Susan patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, "I believe that as long as you're willing to fight for it, the thing you lost will surely come back to you with a firmer attitude."
Susan said no more and left the H Group.
Staring at the lemon chicken feet in the lunch box while standing alone in his spacious office, Ace felt like he could imagine Joanna getting busy in the kitchen. It warmed his heart…
Moran Villa.
Joanna and Nancy made a lot of dishes to entertain Vernom, who had suddenly come for a visit.
"Vernom, Nancy was able to escape danger thanks to you. I've always wanted to invite you to dinner to express my gratitude, but I haven't been able to find the time. Today's the perfect chance… Think of this fruit juice as wine. Here's a toast to you!"
Joanna picked up a glass filled with juice and said gratefully to Vernom.
Nancy also stood up, poured herself a full glass of wine, and raised it towards Vernom. 'Mr. Vernom, thank you for everything. Cheers!"
"You're welcome, Nancy. I'll accept your toast, but Miss Pierce's…"
Vernom paused for a moment and looked at Joanna with a smile on his face. I remember that you promised me more than a meal."
Joanna touched the back of her head, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I agreed in the heat of the moment. It doesn't count."
"So you still remember our little agreement."
The smile on Vernom's face grew wider. 'Actually, you don't have to overthink it. Consider it doing your friend a favor. No one said you have to get married after meeting the parents."
Hearing this, Joanna nodded in agreement. "True. Meeting the parents doesn't mean much anymore. You can even get a divorce after getting married these days!"
If she could solve Vernom's problem just by meeting his parents, it didn't seem like a big deal.
After all, she hated being in other people's debt. After she returned his favor, she would be more comfortable dealing with this guy in the future.
"What? Meet the parents? Whose parents?"
Nancy told them emotionally, "Don't mess around, you young ones. Meeting the parents is a serious matter. You only do that when you're ready to get married."
"Besides, Miss Joan, you're currently in the process of repairing your relationship with Mr. Moran. If he finds out that you're meeting with another man's parents, what will happen to your relationship?"
That seemed to have provoked Joanna. She snorted. "Who said I'm repairing my relationship with him? That arrogant and narcissistic guy looks down on me from the bottom of his heart. Not only does he think I'm a murderer, he's also wary of me ruining his friend's life…"
The more she spoke, the angrier she got. She immediately asked Vernom," When should we go? I'm free whenever. I'll show him how popular I am!"
Vernom raised his eyebrows and said, "There's no better time than now. Let's go after the meal. Is that okay?"
"No problem!"
They left after the meal.
"This is nonsense, you two!'
Nancy wanted to stop them, but of course she failed.
While she was feeling anxious, Ace unexpectedly arrived.
As if she saw a savior, Nancy quickly dashed over and told him, "Mr. Moran, I'm so glad you're here. Miss Joan ran away with another man! They shouldn't have gone far. You can still catch up to them if you hurry!"
Upon hearing that, Ace's handsome face became even colder. "Damn that woman. She really ran away!"
Nancy carefully provided Ace with useful information. 'I heard them say they're going to Sutton. They're on the way to the airport now. If you hurry, you can still catch up to them…"
"Sutton?!'
With clenched fists and a chilly look in his eyes, Ace said, "She better pray I won't catch her, or I'll break her leg!"
Without saying another word, he drove his expensive sports car straight towards the biggest airport in the City.
When he walked into the airport lobby, he happened to run into Joanna and Vernom, who had just arrived themselves.
"It's you!"
Ace was surprised to see Vernom standing next to Joanna.
"What are you doing here?'
Joanna was surprised to see Ace too. She felt guilty for some reason, like she had been caught cheating. She subconsciously took a step back.
Vernom smiled calmly and reached his hand out to Ace. "Mr. Moran, long time no see. Are you going on a business trip?"
Ace completely ignored Vernom. Instead, he looked at Joanna with contempt and said, "I thought you found a guy so incredible that you couldn't wait to meet his parents… But it's just a hacker who has to hide like a rat all the time!"
Joanna immediately became furious and retorted, "I'm warning you, you can insult me, but you better not insult hackers. They're not hiding like rats, they're highly-skilled people who like to keep a low profile. You think you're all that? If you make the hackers mad, they'll dig up all your secrets and expose you to the public!"
Ace did not know that Joanna was "Cyber Queen". Joanna's defense of the hackers sounded to Ace like she was speaking up for Vernom, which made him even angrier. He sneered, "Looks like he's enthralled you. Did he tell you about the transaction he made with me behind your back?"
In his opinion, Joanna was so naive that she was nearly brainless.
If she knew that this so-called "highly-skilled" person had reinforced the security of the cloud storage system which contained evidence that could prove her nanny's innocence, and he did it for money, would she still feel that he was a good man?
Joanna smiled and said, "It doesn't matter what kind of deal Vernom made with you. The important thing is that you needed him. He made a lot of money with his skills. It's your loss no matter how I look at it. How can you still act so high and mighty in front of him?"
"You!"
Ace was speechless. Joanna's sharp words almost made him explode with anger.
He turned to Vernom and snorted, "Aren't you going to confess something to her?'
Wit his hands in his pockets, Vernom shrugged nonchalantly and said, "You must be talking about that time you paid me to reinforce the security of the hospital's cloud storage system to prevent Miss Pierce from proving her nanny's innocence."
Ace did not expect Vernom to be so honest. He said coldly, "Well, at least you're honest."
Vernom smiled. "Of course, I confessed to Miss Pierce a long time ago. Not only that, I even shared half of the reward with her as a sign of apology. She happily accepted it and even treated me to a meal."
Joanna nodded and said jokingly, "I can't believe you paid him 10 million dollars for that. If I had known how generous you are, I would have become a hacker too. After all, the various systems of Moran Group are so weak, and they're full of loopholes too. I could make a fortune just from helping you plug the loopholes!"
Ace:"…"
His handsome face was flushed with anger!
So he was the fool? The two of them joined hands to cheat him of millions?
Their M.O. was almost exactly the same as that time in the auction when she conspired with Liam Blackwood to make him pay an astronomical price for a diamond ring!
'Joanna Pierce, you sure like to scam me, don't you?'