BC University and the goddess in the heart of countless BC University students, Joanna Pierce. Apparently, the road was supposed to be called the Joanna Pierce Road at first, but Joanna felt that it was too high–profile, so it was named the Sophora Road instead…"
The college students got more and more excited as he spoke. In his narrative, Joanna was like a mythical goddess.
"You probably don't know how amazing Joanna Pierce was. The experimental group she led won numerous international physics competitions. Some of the academic papers she published in international journals even made it into the textbooks of foreign universities…"
"Ahem!"
To Joanna's surprise, she still had quite the reputation in BC University after all these years. The boy's praise of her was making her feel a bit embarrassed. She quickly stopped his gushing and said, "Alright, alright, we get it, she's incredible!"
"She really was. Unfortunately, she has bad judgment!"
The student sighed with a face full of regret. "During her peak years, rather than focusing on her career, she actually quit to get married. What's worse, the person she married was Ace Moran, a guy who anyone could tell was a scum with one look. My friends and I never believed that the marriage would last."
"As expected… he cheated on her. I heard that they're now divorced. I sincerely hope that Joanna Pierce can leave the suffering behind her and reach another peak in her life!"
The handsome face of the CEO was looking really terrible by now.
Joanna quickly sent the student on his way.
It would be bad if the petty Ace Moran decided to put him on a blacklist!
"See? I wasn't lying. This road really was made for me. If I forbid you from using this road, then you can't use it!"
Joanna looked smugly at Ace with raised chin.
Ace was surprised. Joanna Pierce, who always looked like an idiot, was actually a physics genius?
After hearing about her history, even he felt that it was a pity for her to marry him at the time…
"Sure, the Sophora Road was built for you by the Scholarship Foundation, but do you know who sponsors the Scholarship Foundation of BC University?"
Ace suddenly asked Joanna with a weird smile.
"That, I actually don't know."
Joanna frowned and recalled, "I remember I had a few chances to meet with the Scholarship Foundation's sponsor because I won awards for my academic research, but that sponsor was very mysterious and never showed himself in public. Don't tell… you're the sponsor?"
Ace's lips curled up even higher. He elegantly raised his eyebrows and asked, "Surprised?"
The Moran family, being one of the eight major families of the City, had immense power and wealth. Meanwhile, BC University was the number one university in the City. Therefore, it would not be surprising at all for Ace Moran to be the sponsor of BC University's Scholarship Foundation.
Having had the tables turned against her, Joanna did not want to continue the conversation any longer. She said "boring" and walked away with Jane.
Jane was not only cute and lively, she also had a kind heart.
When she saw that Ace was being left behind, she grabbed Joanna with one hand and Ace with the other and said innocently." Daddy said that people who walked on Sophora Road together will grow old together. That means the three of us will grow old together!
Joanna was initially going to refuse, but seeing Jane being so happy, she could not bear to spoil the child's fun.
Ace had also seemed to accept it. He held Jane's tiny hand in his big palm and did not seem like he had any intention of
letting go.
So, with one of them holding Jane's left hand while the other holding her right, they walked down the beautiful Sophora Road. From afar, they looked just like a happy family of three. The man was handsome, the woman was pretty, and the child was
cute. It was a warm and harmonious sight.
"Excuse me!"
Suddenly, a person called out to them.
A man with a large SLR camera hanging around his neck walked towards them and said politely. "Hi, my name is Chad. I'm a popular online photographer. I've been taking pictures focusing around the theme of family recently. The sight of your family. walking hand in hand just now was so heartwarming that I couldn't help snapping a few photos. I just want to ask if I can publish these photos online?"
"No, you can't!"
Ace coldly refused, his icy gaze as sharp as a knife.
The photographer could not help but swallow hard. He quickly said, "I'm sorry, I'll delete them now."
He turned on the camera, preparing to delete all the photos he had just taken with a pained look on his face.
Sigh. The photos were so heartwarming and aesthetically pleasing. The people in them all look so incredibly good too. He snapped a dozen or so photos in a row, and each one was perfect. If he could post them on his TikTok, they would surely go viral.
But now, he had to delete these masterpieces. It was even more painful than cutting his own flesh!
Ace glanced at the man's camera and said coldly. "Before you delete them, send them to my phone first."
"Wh–what?"
The photographer had an awkward look on his face.
Because in that case, it would be like they were getting his photography skills for free.
Ace's sharp eyes immediately saw through the photographer's thoughts. As usual, he generously said, "I'll pay you whatever you want."
Hearing that, the photographer's eyes lit up. He quickly said, "Okay, okay. Could you please turn on Bluetooth on your phone? I'll transfer them to you right away."
The two started to transfer photos in the middle of the road as if no one else was there.
As one of the models in the photos, the more Joanna thought about it, the more annoyed she felt.
Between the two men, one of them took pictures of her without her permission, while the other was going to keep her pictures without her permission. They had even reached a deal without even asking her. She was right there!
"I object!"
Joanna grabbed Ace's phone, taking him by surprise. She was so angry that her cheeks swelled. "I don't want to take any more pictures with someone like you. Delete all of them!"
"Give me back my phone!"
Ace tried to snatch his phone back with an unhappy face.
Like a child fighting over a toy, Joanna and Ace fought over the phone in full view of everyone there. The situation could only be described as "intense and exciting"!
When the photographer saw that they were about to fight, he quickly left with his camera, not even caring about the money
anymore.
Joanna opened the photo gallery of Ace's phone. Originally, she only wanted to delete the photos taken by the photographer earlier, but besides those photos, she accidentally saw that there was another photo of her!
It was a photo of her blowing the petal of a Sophora flower like a Korean drama's lead actress earlier.
To be honest, it was pretty well taken, on par with the ones taken by the photographer. Joanna did not know she could look so good!
But knowing that Ace had a photo of her in his phone, it felt… a bit weird!
"Why did you secretly take a picture of me? Since when did you get a habit like that? Let's see how many people you've secretly taken pictures of!"
Joanna started looking around in his photo gallery.
What she discovered was that Ace was a really strange person. She was the only human in the gallery. All the other photos were pictures of succulents, taken from various angles!
They were succulents that Joanna gave him.
After a while, she came across a photo that surprised her. "That's impossible! How could you have this…"