'What are you even saying? I literally just had a good night's sleep. Nothing else." Joanna said as she placed the sunflowers into a glass vase.
The yellow sunflowers looked golden under the gentle sunlight, giving off a soft scent. These flowers were just right, as it wasn't too sharp, like a rose, nor was it too simple, like an orchid.
"You know, I didn't expect this at all. I guess this is what they mean by' don't judge a book by its cover', but that little escort is a professional therapist!"
"He was able to come up with an accurate analysis with just one drawing! He's also a master hypnotist too! I just… feel really secure and comfortable with him."
Just then, Adie opened his bedroom door with a fuzzy teddy bear in his arms, walking out to the living room groggily.
"Mommy, you're finally back… I heard from Aunt Clara that you were very busy, so you had to work overtime. You must be tired…"
The little one then gave Joanna a big hug, patting her on the head as if she was the child now. "Don't worry, Mommy, I was doing my best to pick a husband for you last night. Someone will come and take care of you and lessen your burdens soon. Then you wouldn't have to feel so tired all the time."
Joanna found the boy's serious expression quite funny. She patted Adie back on the head and replied, "Thanks, Adie. As a reward, I looked into a few nice kindergartens for you too. I'll be taking you to those places today."
This made Aiden quite speechless.
However, Joanna wasn't joking out of spite, she really had chosen a few kindergarten for her children. Seeing that it was a weekend with nice weather, she was going to bring Adie to each and every one of them so that he could choose the one he liked most.
Her first choice was Monte Perry, an international school. Despite having been established during recent years, their strong faculty and top-notch facilities, along with their simple enrollment process, made this kindergarten a top pick among foreigners.
Since Joanna registered Adie and Abby's birth certificates in a small country within North Varangia, they two were legally considered foreigners, and could only be admitted into international schools as such.
More importantly, enrolling them in international kindergartens like these would lessen the probability of bumping into anyone they know. With that, it would save her quite a lot of trouble as well.
The woman quickly dressed the little guy in a cartoon T-shirt with denim suspenders and an orange cap. This made Aiden look extremely cute, so much so that anyone would wish they could give him a hug and a kiss.
The two soon arrived at Monte Perry. Since it was during their open day, there were many parents who came to visit, with most of them being foreigners.
"Mommy, I like it here, it looks like Hogwarts! I want to take Abby here on an adventure some day!" Aiden was rather fond of the kindergarten, which looked somewhat similar to an ancient castle.
His little mind was already making plans on how to explore the place with his sister, which made him look visibly excited.
"I knew you and Abby would like a kindergarten like this." Joanna instantly felt relieved as soon as she noticed how overjoyed the child seemed, but there was still one problem that persisted.
The kindergarten was known to be quite strict with their enrollment requirements, and they were quite demanding. Not only did they have to interview each student, they would interview the parents as well.
Every year, parents would dump millions and thousands of dollars into the school as 'donations' just so they could secure a place for their child.
Some would even offer billion-dollar projects to the school's administrators, or get into physical fights with each other.
It was truly quite… the sight.
Now, Joanna needed two slots for her twins, which meant that it was twice as difficult as it was already. However, she was fully confident that her children wouldn't even need to take any tests. They could just easily flaunt their adorable looks towards the principal and everything would go smoothly.
"Adie, listen to Mommy, when we meet the principal later, be the nicest you can ever be. Show them all your smarts and cuteness so that they'd be fond of you."
"Be fond of me?" Aiden put his hands into his pockets, seemingly prideful. ' I'm good at that."
After their discussion, the two headed towards the interview area, waiting for their turn to be called.
Suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard from behind them. "Pierce?!
Joanna turned around and found that the person speaking was one of her ex in-laws, Ace's cousin, Lucy.
Back then, Lucy was the one and only beloved princess of many, and she would always view Joanna as a thorn in her flesh.
Hence, she naturally never treated her with respect.
However, ever since Joanna got a divorce, she no longer tolerated this so-called princess' behavior and taught her a few lessons as a result.
Thus, Lucy started restraining herself as well.
It had been four years since the two saw each other, so bumping into each other now felt quite unfortunate.
"It really is you! And here I thought I was hallucinating!" Lucy exclaimed.
She was wearing extremely expensive attire, consisting of Chanel clothing, with a pink Hermes purse that likely cost thousands, and a pair of beige colored heels which were limited-edition Givenchy.It was as if she was deliberately trying to flaunt her wealth to the world.
Joanna looked the woman up and down, she found her rather pitiful.
It had only been four years, but Lucy, who was supposed to be in her early twenties, no longer looked like the young bossy princess she used to be.
Instead, she looked just like every other rich wife, blindly chasing after branded products, losing her spark.
From what she heard, Lucy married a rich businessman within the North City a year after the woman left the City.
Due to her getting pregnant before marriage, her in-laws weren't all that fond of her.
They had even gone as far as to request for a DNA test as soon as the child was born, which was an absolute insult.
Hence, it was natural to think that Lucy wasn't quite living the best life for these past few years, despite how she appeared on the outside.
"Long time no see."
Joanna nodded emotionlessly, still greeting her out of courtesy.
At the same time, she noticed that there was a little boy, who seemed to be around Aiden's age, standing right next to Lucy.
However, his apparel was completely different from Aiden's.
The little boy was donned in branded clothing, his hair was clearly brushed back with lots of hair gel as well.
Moreover, his arrogant expression, as he puffed up his chest and lifted his chin, looked exactly the same as Lucy's.
Lucy seemed to be staring at Aiden too, gazing intently.
This was because Aiden looked very similar to when Ace was a young child, which made her ponder deeply.
"This boy can't be..."
Just as Lucy was about to ask, her son let out a haughty scoff.
"Mommy, just look at what they're wearing! They look like beggars but they're still shameless enough to show up at Monte Perry! Let's ask the principal to kick them out!"
"Now now, Casey, we have to be polite, okay? This lady here is...kind of an old friend of mine, and as for this little boy..."
Lucy then stared at Joanna with a cocky face, questioning her.
"I was wondering why you disappeared for four years, so you've gone ahead and secretly gave birth, huh? Who's the father? Don't tell me it's my unfortunate cousin."
Joanna still maintained an expressionless face, not admitting or denying to anything.
Instead, she retorted, "What do you think?"
"Well of course he isn't!"
Lucy's eyes were filled with disdain.
"Although this boy looks similar to Ace, I know you, Pierce.You're a smart little gold digger, so if you really were having his child, you would've clung to my cousin no matter what.But you didn't, and you even left the city without a trace! If I were to make a guess..."
"You were definitely having an affair, and was scared my cousin would find out and punish you for it! That's why you hid like a coward!"
She said such degrading statements because she wanted to take this chance to release her pent up rage against Joanna, and so that she could spite the woman into telling the truth.However, Joanna completely ignored her insults, and stayed calm the whole time.
"Mhm, you're so totally right, what amazing detective work."
This reaction made Lucy fume, as she yelled, "So you really did cheat on my cousin, you wench! Good thing I bumped into you today, I'll just have to teach you a lesson in Ace and the Moran family's stead!"
After that, the woman raised her arm, getting ready to slap Joanna across the face.
Joanna then grabbed her by the wrist, as if she were holding onto a little chicken, then flipping her entire body to the ground.
There were many parents and children around them, waiting for their turn to have an interview.Hence, they were rather stunned to witness such a scene.