Kevin had many connections in Newrest because he loved socializing, and this gave him access to a lot of information. Looking into someone's ancestry was a piece of cake as long as he put his mind to it, no matter the person's status.
"William Jones? Of course I know him!" Kevin said excitedly. "Give me ten minutes; I'll compile all his information for you."
"Thanks so much. I'll be waiting." Joanna ended the call and frowned.
Although she had approved of William earlier, there was a part of her that was still skeptical of the man. The man seemed flawless, which only made her even more suspicious of him. She needed to thoroughly look into him!
While waiting, she went to the children's section on the third floor, as she wished to get her little ones some new clothes. Ever since she gave birth to her beautiful babies, her biggest hobby was to buy them cute clothes, like little jackets or dresses.
"This, this… Oh, and this…" Joanna quickly picked out six outfits and asked the sales employee to wrap them all up. The employee quickly set to work, having quite a bit to do.
Just as she was about to leave, Joanna bumped into Ace and Alice.
Joanna's jaw dropped and she inwardly cursed. 'I really have the worst luck…'
Alice was leaning against Ace feebly, tears in her eyes. However, the moment she saw Joanna, her expression instantly changed. Her eyes wild, she lunged at Joanna and wrapped her arms around her neck, screeching like a madwoman.
"God must favor me to have let us meet on my son's death anniversary! To think I'd bump into you here… I have to take revenge for my son and kill you!"
Joanna was caught off guard, especially since her hands were full. She was at a complete disadvantage in this situation.
"Alice, calm down and let go of her!" Ace barked and immediately tried stopping her.
However, Alice was hysterical, using all her strength to choke Joanna despite her body being frail and weak. For a while, it was rather difficult to separate the two.
"I'm going to kill you! I have to kill you!" Alice screamed like a banshee, determined to choke Joanna to death.
Soon, many people started to gather around them, muttering to each other as they watched the scene.
"You're the one who killed my son and destroyed my chance at motherhood! I'm going to kill you! Die!" Alice hissed, her nails digging into Joanna's skin. This made it very difficult for Joanna to breath, and her face turned red as she winced in pain.
Suddenly, the hands around Joanna's neck disappeared, and she could breathe again. Gasping for air, she turned to look at Alice, who was unconscious in Ace's arms.
"What just happened? She fainted on her own, alright, so don't even try to put the blame on me!" Joanna gently rubbed her sore neck and took several steps back, observing the eerily still woman.
"Hey… Why isn't she moving? She's alive, right?"
"You seem eager to have her dead." Ace shot Joanna a dirty glare, carrying Alice bridal-style and laying her down at a resting area nearby.
Joanna had almost died because of Alice's sudden outburst, and a panicked Ace had no choice but to hit Alice on the back of the neck to knock her out for a while. Joanna might not have survived otherwise.
Alice would probably be better after resting, so Ace didn't try to wake her up. Instead, he turned to Joanna, who was still in the children's section, and pointed at the clothes on the ground. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "Why are you buying so many children's clothes?"
Joanna and the employee were busy putting the outfits on the ground back into her bags. She scoffed dismissively, "Why do you care? Am I not allowed to buy cute things?"
Ace squatted down and picked up one of the striped socks near him, observing it curiously. The sock was pink, soft, and no bigger than his hand. He couldn't deny it was cute, and it softened his heart for some reason.
"So you bought these socks… because they're cute?" Ace asked dubiously as he handed them to Joanna.
However, the woman didn't want to play buddy-buddy with him, and shot him a disgusted look. "I did think it was cute, yeah, but now you've dirtied it with your hands. I don't want it anymore."
"You!" Ace was furious. 'What the hell? Didn't she say she hoped we could still be friends?! She was acting so nonchalant before, but now she's acting like I'm some kind of curse! What's her problem?!'
"I just knocked Alice out just to save you, and this is how you thank me?!" Ace wanted an explanation for her behavior, so he blocked her way to question her. He scowled as he asked her, "What have I done to piss you off this time?"
Joanna felt her blood boil, and her eyes blazed in rage. "Do you really not know? Or are you just pretending to be oblivious, Moran? I couldn't tell before, but you and Alice really are a family, aren't you? Now that she's joined your family, she's just so eager to choke people too. You weren't able to break my neck four years ago, so your girlfriend is doing it for you now. Why are you pretending to be a good person?"
Honestly, four years was enough for her to let go of her miserable past, and move on from the man in front of her. However, when Alice was choking her, painful flashbacks of Ace doing the same played in her head. His grip had been much stronger than Alice's, and Joanna still remembered the feeling of that near-death experience like it happened yesterday. Those upsetting memories had never left, and remembering them had just made her pain resurface.
There was no way she could be entirely numb towards the situation.
Seeing how agitated the woman was, Ace felt a little satisfied. 'She's finally not acting like an emotionless statue. Her mood was affected… because of me.'
Although she was upset with him, it proved to him that he still mattered to her in some way. It made his dead, cold heart explode with passion once again.
"That's right, I'm not a good person! So hate me, yell at me, you can even hit me…" Ace grabbed Joanna's hand all of a sudden, placing it on his chest. "If you're so angry with me, if you hate me that much, then don't hold back! There's no need to pretend you're doing fine on your own."
He just wanted to tell her that she could hate him and take her anger out on him as she liked, but he couldn't bear it when she ignored him. He would rather them fight with each other than become complete strangers.