"Mr. Moran, calm down! Leave Mrs. Moran alone!"
'You know that domestic abuse is a crime, right? Mrs. Moran is such a great person! She loves you so much too! How could you ever bring yourself to hit her!?"
"We'll quit our jobs if you dare to hit her one more time! And we'll file a lawsuit against you for the abuse you've put her through!"
These people were employees of Moran Group, specifically the ones Joanna handed her lunchboxes in secret to. Looks like the few extra snacks Joanna gave them finally paid off.
At the time, Ace and Joanna were still in a rather… inconvenient position.
Looking from afar, it seemed that Ace was forcing himself on Joanna, using his tall figure as an advantage to her feeble body. To an outsider, it was truly an infuriating sight.
Ace's actions had caused an uproar. Even his most trusted assistant, Jack, was on Joanna's side this time.
"Mr. Moran, I have to be real with you here."
"Mrs. Moran is a great person, you should know that. For the past few years, she's been nothing but a diligent and responsible wife. And yet you cheated on her…"
'To think you're now refusing to sign the settlement… This is just crossing the line!" Jack continued as he scowled at Ace, without an ounce of worry that he might be sacked for insubordination.
'Wait, could it be that… you're still in love with Mrs. Moran? Is that why you're refusing to sign the papers, Mr. Moran?"
Hearing this, everyone started nodding along.
'That must be it! Mr. Moran's cheating was just a stupid mistake on his end, he still loves Mrs. Moran after all…"
"How could his mistress be any better than Mrs. Moran? He just wanted to spice up their relationship!"
"Mr. Moran, don't be shy. Just admit that you still love her! If you apologize to Mrs. Moran sincerely, she'll surely forgive you!"
"If I were you, I'd get on my knees right now! It might be a little embarrassing, but your ego is nothing compared to the woman you love!"
Although the employees knew that their statements could cost them their jobs, they were giving their all in order to save their OTP.
Joanna didn't expect things would go this way.
A few minutes later, she snapped back to reality and chimed in as well. "Do you really still love me, darling? Is that why you're being difficult on purpose? It was all just to make me stay by your side?"
"If you do love me, you can just tell me that! You don't have to hide your feelings at all! Your employees are right, you know? I'll forgive you if you're willing to beg for my forgiveness!"
"Joanna Pierce!" Ace glared at the sly woman, his face twisted from sheer anger.
He suddenly realized that he was completely helpless when it came to Joanna's antics, despite his experience within the business field.
"Stop overthinking! How could I possibly love you?!"
Ace refused to let this madness go on. He retrieved the amended divorce papers from his drawer under his office desk, and with a quick scribble, he signed his name at the bottom of the paper.
"You're only doing this just to get my signature anyway! If that's what you want, here!" he said as he flung the document toward Joanna coldly.
At the very same time, Joanna ended the live stream. With a raised eyebrow, she smiled as she picked up the papers. *Thank you so much, Mr. Moran. If it's possible, please initiate the ownership transfer as soon as you can."
She admitted to herself that she was indeed hurt by the man's words, but it didn't matter, as she had gotten what she wanted in the end.
With the document in hand, Joanna left the Moran Group headquarters with a satisfied grin.
"Mrs. Moran, wait!" Jack called out to her from behind.
"What is it?" Joanna asked as she turned to look at him.
Whenever Ace had something to discuss, he would always have Jack relay the message. Hence, they were no strangers. In fact, Joanna found him to be rather easygoing.
"It's nothing, actually. I just wanted to apologize to you for what Mr. Moran did"
"And… I'd like to ask why you want Morans & Co… Don't you know that the three lawyers working there are unreliable people? The law firm is basically worthless at this point! You realize you're basically getting nothing out of this divorce, right?" "Well…" Joanna smiled mysteriously. 'You'll understand, soon enough."
After the live stream incident, Ace found himself in a PR disaster where netizens cursed him out daily. Some of them even went as far as to expose Alice past relationship with his late brother.
Everyone was absolutely furious with Ace's indecency, especially with how he was sexually involved with his brother's girlfriend.
Moran Group, which had barely recovered from the recent cyber attack, was affected by this as well. Their stock prices tanked as soon as news of their CEO's scandal spread.
"Ace, what in the world happened in that live stream? Just look at how you treat Joanna… How could my son be such a bastard!"
"Your cheating is now being published on every platform too! Aren't you proud of yourself!"
"And how dare you abuse Joanna! If I wasn't traveling abroad to find a suitable heart donor for your grandfather's surgery, I'll make sure you won't see the light of day!"
The sun had just risen but Ace had already received an earful from his father.
With a disappointed frown, he tugged on his tie and said, "It's all an act, you've been tricked by that woman."
"Bullsh*t!"
Alexander was so agitated that he nearly cussed at his own son. "I know Joanna, okay?! She's an honest and responsible child! If you hadn't pushed her over the edge, why would she ever expose our family matters online?"
'Honest?! Responsible?!' Ace felt like exploding as soon as he heard those words.
Back then, Joanna could still be considered honest, responsible, obedient, and adorable in his books. However, she was now just a sly and irritating fox.
"Or perhaps… you still love Joanna, like what some people are saying. Is that why you refused to sign the agreement? Do you not want a divorce?" Alexander said with a smirk.
"If that's the case, you should just apologize! Women like it when a man is gentle with them, alright? I'm experienced in this. I'll teach you everything when I get back. Women need…"
"I don't love her, and I never will." Ace interrupted coldly as if trying to deny even the possibility of that idea.
Alexander was at his wit's end.
"Ah, whatever. Do what you want! Just deal with this immediately, especially the accusations in the comments!"
"Your grandfather is currently in the hospital, so he doesn't have access to the internet for now. Should he find out and if something were to happen to him, you're the one to blame!"
Peace and quiet returned to Ace's office when Alexander hung up the phone.
Leaning against his chair, he stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Despite claiming that he had never fallen for Joanna, his mind was completely occupied by her.
'Ah… I didn't expect to be played by my inconspicuous, so-called wife.'
'To think I made a fool of myself because of her. I've really underestimated you, Joanna Pierce.'
"Mr. Moran," said someone from outside.
"Come in," Ace responded. It took one second for him to restore the cold, stoic expression on his face.
It was his personal secretary, Lisa Miles.
"Mr. Moran, the PR department has already dealt with the negative comments regarding the live stream. We've also paid the media to help restore both you and the company's reputation by releasing articles all together"
"But…" Lisa paused awkwardly.
'What is it?"
Lisa took a deep breath and replied carefully. "Sentiments are high, and the netizens are split over the issue. One side is accusing you of being an abusive cheater, and they wish to take you and the Moran Group down."
"The other side, however, are die-hard fans of your relationship with Mrs. Moran. They truly believe that you two were flirting during the live stream and that they were blessed to have been able to witness your love on screen."
Ace's expression darkened. He did not expect people to have such imaginative minds and so much time for online gossip.
"Our current issue is that we can't control the netizens' comments, even though we are able to control the media."
"Our teams may be trying their best in deleting their posts, but they are unable to keep up with their speed, given how they're posting on multiple forums. They've even created pages to hate on you, or fangirl over your relationship."
"The two sides are practically at war right now, and they're what's keeping this topic trending on the internet. It's simply too difficult to keep everything under control as of now!"
Ace was speechless, he wondered if he should be angry or if he should laugh at the sheer absurdity of this situation.
"Is there a solution?"
"The PR department has been working overtime to figure something out. Not only will this calm everyone down, but it might even help the Moran Group regain its popularity. It's just that… I'm afraid you'll dislike what we have in mind…."