Ace nodded while opening the door to exit with Cecilia.
Suddenly, they bumped into Joanna, who was holding a piece of cake.
"Uhm…" The two of them met eyes, yet Joanna was the one feeling embarrassed, despite having nothing to hide.
"Ah… I didn't bother your conversation, right?" She asked awkwardly.
Ace didn't reply, merely staring down at her with an arrogant gaze.
Joanna, however, continued asking, ignoring the awkwardness. "Did you succeed? Did the 'Heart of the Sea' work? Are you guys planning on running away now?"
Hearing this made the man colder. He merely whispered something to Cecilia before walking past Joanna. Acting as if they were complete strangers, his arrogance practically seeped out of his aura.
"That petty bastard! I just asked for some money! What's with the attitude?! " Joanna mumbled angrily to herself as she watched him leave.
She actually wanted to find a place for a nap due to a wave of exhaustion from earlier events.
She never would've expected to bump into the two as they were in the middle of a 'date.'
Although she strongly encouraged Ace to steal the bride, she couldn't help feeling upset, knowing that he actually went through with it…
As Joanna was about to look for another resting area, Cecilia called out to her. "Miss Pierce, may I have a few words with you?"
"I have nothing to say to you." Joanna refused.
That was because she didn't understand what Ace's first love could possibly want to tell his ex-wife, who was considered a failure.
'Is she trying to one-up me? I don't have the time or energy!'
"Don't worry, Miss Pierce. It won't take long. I'll be able to get closure after saying this, so please fulfill my wish."
"Ah…" Joanna found Cecilia to be forthcoming and didn't have the heart to refuse. "Alright, I'm listening."
"It's nothing, really. I just found out that you're very important to Ace. That's why I hope you can take good care of him…"
Cecilia seemed even more saddened after saying this. "We'll never be able to get back together, but I really wish him happiness. He actually prioritizes love a lot, so he'd give his all as soon as he falls for someone. Back then…"
Joanna spent ten whole minutes listening to Cecilia's description of their love story and how the man was willing to give up everything for her.
"You should know this since you've slept with Ace before. He has a scar around his waist. He got that from protecting me, which is why I could never move on from him… Never…"
"Alright, alright, I'm getting tired…" Joanna was quickly able to interrupt her with a smile. "You know, if you have so much to say, you could write it all into a book and publish it. You might even earn some extra cash from that."
"Are you jealous, Miss Pierce?" Cecilia smiled. It was exactly what she wanted to achieve.
"This is a necklace, the token of our love. I've always had it with me, and now. I'm giving it to you. Take it, or just throw it away, it's your choice. It symbolizes the ending to me and Ace's relationship as well." Cecilia said and shoved the necklace into Joanna's hands.
The woman had obviously refused to take it, so the two looked as if they were fighting with each other. Cecilia even fell to the ground from this, making the entire atmosphere really glum and hopeless.
Yet, the scene was also coincidentally captured by a person with certain intentions…
In the end, Joanna didn't feel like keeping this up, so she took the necklace begrudgingly.
She then held her hand out to Cecilia, who was still on the ground. She sounded rather helpless as she said, "Fine, I'll take it. But you gave me the freedom to deal with it however I want, did you? So I'll just be throwing it into the trash."
Cecilia didn't seem mad and still showed a bittersweet smile. "Sure, throw it away. I can't do it myself anyway, so you can help out instead… Just as I told Ace earlier, I admit defeat if you were the one I lost to."
The woman's words made Joanna extremely confused.
'Huh? Aren't they planning to elope? Why did they include me in this? And the whole admitting defeat thing… What does she even mean?!'
However, she didn't intend to ask any further questions. With Cecilia being the bride, she should be able to have the choice of eloping or going through with the wedding.
'She can think about it on her own. Prying would only make it seem like I care about this a lot when I don't care about their issues at all! Hmph!'
Seeing how the sun was setting, the sea and the skies were painted in a lovely shade of reddish orange. Since the church was built with french windows, people inside were able to admire the incredibly romantic and gorgeous lighting.
Just then, the bell rang, as it was time for the ceremony. The priest held up his cross, getting ready for the rituals while the guests took their seats.
Everyone seemed exhilarated about the bride and groom's appearance.
Joanna, on the other hand, didn't understand if the person in charge of arranging seats had something against her.
'How could they arrange for Ace to sit next to me when everyone knows we're divorced.'
To make things worse, her old nemesis, Lucy, was on her left.
'Isn't this giving me trouble both left and right?'
She turned and looked at the cold iceberg next, then looked towards her ex -cousin-in-law, who seemed to be putting up an attitude.
As she was trying to get up, the priest announced the groom's entrance, so she had no choice but to awkwardly sit back down.
With that, Christopher entered the venue in a white suit, holding a bouquet of red roses in his hands. He then slowly walked to the holy statue elegantly.
The women started cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs, absolutely in awe over the groom, as if he were their prince charming.
'Oh my god, Christopher looks so good!"
Joanna was stunned as well, nearly getting up to her feet and clapping profusely for the man. She thought to herself, 'Dang, a bouquet of flowers? With this beautiful sunset? And a handsome man sincerely waiting for his bride to appear… What a wedding!'
Just then, Ace shot her a dirty glare, despite having ignored her the entire time. He coldly said, "Why are you so excited about someone else's wedding?"
He wasn't being loud, but he wasn't exactly soft-spoken either, which resulted in the people nearby clearly hearing him.
Joanna blushed, and she clenched her fists angrily, retorting, "Why are you being like this, Mr. Moran? I'm just trying to compliment someone! If it makes you so unhappy, get on stage and fight him! Let's see who the bride would pick at the end of the day!"
"Don't be foolish!" Ace looked like he was about to explode, turning to the stage and swearing to himself that he'd just ignore the foolish woman.
"Hah! Look at how upset you are. I'm just telling the truth!" Joanna said, not understanding why the man was getting annoyed at this time.
'He doesn't have the courage to steal the bride, and he's jealous of Christopher! So why is he lashing out at me?! He only knows to take his anger out on the weak, like me!'
Underneath the holy symbol, the priest was wearing a black robe, with a vow book in his hand. He then spoke out to the other end of the church," The groom has arrived, so it's time to welcome the bride!"
Just then, solemn music resounded, and all the guests followed the priest's signal, looking towards the bride's supposed entrance.
Yet, the bride didn't show even after the music had stopped.
"What's happening? Why isn't the bride here? Is this a test for the groom?"