At Pierce residence.
Joanna was sitting beside a window on the second floor. She had been staring out of the window for a long time, but she had not seen Nancy at all.
She took out her phone and tried calling Nancy again, but her call still could not get through.
"That's weird. It's getting dark. Why isn't Nancy back yet? Where is she?"
When she woke up this morning, Joanna saw a note Nancy left on the dining table, saying that she was going to take care of some personal matters and would be back soon. She told Joanna not to worry.
But an entire day had passed and Nancy still had not come home. She could not even be contacted. Something was wrong!
Joanna was worried that Nancy might have run into trouble. Considering her recent situation, there were many people who
were waiting for an opportunity to get back at her.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, Joanna could not sit still any longer. She grabbed a jacket and went out to look for Nancy.
The moment she stepped outside, Joanna saw a familiar silver sports car parked at the gate.
A slender man was casually leaning against the car, his shadow drawn long under the dim yellow street lamp.
He held a cigarette between his long fingers. He gave off a cold, aloof aura, deadly attractive.
Joanna's heart throbbed despite herself. She could not move her eyes away.
The man was Ace, a man she did not want to see at all!
'That's weird. What's he doing here?!"
'And judging from the remaining length of the cigarette between his fingers, it seems like he's been here for a long time?"
Although Joanna was curious, she walked straight past Ace with a deadpan face, as if he was invisible.
Ace raised his eyebrows, but he was not mad. He casually put out the cigarette and threw the butt into a trash can next to him, then quietly followed behind Joanna.
He was tall, so he had a long shadow, and the shadow soon overlapped with Joanna's, as if they were hugging each other.
There was an ambiguous feeling in the air.
Joanna noticed Ace following her. At first, she tried to ignore him, but she had already walked for nearly a kilometer and
Ace was still following her. It made her mad for some reason. She suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Are you a sex offender? Why are you following me? What do you want?"
Ace and Joanna were walking very close together. When she suddenly stopped and turned around, they almost ran into each
other.
But it was precisely this tiny, awkward gap between them that made both of them feel a bit unnatural.
Ace cleared his throat and tried to put on his usual cold and aloof face. He smirked and said. "Why are you wandering? around alone in the middle of the night? You're making yourself the perfect victim for a sex offender."
His words made Joanna really angry.
"What kind of stupid logic is that? Are you saying that it's the victim's fault? Why have I never noticed before what a terribly crooked moral view you have?"
Joanna retorted sharply. "But, honestly, it's no surprise. Can't expect someone who lets himself get mixed up with a wicked woman like Alice Alices to have a good moral view. I must have been blind to actually marry a man like you!"
Ace was not angry. Instead, his thin lips curled into a meaningful smile.
That was because he could clearly hear a strong feeling of jealousy in Joanna's words. It made him feel good.
"I've always wondered, why do you always get emotional when you talk about Alice?"
"Duh. Of course it's because I hate her!"
"Is that so?"
Ace's raised his eyebrows slightly as he continued to ask, "Do you actually hate her or do you hate her for ruining our marriage?"
"You… What the hell are you trying to say?"
Joanna involuntarily took a step back. Ace felt strange tonight, as if he was possessed.
"If I say that my feelings for Alice are not what you think they are, and I'm protecting her for some other reasons, would you let
her off the hook?"
"Some other reasons?"
Joanna frowned and immediately asked, "What other reasons?"
"It's not important."
Ace did not answer.
Some secrets he must carry to the grave for the good of everyone.
"You just have to know that my relationship with her is not like what you think. You don't have to make her life hell out of
jealousy."
"Hahaha!"
That made Joanna laugh.
She was laughing at the man's arrogance, as well as his cruelty.
How could a man say such a shameless thing to his ex–wife?
Alice Alices was obviously the one who had done horrible things, but since the beginning of the conversation, he had been defending Alice and making Joanna out to be the bad guy instead!
"You're really funny, Ace. You think I'm sending Alice to jail because I love you and I'm jealous that he took you away from
me?"
"Isn't that the case?"
Ace asked coldly.
He believed that, although he had little experience in love, he had met a lot of women, so he could tell women's intentions towards him.
"No, no, no, it has nothing to do with you. I'm just petty and I always get my revenge. Alice repeatedly provoked me. so of course I want to teach her a lesson."
Joanna replied honestly.
Joanna was neither a saint nor the Virgin Mary. If she was bullied, of course she would retaliate.
Ace's gaze became complicated. He said in a low voice, "You weren't like this before."
"That's because I was blind, I was stupid, and I'm a good actor."
Joanna did not care what kind of person Ace thought she was anymore. She continued, "I've had enough of being a daughter- in–law of the Moran family. I hate pretending to be gentle and dignified and acting like a loving couple with you. I hate your mean mother, I hate your mansion that feels like a prison, and I hate humbling myself to wait for you to come home every night!"
In those cold, dark days, she could not even feel a hint of warmth. It was a period of time she did not want to remember.
"I'll be honest with you. I'm not a kind person. When the monster in me comes out, I might eat your little lover alive. Rather than wasting your time chatting with me, you should use it to find a good lawyer to try to reduce her sentence!"
Joanna's words were filled with provocation.
She wanted to see how far Ace would go in order to protect Alice Alices.
Ace's face became increasingly colder.
The woman in front of him looked like a little leopard waving her sharp claws. She was something he could not control, and that irritated him.
He frowned and said coldly. "So you'll definitely send her to prison? Is there no room for negotiation?"
"None whatsoever!"
Joanna nodded confidently and snorted. "I've already offered you a chance. You only had to kneel down and apologize in public. But, you pushed your luck instead. In that case, I can only show you my true nature, I'm a petty, vicious woman!"
Joanna knew all too well how to deal with people like Alice Alices.
If she let Alice off the hook this time, Alice would definitely retaliate even harder next time. Joanna was not foolish enough to give Alice that opportunity.
Ace's expression turned even darker. His gaze fell on their overlapping shadows. He said coldly, "In that case, you'd better ask your lawyer to figure out how to reduce your nanny's sentence too. After all, murder is a much heavier crime than burglary!"