"Hah, you're in for it now! Mr. Moran will definitely make your life a living hell!" Jason said gleefully as he held onto his broken arm. Despite the pain causing him to break out in a cold sweat, just thinking about Joanna's horrible fate delighted him.
He then turned to Ace, trying his best to flatter him as much as possible. "Mr. Moran, why don't we take this matter into our own hands? An eye for an eye, right? Let's break all her limbs so she won't tarnish our industry's good name!"
"Breaking limbs, huh?" Ace's eyes glinted dangerously. "That does sound like a good idea."
Joanna felt chills run down her spine. She didn't expect him to be so cruel! 'We used to be married! Even if it really was for the sake of hiding his sexuality, I was still his wife! He doesn't have to go this far…'
Jason immediately started acting cockily, pointing towards the guards and shouting, "What are you doing just standing there? Did you not hear Mr. Moran? Break all of her limbs! Let's see if she'll be so arrogant then!"
Just as the guards were about to take action, Ace strode towards Jason and kicked him right on the chest, sending him flying backwards.
Ace looked furious, not sparing Jason even the slightest glance as he ordered the security guards, "Break all of his limbs."
Jason was terrified, and the blood drained from his face. "Mr. Moran, what… What do you mean by that? What have I done wrong?"
Everyone at the scene, including Joanna,
Jason was terrified, tugging on the ends of Ace's pants and begging for his life. "What did I do wrong, Mr. Moran?! I did what you told me to! At least give me an explanation!"
Ace narrowed his eyes, his gaze lowered menacingly. "I told you to ask her to leave, I didn't say to kick her out. If you can't understand basic orders, you are useless to me."
The guards weren't foolish enough to overlook Ace's implications, and knew what they needed to do at this point. Soon enough, Jason was dragged away, his haunting screams echoing down the hallway.
The rest of the crowd didn't dare to gossip about Ace either, so they quickly dispersed. Soon, the exhibition hall was silent again.
Ace was still standing in place, staring at Joanna coldly. Despite not saying a word, his piercing glare was very intimidating.
The woman, however, pretended as if Ace didn't exist. She quickly instructed the two interns to tidy up their exhibition area, which Jason had previously messed up. "That screen is broken, so call the company's logistics department and have them send over a new one as soon
as possible…"
As the interns knew all about Ace's power and status, they quickly got to work, not daring to even lift their heads. At the same time, their admiration for Joanna only grew, especially since their boss didn't even care about how influential Ace was.
'She's so cool! I can't believe it!'
Ace obviously didn't enjoy being ignored and approached her, grabbing Joanna by the wrist. "Don't tell me you're actually serious about this."
Joanna frowned, feeling slightly perplexed. "I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Moran."
"You and that Blackwood kid established this shell company, and stole Moran Group's largest client from us. You're only doing this to make me mad, aren't you? Well you've achieved your goal, so why keep up the act?"
Joanna finally realized what he meant. She scoffed and said sarcastically, "Ace Moran, do you really think Liam and I established Stellar Group because of you?"
"What else would you be doing all this for?" Ace demanded, staring straight into her eyes. "You took my lawyers and established a company to rival mine, so what could your motive be other than revenge?"
"I'm clearly doing this because…" Joanna paused, then grinned mysteriously as she half joked, "I want your money!"
Ace now looked rather speechless. He could tell that the woman was being dismissive, and her reply basically gave him no information on the situation.
"I told you that you can ask me for money if you need it. We were husband and wife, so I'll definitely try to satisfy your financial needs as best as I can. You don't have to beat around the bush when it comes to things like this."
"Just ask you?" Joanna smiled sarcastically. "What if I said I wanted half of the Moran family's wealth? Would
you be willing to give that to me?"
Hearing this, Ace's expression darkened. "That's ridiculous!"
"Aw, and here I was thinking that my ex-husband was so generous. Looks like you're still going to be stingy when it comes to paying up. You can't even afford this little request…"
Although the man looked exceedingly upset, Joanna didn't seem to be worried about irritating him further. "You don't know me, okay? I'm really greedy. Those few millions may be enough for others, but not me!"
After all, she was going to be a single mother of two soon. She needed to be extremely mindful of her financial situation. She wanted to be just as rich as Ace, so her children wouldn't regret being under her care as they grew up.
Ace had never expected his gentle and obedient wife to be this greedy and demanding. However, her 'greed' seemed rather motivational as well. She didn't want anything handed to her. On the contrary, she wanted to waste the time and effort to 'steal' from him.
He wasn't quite sure how to feel about the situation, with both disdain and admiration for the stubborn woman warring inside him.
"You naive woman… Do you really think taking my lawyers, and signing a contract with Starlight Group will make everything easier?" Ace warned with a serious expression.
"The business industry is like a war zone, it's not like playing house. If you're not careful, you might get yourself tangled up in something you can't get out of. You haven't forgotten how your family ended, have you?"
The man's words hurt Joanna deeply, and she clenched her fists tightly. She definitely knew the dangers of the business industry. The Pierce family was once one of the Great families of the City as well. Yet, in the blink of an eye, their glorious reign had crumbled to dust before her. Joanna actually still remembered how their enemies would push them to the edge. However, she did not wish to relive those memories anymore…
Ace's sharp eyes noticed the pain in her expression, so he spoke a bit more gently, "I heard about the harsh requirements Starlight Group asked of you. They need you to hit eight billion in sales, right? Do
you know how much pressure that would be for a small company like yours? You can never achieve that within the given time frame!"
"I would know if I can achieve it or not, alright?" Joanna retorted bitterly.
"Don't act tough in front of me. You're my ex-wife, and we aren't holding any grudges against each other. I don't want to see you fail, or you'll just be humiliating me along with you." Ace pretended to be cruel to hide the fact that he was actually concerned about her.
Joanna didn't realize that he was worried about her; all she heard was his arrogance and contempt. She chuckled coldly and asked, "So, Mr. Moran, what are you trying to tell me?"
"To put it simply, you're not cut out for this field, and you don't even have the basic knowledge to run a business, so stop messing around. I'll give you a generous amount of money, so you can just enjoy your life as you like," Ace replied bluntly.
In his opinion, she shouldn't have entered this industry to begin with, knowing just how dangerous it could be. Back when they were still married, the Moran family was Joanna's biggest protector. No one would ever dare to cross her, let alone take advantage of her.
'And yet this stupid woman was so excited to officially announce our divorce! She was basically making herself a living target for the public. She should just remain a pretty little flower in a garden, and stay away from the battlefield. That's the safest option. All she needs to do at this point is enjoy life.'
Joanna, meanwhile, found it insulting that he proposed 'protection'. She responded heatedly, "Don't judge a book by its cover, Mr. Moran. You'll soon see if I'm cut out for this field or not!"
"You stubborn woman!" Ace didn't mind playing the bad guy at this point. "Then don't mind if I team up with the summit to boycott Stellar Group!"