Joanna, overjoyed, hurriedly asked, "Well, where is it? Hurry up and bring it to me!"
The young maid looked fearful and stammered, "M–ma'am, your suitcase was in the basement. It's… well, it's best if you see for yourself!"
"What? In the basement?" Joanna parroted, caught between laughter and tears at the revelation.
They had exerted so much effort to search the entire villa, yet they overlooked where it would most likely be.
How absurd was that?
However, judging from the maid's expression, Joanna didn't think things were that simple. Heading downstairs, she went to the basement.
Ace frowned, and he followed the woman silently.
The Moran villa basement was two floors below the ground floor, led by long, winding spiral stairs. Having mainly served as a refuge during the catastrophe of the Great War, the airflow could have been better, and the place was dark. Usually, no one would come down here.
When he reached the basement door, he noted it was slightly open. A dark, red light emanated inside, giving off an eerie feeling.
"I–it's inside…!" the young maid stuttered as she stood outside, not daring to go in.
Joanna also noticed the weird scene, but she had already lived in this villa for four years, and there was nothing here that she was afraid of. She pushed the door and went in without hesitation.
"Ahh!"
The scene before her was so bizarre that she couldn't help but scream in fear as she stumbled backward, almost tripping and falling on her butt.
"The hell are you yelling for?!"
Ace had reached out to hold Joanna's stick–like waist in a tight grip, and his broad chest against her back gave her a sense of security.
Joanna jerked her head up, and her frightened eyes turned to meet the man's indifference.
'When did he come up behind me? He was as silent as a ghost!"
She tried to calm herself before pointing to the strange items littered around the basement and asking, "Who made these
things? Don't you think they're scary?!"
Ace looked around the basement with cold eyes before nodding. "Yes. They are quite scary indeed."
The large basement glowed eerily with the dark red lights surrounding it, and several bizarre–looking rag dolls were lying on the ground. The dolls were all dressed like Joanna! Some had missing hands, some had broken legs, and some even had silver needles sticking out of them!
At the center of the room was a skull wrapped in a piece of cloth as red as blood. The cloth was filled with curses written in dark red, which was creepy.
And this piece of cloth was exactly what Joanna had been looking for the entire day! Her precious blanket!
"Have I been… cursed?"
Joanna could feel goosebumps all over her body as she took in the scene. Even though she didn't believe in this supernatural stuff, it was still uncomfortable to see little dolls looking like her being stabbed, and curses were written all over them.
"Alice has gone too far! What a vicious serpent!" Joanna exclaimed as she held back the urge to throw up. She clenched her fist, so angry that her petite frame trembled.
No wonder the police would rather arrest that woman than tell Joanna where her suitcase had been hidden! She knew if this place was discovered, her true nature as a crazy and cruel person would be exposed!
Ace frowned deeply and asked the maid. "Was Miss Alice responsible for all of this?"
The maid warily lowered her head and replied. "Um… We're not sure. Miss Alice only forbade us from coming down here.
She said if any of us dared to go against her orders, she'd cut off our legs…"
Well, the answer was obvious, wasn't it?!
Joanna calmed herself before pushing Ace away. "Seems like your little mistress has strange ways of hurting others, huh?"
she mocked. "Quite refreshing, really. I'd advise you to check if she's cast some sort of spell on you for you to be so smitten with her."
After saying that, Joanna gathered her courage and stalked into the room, kicking a few of the dolls away and picking up the
blanket wrapped around the skull.
The skull rolled onto the floor. Now that it wasn't covered with the blanket, it was obviously a human skull, and the maid
screamed when she saw it clearly.
Joanna ignored it and quickly checked the pattern on the blanket, but at the same time, her stomach started to hurt…
Perhaps it was because she had been running around all day that Joanna was exhausted and nauseous, likely due to her pregnancy. She endured the discomfort in her abdomen and squeezed the blanket with curses written all over it tightly in her hand, and the fury was obvious on her beautiful face.
Turning her burning eyes on Ace, she asked coldly. "How are you going to deal with this? Your little mistress has done something so vicious and disgusting!"
Alice had repeatedly challenged her and pushed her to the limits. Before this, Joanna had been too lazy to bother about the woman. But this time, she had really crossed the line, and Joanna wouldn't stand for it.
If she did, there would be a second time. She wouldn't have the energy to deal with it if that happened!
Ace straightened up, the indifference on his face not changing as he asked another question instead of answering her. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"Hah!" Joanna couldn't stop the sneer from escaping her lips. "Judging by your words, do I dare think you would do anything I asked? Are you willing to turn your back on your darling mistress to get justice for me?"
Ace tilted his chin upward, adopting a pose that indicated he was superior to Joanna, and took in the anger radiating off the petite woman before replying calmly, "Alice has gone too far this time. If your request is reasonable, I'll make sure it happens."
"Are you serious? Do you think 'gone too far' sums up what happened here?"
Ace's casualness and leniency toward Alice sparked Joanna's anger even further. She couldn't understand. Was Ace that head over heels for that woman, and that's why he would turn a blind eye to everything to protect her?
When she thought about how she had placed this man on a pedestal and how deeply she had loved him for four years, she couldn't help but feel disgusted at her once vulgar taste!
"A reasonable request, you said?" Joanna's red lips lifted into a smirk as she sneered, "Get her to apologize to me, on her knees. on international media. If she's sincere, I'll consider forgiving her."
Ace furrowed his brows, and the air in the room suddenly became tense. "Don't go overboard."
"Overboard?" Joanna repeated, laughing outright. "Are you saying what she did wasn't overboard? She cursed me to die in such a disgusting way! When one does wrong, shouldn't they apologize?"
"I'll get her to apologize to you, but there's no need to make a scene on the media. It'll become the joke of the day if the world
sees this."
"If she has the guts to do it, then she should have the guts to bear the consequences. What she did was a joke on its own!
Shouldn't the world know what kind of person she is?"
When it came to this. Joanna refused to budge an inch.
"Besides, even if it becomes a joke, that's your family's problem. It doesn't concern me."
Ace stared at Joanna, the emotion in his eyes becoming conflicted and eventually hardening further.
The woman before him was completely different from the kind and dignified individual he remembered. The more he stared at her, the more he didn't recognize her.
"You weren't like this before," Ace said. "Alice is pregnant. Does it make sense for you to be this aggressive?"
Joanna burst out laughing at his words. "Haha! Aggressive? Are you serious? You consider that aggressive? Since when were you so magnanimous, Mr. Moran?"
She took a deep breath, brushed her hair, and said harshly. "You best guard your little lover well, Mr. Moran. If she falls into my hands, I won't stop at this, and I'll make her pay what she deserves!"
After saying that, Joanna left the Moran villa with her head held high.
Everything in this villa made her feel dirty and repulsive. If she could, she'd never step foot in this place again!
It was then that the pain in her abdomen suddenly intensified, and Joanna gulped harshly. Beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead…