Ace felt like he had fallen into an abyss. He felt like he was about to die, and his expression was strained. He wanted to crawl out of the abyss, but it was too dark, and he could not find anything to hold onto. Delirious, he muttered, "Hold me!"
Suddenly, a small, warm hand reached out and held his. It felt like his saviour had found him, and his tense muscles gradually relaxed.
He even heard a tender voice, as if someone was calling after his lost soul. ' Ace, it's okay, I got you. You need to wake up now…"
Ace followed the voice and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Joanna's beautiful features creased with worry.
"You're awake! You scared me." She heaved a long sigh of relief.
Ace had been unconscious for three days because of his hemophobia. The doctors had tried everything they could to wake him up, but nothing worked. Diagnostic tests had shown that many of his organs were failing, and if he stayed in that condition, he would have died.
Joanna had rushed to the hospital after Ace and Alice did and had stayed by his bedside. She had called his name repeatedly until her voice turned hoarse, and at last, she had managed to wake him up.
Ace's gaze was frighteningly aloof. He abruptly sat up and demanded coldly, "Where are Alice and the baby? Are they okay?"
Joanna felt a slight ache in her heart. At first, she thought that Ace was just fooling around with Alice, but now it seemed like that was not the case. He loved Alice sincerely. She pulled her hand away and
answered honestly, "Alice is still in the ICU because the doctors want to observe her condition."
"How about the baby? Is the baby all right?" Ace quickly asked.
"The baby…" Joanna lowered her head because she did not know how to answer that question.
"Tell me – is the baby okay?" Ace's eyes were wild as he grabbed her shoulders and asked sternly.
"Ace, calm down. You're hurting me!' Joanna gasped, wanting to break free from his grasp.
"I'm hurting you?" He had lost control of himself. He stared at Joanna coldly as if he was looking at a murderer. "If anything happens to the baby, I'll not just hurt you… I'll kill you!'
This upset Joanna, and she snapped stubbornly, "Well, you might as well get it over with because the baby is dead…"
"What?"Ace whispered, his face turning pale. At first, he was still hopeful. He thought that the doctors could save the baby with their excellent medical skills.
However, Joanna's current words had destroyed all his hope.
Of course, Joanna was hurt when she looked at his panic-stricken face. She felt like she had been wronged, and despite wanting to apologize and console him, her broken heart drove her to do the exact opposite. "You want to kill me, don't you? Why are you hesitating? Hurry up and kill me! I'm just a murderer, and you have to avenge your baby!"
It was like she was trying to see whether he really cared about her.
Ace felt so guilty towards Dylan that hatred for himself and Joanna consumed him. He abruptly grabbed her neck and stared coldly at her with a kind of ruthlessness she had never seen before. "Do you think I won't do it?'
Ace's grip on Joanna's neck tightened as his emotions overwhelmed him. At that moment, he seemed to have lost control of himself. He just wanted an outlet to release his guilt and anger, so his mind wasn't thinking straight.
Joanna was in too much pain to say anything. She stared at him calmly, but tears had welled up in her eyes. She could definitely fight back, but she did not struggle – she just suffered in silence.
It was because Alice had lost her child because of Joanna's careless mistake. If Ace wanted her to pay the price with her life, then she would make it up to them with her and her two babies' lives. She would rather die at his hand than spend the rest of her life living in guilt.
After a while, her vision started fading to black, and her eyelids fluttered. She closed her eyes in deep pain and bitter disappointment…
However, Ace could not bear to do that. He pushed her away with the last bit of rationality that was left in him.
Joanna gasped for air, coughing painfully as she took in deep breaths. 'You nearly succeeded. Why did you stop? Don't you feel sorry for your kid who died?" Joanna choked out hoarsely, a desperate smile on her face. It was as if she wanted him to punish her and rid her of the guilt.
'Shut up!" Ace clenched his fists, using all his willpower to hold himself back. It was true that he hated Joanna's cruelty, but he hated himself more for being so incapable. He had failed to protect the only child his late brother left in this world, and did not even have the courage to avenge that innocent life.
He was really a coward.
Ace stared at her coldly and said, "From today onwards, we're strangers. I don't want to see you again for the rest of my life!"
Joanna's heart broke, and she fought to keep herself from crying. With the last bit of pride she had, she straightened her back and shrugged casually." That's fine with me. We have to keep our word and never see each other again!"
After that, she turned around to leave. However, when she reached the door, she turned to look at Ace as she said fiercely, 'Ace, I gave you a chance to avenge the child, but you failed to do so. You won't get another opportunity like that again!'
He lowered his gaze and clenched his fists, then snarled, "Get lost!'
He never imagined that they would miss each other for so many years just because of those words they said in a fit of anger…
A few days later, Alice was out of danger, and she was transferred to a normal ward from the ICU.
Ace took care of her meticulously out of guilt, but though her body had slowly recovered, she was now suffering from a serious mental illness. She refused to eat, drink, or sleep, and if Ace was not around, she would make a scene and try to kill herself.