Ethan gulped hard and quickly said, "The hospital has professional staff that can take care of me. You guys are busy. You really don't have to do this."
"I'm serious. You saved her, so I must do something for you to repay you. You're not allowed to refuse!"
Ace's attitude was firm. He urged, "Open your mouth and eat the congee!"
Ethan had no choice but to give in.
Before he had finished the first spoonful, Ace was already feeding him another. In the end, Ethan was so full that he felt like his stomach was gonna burst.
Oh god, what sin had he committed to deserve this? He saved someone's life and even broke his leg doing so, but he now had to be a tool in those two's argument. He felt like the most miserable man in the world!
When Joanna saw that he had finished the congee, she immediately brought out an apple, peeled it with a knife, and handed it to him. " Having some fruit after dinner is good for digestion."
Ace urged again, "Eat the fruit."
Ethan:
Ethan's internal monologue: I don't want to eat anything anymore. I just want to go home and escape this bloody place.
After eating the apple, Joanna handed him a small cake. To no one's surprise, Ace made sure he finished it again.
"Your face is a bit dirty. Let me help you…"
Before Joanna had even finished speaking, Ace already grabbed a towel and started to "help" Ethan wash his face.
In short, Ace would not give Joanna any chance to repay Ethan. He intercepted them all.
Poor Ethan. He did not even dare to move. He let Ace wash his face and wipe his body. It felt worse than death.
Christopher watched the increasingly bizarre scene and joked, " Bro, you're so lucky. This is probably the first time Ace takes care of someone like this. Enjoy it!"
Ethan smiled bitterly. His expression screamed: Help me! Help me!
Joanna was finally done. She walked out of the ward, and Ace followed after her.
"Ace, if you're unhappy with something, come at me. Stop bothering Ethan."
When Joanna saw that no one was around, she confronted Ace.
She was upset because Ace was clearly doing all that to get back at her and Ethan.
"How am I bothering him?"
Ace's attitude was as arrogant as ever. "Like you said, he's my bro, so I took good care of him. How was I bothering him?"
"Didn't you see how reluctant he was?"
Joanna could not help mocking, "You weren't feeding him, you were stuffing him. You weren't washing his face, you were scrubbing his face off. Is this really how you're going to take care of him?"
"I disagree. I think I took really good care of him. I think Ethan is very satisfied. He didn't complain once."
"Complain?"
Joanna was speechless, "As if he would dare!"
"Why are you so concerned about Ethan? Are you really gonna give yourself to him?"
Ace asked tentatively.
"What?"
Joanna was perplexed. "You're so unreasonable. Fine, if you're so wary of me ruining your friend's life, I'll stay away from him from now on. You can take care of him. I'm not coming here anymore! "
Joanna turned around and left the hospital.
Ace remained rooted to the spot, speechless. He could not understand her line of thought.
Why would she think that he was wary of her ruining his friend's life?
Couldn't she see that the one he's wary of was obviously his friend?
After Joanna left the hospital, she was still furious.
"He's so annoying! What is wrong with him? He's so worried that I would ruin his precious friend's life. He's totally looking down on me!"
She took a taxi back to the Moran Villa.
Nancy was already there. She was rubbing her hands anxiously.
When she finally saw Joanna, she immediately rushed over. "Miss Joan, what's going on? How did the Pierce Residence burn down while I was out doing grocery? Why did you ask me to wait for you at the Moran Villa?"
The moment Joanna saw Nancy, the tears she had been holding back came pouring out.
Like a child, she threw herself into Nancy's arms and cried," Nancy, what took you so long? Our house is gone! Our home is gone!"
"Don't cry, Miss Joan. Don't cry!"
Nancy gently stroked Joanna's back and comforted her, "Don't be sad. Our home will never be gone. Home is where you and I are. So what if the house burned down? We can just rebuild it. Don't cry! 11
"It's all gone…"
Joanna bawled her eyes out. She sobbed, "The house can be repaired, but the traces of Grandpa, Mom, and Dad are all gone.
Every plant, tree, brick, and tile in the house is gone!"
"They're not. As long as they remain in our hearts, even if the house is burned down, they'll still exist. Calm down, Miss Joan. It's not a big deal. We can always rebuild the house. I know our strong Miss Joan would never be defeated by this setback."
"That's right, I can't let it defeat me…"
Joanna finally stopped crying.
Grandpa once said tears belonged exclusively to the losers. The strong would always turn tears into strength.
Instead of feeling sorry for herself, her time would be better spent making the Pierce family great again!
"Nancy, we can't be defeated by this. We have to be stronger than before. Let's stay in the Moran Villa for now while we slowly rebuild the Pierce Residence. I believe that the reborn Pierce family will shock the entire City!"
Joanna's oath filled Nancy with enthusiasm.
The two then carefully transformed the Moran Villa from the inside out so that the villa would have a strong Pierce feel.
The next day.
Joanna got up early and, like before, cooked something delicious in the kitchen.
After all, she had lived in this place for four years. She was familiar with every comer of it, especially the kitchen.
She used to love cooking. Whenever she heard Ace was coming back, she would prepare a whole feast for him.
She had not cooked at all since the divorce, so her skills were somewhat rusty.
She had taken a liking to sour food lately, so she wanted to make lemon chicken feet.
The moment she finished marinating the chicken feet, she heard Nancy's nervous voice call out to her.
"Miss Joan, we have an important guest."
"An important guest?"
Joanna was puzzled. She quickly washed her hands and walked out.
She saw her ex-mother-in-law, Susan, sitting in the living room.
That's not an important guest! That's an unfortunate guest!
Last night, Joanna and this arrogant woman had parted on bad terms, and now, she was probably back for more.
"What brings you here this early, Miss Susan?"