Joanna thought for a while before she replied, "Your house is very beautiful, so I decided to take a stroll and look around. But during my stroll, I had to pee, so…" To avoid Justin's suspicion, she had to sacrifice her image.
"Oh, I see…" Justin smirked and said, "I should've come earlier then."
'You pervert!" Joanna felt guilty for lying to him, so she tried to push the blame to him. "If you keep this up, I'll go home tomorrow and stop this whole act."
"I'm sorry, my bad. I won't joke around anymore. Why are you dressed like a servant though? And your makeup looks weird too…" Justin gave her an odd look.
"What do you mean by that? This is how I look with a bare face. Do you find me ugly? And I got this shirt from the closet, it looks nice so I wore it. Are you trying to say that I look like a servant?"
"No. I…" Justin was lost for words.
'There's no need to explain. I'm tired, so I want to rest now!" Joanna exclaimed, and left immediately.
Justin watched as she gradually disappeared from view, and a smirk crept on his face.
'She actually guilt-tripped me even though she's the guilty one!' He mused, clicking his tongue in disapproval.
After Joanna returned to her room, she changed her clothes, took off her makeup, and decided to go to bed.
The bed was so comfortable – it felt like she was sleeping on cotton because it was so soft. Soon enough, she drifted off to sleep.
She slept so deeply that she had a dream… or more accurately, she considered it a nightmare because Ace was in it. In it, Ace had held a whip, tied her to a chair, and threatened her, "Brave, aren't we? So brave that you dare to betray me and marry another man! Come back now, or else I will punish you!"
The whip hit the floor with a loud crack. Then, he took a hot iron rod and was about to hit her with it…
"Ah! No, I'll come home immediately!" Joanna screamed, waving her arms and kicking her legs.
"What happened? Are you having a nightmare?" A gentle hand stroked Joanna's back and a soothing voice comforted her, "Don't be scared, you're alright."
Joanna instantly woke up from the nightmare and opened her eyes drowsily. She saw Sophia staring at her kindly. In her sleepy state, she saw her mother's image flash before her, and she subconsciously clung on to Sophia. "Mom, I miss you… Can you and Dad stay with me forever?"
In front of outsiders, Joanna appeared to be strong and brave, as if she could overcome any obstacle that came her way. However, she was still only in her early twenties – like a beautiful and fragile flower. She would only be vulnerable around people she was close to.
'What did you dream about to scare you like this?" Sophia liked Joanna, and when she saw Joanna in such a helpless and vulnerable state, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "Don't be scared, no one would dare hurt you anymore. The Baldwin family will protect you."
Slowly, Joanna regained her senses and realized what had happened. She instantly sat up. "I'm sorry, Aunt Sophia."
The two began chatting, and eventually, a phone call interrupted them.
Joanna's instincts told her it was from Ace since the screen showed that the call was from the City. She wanted to ignore it at first, but her phone wouldn't stop ringing.
Sophia looked at her fondly and gestured for her to pick it up. Joanna did not want to make her suspicious, so she pretended to be calm and answered the call.
'So, you finally decided to answer the phone!" Ace's icy voice from the other end of the phone made her shiver.
It brought back flashes of her nightmare earlier, but she played dumb and said, "What? An insurance company? I'm sorry but I don't need insurance. Goodbye!"
'Joanna, don't you dare hang up. You-"
Ace's threat was promptly cut off as she ended the call.
"Hmm, my phone number must've been leaked. I've been receiving tons of calls from these kinds of companies. It's so annoying!" Joanna calmly explained to Sophia while subtly blocked the number.
However, another number called soon after, and then another. Every time Joanna blocked one number, another one would call. It was so frequent that she had to make an excuse to go to the toilet to secretly call him back.
'Are you crazy, Ace? Why do you keep calling me? Please keep in mind that you are my ex-husband who shouldn't even be on my contact list!" Joanna scolded in a low voice.
After a few minutes of silence, the man at the other end said icily, 'It's not my intention to disturb you. I just want to ask if my mother went to you and if she is currently alright."
'Hasn't she gotten back yet?' Joanna was surprised. the City and Greyport were not very far apart from each other, so Susan should have arrived at the City ages ago. How could she be missing? Did something happen during her journey back there?'
"From what you're saying, my mother did go to Greyport to look for you, didn't she?"
"Yes, she did, but I helped her go back that same night. There's no way she hasn't reached yet!" Joanna hissed. novelbin
'Damn it!' He cursed furiously, then growled, "I'm going to the Baldwin residence now to ask for her. You'd better pray that she's alright, or I won't spare you, or anyone in the Baldwin family!"
'What? You're coming here? Are you crazy?! You-' Before Joanna could protest, Ace ended the call.
Meanwhile, Sophia knocked on the door of the bathroom and asked in concern, "Ren, is anything wrong? Do you need help?"
Joanna sighed softly, opened the door, and walked out. "It's nothing. I was only calling my nanny to tell her I'm alright."
Joanna was secretly worried. What would happen if Ace really came to the Baldwin residence? The two families would surely go to war then, and the consequences would be unimaginable!
She couldn't let him come to the Baldwin residence… or, at the very least, she could not let him meet the Baldwins.
Sophia did not suspect anything. She held Joanna's hand and said warmly, "Today is your first day at the Baldwin residence. Grandpa Baldwin, Uncle Jack, and Justin have been waiting for you to have breakfast!"
"They are waiting for me?" Joanna looked at the sun shining brightly in the sky, and felt embarrassed. She had slept until noon, but the whole Baldwin family was actually still waiting for her to have breakfast. She felt really bad for troubling them so much.
It was a classic European-style dining room. All three generations of the Baldwin family were sitting around an antique round table with a traditional European breakfast in front of them.
The three men, from grandfather to grandson, were sitting so stiffly that anyone could guess they were military men.