Ace looked extremely serious this time. Thus, Joanna's grip on her report tightened as contemplation rose within the depths of her heart.
Alice, who was standing at the side, seemed to have noticed something off and placed herself in between them. Then, she took her own report out and shoved it toward Joanna's face.
"Miss Pierce, look at my baby. He's four months old now! We just had an ultrasound done, and the baby is fully formed! Here's a picture of him… isn't he so cute? It's great that we managed to bump into you today. I have to thank you for giving my baby and me a complete family and for such an excellent father like Ace! Because of your generosity, we can live in bliss!"
'She just wants to brag!' Joanna thought, glancing at the ultrasound picture.
She could tell that it really was a fully formed fetus with limbs and facial features. On the contrary, her own child was just an embryo. Some would say that it wasn't exactly alive, either.
'How funny. The difference between our children shows just how insignificant my child and I are.'
Seeing how quiet and meek Joanna seemed, Alice continued her act. "Miss Pierce, you're basically the baby's savior, you know! How about this? You should name our baby! Then our baby will forever have a reminder of you and your kindness, right?"
Joanna was baffled. This was the first time she wanted to hit Alice so badly.
'What the hell?! Is she really asking me to name their baby? She's really getting on my f*cking nerves now!'
The woman smirked coldly, staring at Alice with contempt. "Are you sure you want me to name it?"
"Mhm, if you're okay with it, that is." Alice beamed. In reality, she just wanted to humiliate Joanna in front of Ace because she figured Joanna would refuse.
No matter how generous one may be, no woman would ever help name the baby of her husband and his mistress.
Ace narrowed his eyes, staring at Joanna with mixed feelings. "If it's too much, you're free to refuse her offer."
Although their divorce was certain, he somewhat wished to defend her, especially seeing how awkward she seemed. However, it would seem that… he was reading too much into it.
"It's fine. It's not hard to come up with a name."
Rather than awkward, Joanna actually felt quite amused, raising a brow cheekily. "Let's name him… Karma Moran!"
"Huh… Connor Moran?" Alice was slightly shocked at Joanna's response, her mask shedding for a brief moment. "Do you mean… C-O-N-N-O-R?"
"Oh no, no. I mean K-A-R-M-A. You reap what you sow, right? Karma will hunt anyone down and make them face the consequences of their actions. See, what a meaningful name!"
As soon as Joanna explained, Alice looked rather infuriated, but she simply couldn't afford to lose her cool in front of Ace. Hence, she merely gritted her teeth, suppressing her anger with all her might.
Joanna continued. "Thanks for this lovely opportunity, Miss Alice. Remember to use the name I came up with, alright? Else I'd think you were just faking your gratitude towards me, you know!"
Ace's face was stone cold, his eyes focused on Joanna. "Enough, don't cross the line."
"Who really crossed the line here, future ex-husband?" Joanna questioned, not afraid to meet his gaze in the slightest. "Or should I say… Mr. Cheater?
Ace clenched his fists tightly, unable to respond.
In the past, he had always perceived this woman as a boring little puppet with no opinions. He didn't think she would have such a feisty attitude like she was a feline with sharp claws. She didn't need his protection at all.
Seeing this, Alice immediately played the victim card again, clinging to Ace's arm.
"Ace, please don't get mad at Miss Pierce. It's all my and the baby's fault! Miss Pierce was forced to give up on you even though she loves you so… It's natural for her to be upset with us! Just let her take her anger out on…"
"Nope, wrong again." Joanna scoffed. "You don't have to thank me because I've made myself loud and clear that I wasn't being generous. I merely threw away a piece of trash I didn't want, and you just happened to pick him up. That's why this baby is your karma. I told you the name suits it well, didn't I?"
She then turned to Ace with a fake smile across her lips. "Indecent people usually get bad karma though, Mr. Moran… I reckon that you will become rather unlucky in coming times."
Ace's expression darkened yet again, his blood boiling just hearing the woman speak.
"My mom used to tell me to avoid unlucky people, or else I might become unlucky myself. So you two should just tie the knot. I'll respect your decision, and I wish you well. Bye-bye now!"
All the previous insults were clearly an act of playing with fire since Ace Moran was the most influential figure within the City. No one would ever dare to provoke him the way she did.
So before Ace could do anything, Joanna quickly ran off after berating them. She didn't care about what they thought, she just wanted the satisfaction of doing so.
'If they were truly offended by my words… they deserved it!'
Once Joanna left, Alice secretly observed the man, as she knew a temperamental man like him would never let such insults go. Yet, she only ended up with sheer confusion when she noticed the man's thin lips curve up slightly as if he were… smiling.
"Don't be mad, Ace. Miss Pierce was probably so angry that she ran her mouth. It's my fault and the baby's fault. Just blame it on me if you have to, don't hold any grudges against her…"
Alice continued on and on, hoping for Ace to take her bait. Despite her efforts, the man was irritated by her voice, and his gaze followed Joanna until she was out of his sight.
'Heh, my future ex-wife… is kind of interesting!'
Joanna felt awful after exiting the hospital, as anger and a hint of melancholy stung her chest. She was mad at that horrible couple and sad for her child.
Whenever she was reminded of the fetus inside her, growing ever so slowly, she felt extremely frustrated. 'The baby could've had an amazing life, a bright future ahead! But it just had to die because of his useless, immoral father.'
Taking a deep breath, the woman calmed down and brought out her laptop. Her fingers leaped through the keyboard at a fast pace, typing out a long string of code in barely ten minutes. With that, a computer virus was created.
Joanna then merrily smirked as she activated the virus from within the system.
Half an hour later, the Moran Group's entire business system was hijacked, exposing a large amount of client information.
Ace was still at the hospital when he received a shocking call.
"A virus?! Who did this?!"
On the other side, Joanna was sipping on a hot cup of coffee, admiring the light waves in the pond nearby. Experiencing the tranquility around her did, in fact, lighten her mood.
She had mentioned that Ace would face misfortunes in the coming times, and she surely wasn't lying. After all, that virus was enough to put his company in a crisis for more than three weeks.