Adie behaved this time. He knew Joanna was furious, so he listened to her orders obediently.
Adie got down on his knees at once and held out his hands cooperatively. He faced Joanna's anger calmly. "Mommy, go ahead. You should calm down after hitting me. Don't stay angry. Anger is bad for your health. It's okay for me to be in pain.'
'You're still being slick, aren't you?"
Joanna got furious and hit Adie's palm with the ruler. She questioned with a stern tone, "Do you know what you did wrong yet?"
It was a painful hit. A red mark immediately emerged on Adie's tender skin. Even so, Adie remained strong. Although his eyes were full of tears, he did not cry out. He raised his chin and said stubbornly, 'I didn't do wrong.
What's wrong with protecting Mommy?"
"Adie!" Joanna was so angry that she hit Adie with the ruler again, harder than the previous time.
Joanna had no other choice as the little one was getting more and more disobedient each day. She could barely control him anymore. She had to teach him a hard lesson before he got himself into more trouble.
With this in mind, Joanna hit Adie several times and said harsher than ever, ' You won't admit your mistake, will you? I'll punish you until you admit your mistake!'
"Boo-hoo!" Adie was just a child after all. Finally, he could not hold back anymore and finally cried out. However, he remained stubborn as he cried. ' Mommy, go ahead and hit me. Even if you beat me to death, I don't think I'm wrong. I just want to protect you. I don't want Bad Daddy to hurt you!" Joanna froze. "What… What do you mean by Bad Daddy?"
Adie wiped his tears and stared at Joanna with a pitiful look, "Mommy, you don't have to hide anything from me. Abby and I know everything! Daddy Liam isn't our real daddy! It's the big bad Ace!"
Joanna panicked. She had never mentioned Ace's name in front of the two little ones!
'I have a recorder in the study and heard every meeting you had with Daddy Liam…"
"I know Ace is our real daddy. I know that he mistreated you and broke your heart. He has hurt you…"
'You've been working so hard all these years, taking care of us, dealing with Stellar Group, and staying up all night in the lab doing experiments. You did all that in order to defeat him early. It's so that we can return home as soon as possible and live in peace, right?"
The little one sobbed and revealed everything.
"What…" Joanna could not imagine how much Adie and Abby had gone through at the tender age of four. She did not want her children to grow up in hatred, so she explained, "I worked hard not because of him. I just want to give you a better life. I want to revive our family and bring the Pierce family back to glory…"
'The Pierce family used to be very powerful and admirable. Your grandparents, especially your great-grandfather were incredible people, so you should…"
'I know, so I want to contribute too!"
Little Adie said with a proud expression, "Mommy has been working so hard. I want to help share the burden, so I went to Bad Daddy's company and got the important document that Mommy and Daddy Liam mentioned…
"Important document?"
Joanna had just begun educating Adie with love. So how did the topic change so drastically?
Liam was about to give Adie a huge lecture, but the little one interrupted him.
"Daddy Liam, I have a question. Is it wrong wanting to protect Mommy?"
"Of course not. We're men. It's our duty to protect her."
"Do you think I'm just a kid stupid enough to be tricked by the bad guys?"
"No, of course not. Adie is such a smart boy. You're the one who'll be fooling the bad guys."
"That's right… I want to protect Mommy and help her. I can keep myself safe. So what did I do wrong?"
"Uh…" Liam rubbed his chin and instantly agreed with Adie. Adie had a good point.
Liam backtracked immediately and advised Joanna instead, "I think Adie has a point. His punishment was unfair. Well, don't be angry. I think…
Maybe you should apologize to Adie."
"Liam!" Joanna stomped her feet in anger. "He's just a foolish kid. How can you go along with him? Are you trying to piss me off?!"
"I'm just being honest. Adie isn't an ordinary child. You should respect him and give him the freedom to play. Don't limit him."
"Yes, yes, yes. Daddy Liam is right. Mommy, you should respect and trust me. Let me be responsible for taking care of you as soon as possible. I want to protect you."
Liam and Adie took turns convincing Joanna.
"Enough. Do you know the woman you met earlier? She has long planned to hurt you. You even followed her around like a silly lapdog. She fooled you with just some toys and snacks. Isn't that embarrassing?"
Joanna felt scared thinking about it again. Alice certainly had the intention to kill Adie. It would have been unthinkable consequences if not for Adie's lucky escape!
"No way!"
Adie pouted in disdain. "I knew she was no good. I've been playing dumb with her so she could send me to Mr. Q…"
"Who is Mr. Q?" Joanna listened in confusion.
"Mr. Q is very powerful. I specially chose him to help you deal with Bad Daddy. He made me a promise and is willing to become your follower and follow you to greatness."
Adie explained with an adult-like and proud expression.
Liam frowned incredulously. He lowered his voice to confirm, "Mr. Q? Are you talking about the owner of Carmine Pawnshop?"
"Yup. He has a lot of treasure at home. When the time comes, I'll make him pick two for you." Adie lifted his chin and said delightedly.
"How is that possible? The owner of Carmine Pawnshop is notoriously mysterious and difficult. People nicknamed him the Midnight Demon. Why would he listen to you and become Joanna's follower?"
Liam was astounded and thought Adie was lying.
Adie said nonchalantly, "Why not? He must be impressed by Mommy. Daddy Liam, you're the same. You're good too, but you're working for Mommy too, isn't it?"
"Uhm…"
Adie's statement made Joanna and Liam look at each other in speechlessness
Joanna had led a reclusive life in the past few years and focused on her experiments at Sun Island. She was oblivious to the outside world and naturally did not know about Mr. Q's story.
She was a little frightened to hear about the mysterious Mr. Q from Liam and quickly pulled Adie aside to check on him carefully. She asked nervously, "Did that Night Demon hurt you or do anything strange to you?"
"Nope. Mr. Q was nice to me. He gave me whatever I wanted. I asked him to work for you, and he agreed… But he's a little busy lately. He said he had to go out of town. I'll arrange for you two to meet when he's free."
Adie crossed his arms, looking like a leader with everything under his control.
Joanna furrowed her brows, still feeling puzzled. "It's so strange. Mr. Q is a powerful man. He even made a deal with Alice. Why didn't he hurt Adie? He even promised Adie to be my follower?!"
Liam thought it was not a big deal. He randomly guessed, "What else could it be? He must be impressed by Adie's cuteness and can't bear to hurt him! Maybe he's just joking with the kid about being your follower. Don't take it too seriously."
Joanna shook her head. "No. I don't think it's that simple. He's definitely up to no good. We can't take it lightly."
"How should I put it? Carmine Pawnshop was notorious in their early years. They probably came by their enormous wealth immorally back then, but they've slowed down and are ready to stop…"
Liam paused suddenly and remembered something. He added, "However, some suspected that the men from Carmine Pawnshop were behind Dylan's murder. Carmine and the Moran family have always been enemies. Four years ago, Ace almost died after a big conflict between them.
Carmine has slowed down since then. They still have a bad reputation but stopped doing things immorally."
Joanna listened with a serious expression and fell into deep thought.
Could Mr. Q be related to Ace's death?
Joanna looked back at the laptop on her desk and let out a long sigh. If only she could hack into the Newrest police file system and retrieve the details of the shooting case which led to Dylan's death. Would the truth come to light?
"Boss, don't overthink. Adie is back safe and sound. No matter his purpose, we don't have to fear him."
Liam looked at the worried Joanna and consoled her again.
"Yeah. I worry too much." Joanna rubbed her temple. She did not want to spend too much time on the matter. After all, Ace's life or death was none of her business. She just wanted her children to be safe.
Joanna put the ruler away and looked at Adie's swollen hand with heartache. "Promise me. From now on, don't go around without my permission, okay?"
Adie nodded. "I understand, Mommy. From now on, I'll ask for your permission before going anywhere. Don't be angry anymore, okay?"
"Okay. Give me a kiss, and I won't stay mad." Joanna pointed to her cheek.
"Ah. You can't be helped…"
Adie opened his hands and tiptoed, giving Joanna a firm kiss. He ran his little hands along her head and coaxed her, "Ren, be good. Don't be angry anymore, or I'll be sad."
Joanna went speechless at Adie's actions.
The next few days, Joanna kept herself busy with the Pierce Residence's redevelopment and Stellar Group's matter. It was as if Ace's death was just a small chapter in her life. She simply ignored it without mentioning anything about it.