Ace was so angry that he wanted to choke Jack to death. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "How could she just vanish into thin air? That's ridiculous!"
"Right? We've tried searching all we could but failed to track Miss Pierce's whereabouts… By the way, Miss Pierce's nanny Nancy disappeared along with her…"
Jack sighed repeatedly and apologized. "Mr. Moran, I've tried my best, but I can't help. If you don't believe me, you'll have to do it yourself!"
Ace didn't hesitate and immediately took a private jet back to the City.
Ace firmly believed that anyone alive would leave a track of activity.' That's impossible. How could she have completely disappeared? Unless… She's still in the City!' thought Ace. He did not mind using all the power he had to find her.
Ace sent more men to search all of the City. He also had Christopher and Ethan use whatever method they could to search for her.
Ethan had recovered by this time and was discharged from the hospital. He then joined Christopher and met Ace at the Moran Villa.
"Any news?" Ace asked as he hurried to Christoper and Ethan, who had been waiting in the living room.
Christoper and Ethan exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
"Ace, what happened between you two? Why did she leave again?" Ethan asked, frowning. Joanna had risked her life to save him, but she disappeared before he could even thank her. This made him a
little guilty.
"It's a long story. Stop wasting time and find her!"
Ace was in no mood for small talk. He just wanted to find Joanna quickly. Where in the world was she hiding?
"A long story? At least tell us something…"
Christopher was the calmest among the three. He patted Ace's shoulder lightly and said, "We need to know what happened to solve the issue. Otherwise, we'll be wasting our time searching everywhere and getting nothing in return."
"Chris is right. We don't even know what happened. Where do we find her? It'll be a waste of time!"
Ethan was upset and said in slight annoyance, "Ace, what's wrong with you? You seem like a changed man. What are you doing? This is not cool. If you made her angry, you should apologize and coax her sincerely. What's the point of searching for her everywhere like this?"
"You should tell us. Why did she leave without saying goodbye? There must be a reason, right?"
Ace took a deep breath and said with a cold gaze, "Because I almost choked her to death. I told her not to appear in front of me again."
"What?"
Ethan and Christopher were stunned.
Ethan almost fell off the chair in shock. He argued with Ace immediately, "Ace, are you crazy? You're a man. How could you hurt her like that? That's domestic violence. Obviously, she had a reason
to run away! Did you expect her to stay? You might've killed her!"
Ethan was very agitated because he had begun to acknowledge Joanna without realizing it. Joanna was such a strong, independent, clear-minded, and brave woman. Not only that, but she was also cute and beautiful.
However, his dearest friend almost choked her to death. How could he accept that?!
Just as Ethan was about to punch Ace for Joanna's sake, Ace added," Because Joanna pushed Alice down and killed my brother's only child."
"W-what?" Ethan's fist stopped midair. He could barely understand Ace's words. "Alice? Your brother's child? What the hell is going on?!"
"I mean it literally," Ace confessed with an expressionless face and steady breath.
Anyway, the baby and Joanna were gone. It did not matter anymore whether the secret was kept or made public.
"W-what?" Ethan gapped in shock.
Christopher had a similar reaction to Ethan's. He spent about ten minutes sorting out the whole story. After a good while, he finally let out a long sigh. "Ace, you're such a fool. It must be aggravating."
Ace said coldly, "I'm fine. My late brother saved my life. I have to give my all to fulfill his last wish, but unfortunately… I can't do anything!"
Ace slammed his fist hard on the table. His eyes were slightly red. It was clear that he felt very guilty about Dylan.
"Of course you're fine. It's your wife who suffered!"
Ethan could not help but fight for Joanna. "If you feel responsible for Dylan's death, so be it, but why did you have to hurt Joanna? You did so much for Alice and her child, but what about Joanna? She was married to you for three years, but you drove her away as soon as she made a mistake. You…"
"Enough!" Christopher glared at Ethan, telling him to stop.
"Weren't you urging Ace to divorce Joanna? Isn't it too late to say all these now? Do you want to make the situation worse? Hasn't Ace suffered enough?'
"I didn't mean it that way. I just feel bad for Joanna. What has she done wrong? She's…'
"I can understand Ace!"
Christopher felt bad seeing Ace's handsome but sullen face. He said," Ace wanted to give Alice a proper name so her child could have a legitimate identity and grow up in a healthy family. Besides, he didn't love Joanna at that time. Joanna didn't seem to love him either. A marriage without love is destined to fail. It was inevitable that she'd leave. Alice and her child might be the reason that set her early departure in motion…"
Ethan nodded and rubbed his chin. "That's reasonable. Everyone is a victim and hurt… However, I don't agree with what you said about Joanna's feelings for Ace. Anyone could tell that Joanna was in love with Ace before!'
"Let's not talk about the past. Think about how to solve the present."
Christopher turned to Ace, who had been silent. He asked, "Ace, have you thought about it? The child is gone. You probably won't marry Alice anymore. Will you remarry Joanna?"
"Never!" Ace answered without hesitation. He would rather be unmarried and alone forever rather than marry the murderer who killed his late brother's only child. If he remarried her, he would never live the remainder of his life in peace!
"If so, why bother spending so much effort to search for her? You two have a big grudge among yourselves. It's probably best for you to forget her and never see her again."
Christopher instantly empathized with Joanna and said impartially, 'No wonder she simply vanished. If it were me, I would've done the same."
Ethan raised his hand in agreement. "Ace, maybe you shouldn't bother looking for her anymore. It's impossible for you two to get back together. If you get involved in her again, you'll only suffer more!"
Ace seemed to be deaf to their words. He suddenly raised his cold eyes and asked them in a deep voice, "Did I go too far?" "Huh?" Ethan was confused by the question.