Joanna shot up to instant fame after the summit forum despite being completely unknown prior to it. She had become the darling of the electronics technology industry. Many people came to chat with her and wanted to take photos with her, and it was almost as if everything else was forgotten.
It was customary for the successful conclusion of the summit forum to be followed by a celebration banquet attended by all of the big players in the industry. Naturally, Ace and Joanna were both expected to join the banquet.
The two sat down at the same round table, but there were several people seated between them. Despite having been in a very intimate relationship as husband and wife in the past, not a single word passed between them for the duration of the event. In fact, they did not even make eye contact once.
Truthfully, it was Joanna who did not spare Ace a glance. Ace, on the other hand, kept his eyes fixed on Joanna, giving her the legendary 'Moran Stare' the whole time.
With a glass of drink in her hand and a casual smile on her face, Joanna was able to interact with the big names of the industry with ease. The sight of her laughing and chatting with everyone else made her look like a successful entrepreneur who had been in the game for many years. There was not a single trace of the old Mrs. Moran, who was always shy, reserved and submissive.
Ace wore a gloomy expression throughout the meal. It was as if he had a 'Do Not Disturb'. sign on his face. Anytime someone came up to him to propose a toast or to congratulate him, they would be
scared off by his icy, piercing glare. This kept everyone there from approaching him, and they resorted to merely observing him from afar.
This created an interesting scenario in the banquet hall, where the people were clearly divided into two main groups – on Joanna's side, everyone was laughing and chatting away happily; on Ace's side, everyone was silent and the atmosphere was gloomy.
Jack was standing behind Ace, and just like him, his eyes had been following Joanna very closely.
"Mr. Moran," he uttered in a hushed voice, "I never imagined Mrs. Moran had such a powerful side to her personality that's been tucked away for so long! Not only did she turn out to be a technological genius, she's also a masterful communicator too! How did we never notice this?"
Ace pursed his lips and said nothing in reply, but his expression turned even darker.
"Didn't you even say," Jack babbled on like an idiot who did not know how to read the room, that "you'd let the new director of the association blacklist Stellar Group? Well, now it looks like we'd be lucky if Mrs. Moran doesn't blacklist Moran Group! What a slap in the face! I must say, that's really impressive of her."
Ace threw a chilling glare at Jack, then hissed dangerously, "You should cut off that tongue of yours since it's so useless."
"Mr. Moran," Jack daringly continued like someone who was not afraid of death, "I think you'd better just set your ego aside and remarry Mrs. Moran. She's no longer the kind of woman who's afraid to even step outside. She's now the respected director of the Electronics Technology Association. If you remarry her, both of you can form a powerful alliance that can easily conquer the world!"
Ace remained silent, but he stared at Joanna even more intently. The Moran family was the head of the eight most powerful families in the City, and Moran Group was so powerful that it was practically invincible, so there was no need for Ace to be thinking about finding a wife just to make himself even more powerful. But still… there was no harm in considering remarrying Joanna. After all, he despised the way she surrounded herself among all those men.
away from everyone All he wanted to do right now was drag her home and hide her away else!
The possessiveness and jealousy that burned in him shocked Ace himself, and the furrow between his brows deepened without him realizing it.
Seeing that Ace said nothing in reply, Jack assumed that his boss agreed with his suggestion. Mustering up his courage, he cleared his throat and turned to Joanna. "Ms. Pierce, Mr. Moran here would like to have a drink with you. He's got something he'd like to talk to you about in private!"
At the time, Joanna was happily chatting away with the Minister of the Technology Industry and other prominent figures in the field, but as soon as she heard what Jack said, the smile on her face faded abruptly.
She swirled the glass in her hand, which was filled with orange juice, and turned towards Ace. An expression that Ace had never seen before appeared in her eyes. With an inscrutable air, she said, "Since it's an invitation from Mr. Ace Moran himself, it's an honor I can't possibly refuse,"
Like a proud emperor, Ace sat there and haughtily glanced at the glass in Joanna's hand, which was filled to the brim with orange juice.
"Is that how you show your sincerity towards this industry?" He sneered.
"Sincerity is measured by what I do," Joanna retorted coldly, "not what I drink."
She then turned to the top figures in the room and humbly stated, "Gentlemen, please forgive me for drinking orange juice instead of wine. I'm allergic to alcohol so unfortunately, I can't join you for a glass. Nonetheless, please know that I hold all of you in the highest regard."
"Orange juice instead of wine?" Ace scoffed. "Do you think this is child's play? The world of business is a battlefield where people fight to the death. No one here has any time to play with you. If you can't adapt to this world, you'd better just go home now and not waste anyone's
time."
Hearing this, the crowd immediately sensed a rivalry between them. If they did not pick the right side, their days in the field would be numbered. And so, they targeted Joanna, echoing the sentiments that Ace just made.
"Mr. Moran has a point, Ms. Pierce! No one drinks orange juice at the bar. Are you making fun of us here?"
"You might be the new director of treatment just because you're a wo association, but surely you're not expecting special right?"
"As the director of the association, you will have to attend a lot of events in the future where socializing is necessary. If you can't adapt to this kind of situation, then I think you'd better step down as soon as possible!"
Ace swirled the glass of red wine in his hand and raised his brows in satisfaction. He stared at Joanna with a smug expression on his face, as if looking down at a pesky bug who should never have been there in the first place.
Joanna cursed him silently. She should have known that a spiteful and vindictive man like Ace would never miss a chance to embarrass her! The truth was that Joanna could hold her liquor remarkably well. The only problem was that she was pregnant right now, so she could
any alcoholic drink.
'Fine,' she thought, 'since Ace is trying to challenge me, I'll just have to teach him what regret really feels like!'
"You've made a great point, Mr. Moran. It is my fault that I never considered this deeply enough. You're right, I should drink some alcohol," Joanna said graciously, then downed the entire glass of orange juice in one gulp and picked up the wine decanter from the table. She poured herself a full glass of red wine, then, with a mysterious expression on her face, she turned to Ace and suddenly said, "But wait! What's the fun in just drinking the wine? Why don't we play a finger guessing game, Mr. Moran? If you win, I'll drink as much as you like."
Ace's icy gaze betrayed his disdain. Because of his status and reputation, he had never played such a trivial drinking game with anyone before, much less a woman.
"Are you reluctant to play," teased Joanna with a sly smile, "because you're afraid that might lose? If you're afraid of a woman, Mr. Moran, then I think you're even less suited for the battlefield of business than I am!"
Everyone in the room gasped. What a bold and daring woman Joanna Pierce was! It proved that you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. However, considering these two used to be married to each other in the past, they could not help but wonder if this was actually a lover's quarrel with a flirtatious undertone.
Ace stared at her coldly with his searching eyes and asked, "Are you sure you want to play this game with me?"
"Of course! And the loser must agree unconditionally to anything that the winner requests. Are you game?"
"Fine. I'll humor you this time, but don't blame me if you regret it later." Ace clasped his long fingers together. It was such a rare sight to see him agreeing to play such a trivial and common drinking game.
The truth was that he had not succumbed to Joanna's pressure. He was only trying to make her realize how hard the world of business was and retreat. If she could not handle a simple situation such as drinking alcohol in public, then she'd be taken advantage of at every turn once she formally entered the field.
Meanwhile, Jack was so shocked at what was happening that his eyes almost fell out of their sockets. He simply could not believe that Ace, who had always despised drinking games like this, would be willing to play one with Mrs. Moran, and in front of all these influential figures too!
If this was not a clear sign of love, he did not know what was!
Still, Jack knew that no matter what, men were always better at the finger-guessing game than women were. He could not help but worry about Joanna, so he cautiously reminded Ace, "Please go easy on Ms. Pierce, Mr. Moran. She's not been out much before, so she's definitely
not experienced in this kind of game."
Joanna put on a pitiful expression and echoed, "That's right, Mr. Moran! Please go easy on me… I'm just a girl, after all!"
However, in her heart, Joanna was saying, 'I'll show you who's boss, Ace Moran, you douchebag!'