"Let's do it!" After listening to Lisa's plan, Joanna's eyes glowed with excitement. "Ms. Lisa. I've got to hand it to you. You actually found a solution for such a tricky case. I knew I needed you to join my firm! With the three of you around, I can do whatever I want. The entire the City, No,the entire world is mine!" Joanna declared gleefully.
Zack laughed. "Boss, you're exaggerating. You might not be able to get the entire the City, but I think you can acquire thirty to forty percent of it."
Clearly, Joanna wasn't satisfied with that amount. She frowned. "Why only thirty or forty percent? What about the rest?"
"What do you think?" Zack brought Joanna crashing back to reality. "Naturally, the remaining sixty to seventy percent belongs to your ex- husband, aka our ex–boss, Ace Moran."
The Moran family was one of the eight most powerful families in the City, and the other seven families were also not to be underestimated. The Pierce family wanted to return to its peak position, but the challenge would not be an easy one. Being able to occupy thirty to forty percent of the market would already be a commendable feat.
Lisa, whose presence dominated the room, finally said something. "You don't have to belittle yourself. If you win this case, the Moran family will become the Pierce family's money–making tool. It's not impossible for the Pierce family to surpass the Moran family."
"Exactly. The Pierce family used to be on the same level as the Moran family, it's just that we made a few mistakes along the way and fell behind…" Joanna took a deep breath, then continued softly. "I'm the only remaining descendant of the Pierce family I can't afford to make any more mistakes."
Zack shook his head. "These women are way too ambitious. They expect the Pierce family to surpass the Moran family, the strongest family in the City, just by winning a single court case. They're too naive!"
At night, in Sporadic Stars Bar.
Ace, Christopher, and Ethan sat in the VIP section drinking glass after glass of whiskey, each with their own troubling thoughts.
Since the three of them looked distinguished and exuded different vibes, nearly all the women who came to the bar were eyeing them.
Ethan opened another bottle of whiskey and filled everyone's glasses enthusiastically. "Stop looking so down. This is the last night all three of us will celebrate as single men! After tonight. Christopher will be trapped in marriage forever Cecelia isn't someone you can easily fool so if you don't have your fun now, when will you?"
Christopher picked up his glass and silently watched the bubbles rising to the surface of his whiskey. There wasn't even a hint of joy on his face despite knowing he would soon be married. He let out a long sigh, swirling the whiskey in his hand absently.
Ethan couldn't understand. "Christopher, you're about to get married to your soulmate. Why are you sighing?"
Christopher didn't answer him. Instead, he looked at Ace, who also had a gloomy expression on his face. "Ace, you're the only one among us who's been married. Tell me, how did you feel at the time? Did you also have cold feet like me?"
Ace stared at the alcohol in his glass, deep in thought. After a long while, he shook his head. "I forgot how I felt the night before my wedding. I can only recall feeling disgusted."
"Disgusted?" Christopher frowned. "Were you disgusted by the person you were marrying or by the idea of marriage itself?"
Ace shook his head again. "I don't know maybe both."
Ace and Joanna had gotten married three years ago. It was such a long time ago that all his memories had turned blurry. He'd forgotten many things, but the only thing he could clearly recall was that Joanna looked gorgeous on their wedding day. She'd worn a blue and white wedding dress. Her cheeks had been a little flushed, and she looked like a shy, young girl. In fact, she didn't even have the courage to look him in the eye that day.
Back then, she'd been adorable and demure, and he had felt the urge to protect her, but now, she was fierce like a tiger. Whenever they met, she'd claw at him as if she wanted to kill him!
"Of course he'd be disgusted!" Ethan uttered as if he'd gone through a similar experience. "Ace was forced to marry his wife, so of course he wouldn't be happy…"
"Christopher, it's different for you and Cecelia. You two are getting married because you love each other. You've been through so much as a couple, and you can finally be together now. I'm sure you'll be very happy. Don't you look forward to your life as a married couple?" Ethan asked curiously.
Ace and Christopher looked at each other and said nothing. They smiled bitterly and clinked their glasses together.
"Yeah. I'm marrying Cecilia out of love, so I should be happy. Ace and Ms. Pierce are getting divorced because they don't love each other, so he should be happy too, but Why do we both find it so hard to be happy?"
Christopher's question instantly killed the mood.
Ethan couldn't resist letting out a sigh. "I admire you two for even wanting to talk about whether you love someone. I've never faced this kind of issue. I don't love women enough to give up my freedom. However, if I lose that darned case, I'll have no freedom to speak of!"
After saying that, he downed his glass and clapped his hands. "Alright, alright. We need to stop moping around. Why don't we play something fun?"
"Like what?" Christopher perked up.
"Let's play a drinking game. Whoever loses will have to accept whatever punishment we impose. What do you think?"
"Boring." Ace said indifferently. Clearly, he wasn't interested.
However, something suddenly occurred to him. "Is it a counting game?" Ace asked.
"Sure. I can play any drinking game." Ethan shrugged.
"In that case, let's play that." Ace suddenly seemed eager to play. Truthfully, he couldn't accept that he had lost to Joanna every time they played. He wanted to use this opportunity to find out whether he was really bad at it, or if that woman was just too good at it.
The three of them began playing the game.
Ace was a workaholic and rarely came out to play, so unsurprisingly, he was the worst at the game, and Christopher and Ethan easily beat him.
Ace kept his word and waited for their punishment.
"I'll go first!" Ethan exclaimed. "Ace, I want you to call your wife right now, and talk to her for at least ten minutes."
"Nope." Ace instantly refused.
However, Ethan wouldn't take no for an answer. "It's only a phone call. You're a coward if you can't even do this much!"
Feeling triggered, Ace took his phone out and dialed Joanna's number. After a while, he realized Joanna had actually blocked his number, his call couldn't even go through.
"Hahaha!" Ethan and Christopher burst into laughter. This was what they wanted to see.
"Alright. My turn." Christopher finally managed to stop laughing. "Ace, don't worry. I'll make this one easy…"
He looked at the bar's entrance. "Ask the second person who walks in to dance with you. What do you say?"
Ace raised his brows. "That's easy."
All he had to do was dance with a stranger. He believed any man or woman would accept his request.
The first person who walked in was a handsome guy.
After that, a beautiful woman in a white dress slowly walked in.