Ace’s gaze was frigid as he stared at Joanna.
"There’s no one here, so you can just be honest with . What happened to them? They need to be released imdiately. I’m willing to give up everything forthem – even my life. Don’t push , Ace, I’m warning you." Joanna clenched her fists tightly, her entire body tense. She had given birth to Addie and Abby and raised them with all her love and attention. They weren’t just her life, they were also the Pierce family’s future.
Ace might have tried to take them away, but she would definitely get them back.
"I’m not sure what you’re saying." Ace looked perplexed as he frowned at her. "Who are you referring to?"
"Stop acting dumb!" Joanna burst out furiously. She was so enraged that she approached him, grabbed him by the collar, and warned, "I’ll count to three, and if you don’t give them to , I’ll break your neck. You already know I’m capable of it!"
"You want to break my neck?" The corners of his lips curved upwards into a lazy smile, and he whispered challengingly, "Go ahead... Do it."
"Do you think I’m afraid?" Joanna’s eyes blazed with anger, and her lips twitched as she bit out, "Three, two, one..."
To her surprise, the lights in the room went out before she could do anything to him. It was now pitch black, and even the lights in the surrounding mansions were out.
"What’s happening?" She demanded, letting go of Ace as she looked around.
’Have I walked into their trap? That has to be it! Ace kidnapped Addie and Abby, lured here, and is now trying to kill so he can get custody of the kids!’ She thought in horror. Her skin prickled just thinking about it.
’The Moran family might be cruel, but you underestimate my abilities." Joanna growled, then reached out to wrap her slender fingers around Ace’s neck again. "Don’t try anything. If anything happens to , you’ll die with ."
"You’re overthinking. We’re not that bored, and even if we wanted to hurt you, we wouldn’t get our hands dirty doing it," Ace scoffed.
’After so many years, she’s still an overthinker. How could she think that we would use such an amateur way to hurt her?’ He thought.
"Then what is going on? Why did all the lights go off?" Joanna asked him impatiently.
"Obviously, the power is out," Ace said irritatedly.
At that mont, they heard a servant’s voice from outside the room. "I apologize, Mr. Moran and Miss Joanna. Sothing went wrong with the mansion’s circuit, and the electricity has gone off completely. Can you wait for a while? We’ll get soone to repair it right away."
’Wait?" Joanna swallowed nervously, suddenly realizing she was a bit too close to Ace.
’Are they actually expecting us to stay together in the dark?’ She thought anxiously.
Joanna could rule out that the Moran family planned to ambush her since the electricity had gone out due to a faulty circuit.
She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed sowhat. She let go of Ace’s neck and tried to move away from him, but his strong arm suddenly circled her waist. He pulled her towards him, and she tumbled onto him with a yelp. When she felt his warm fra against hers, she imdiately froze." What... What are you doing?"
Ace remained silent, but his grip on her tightened.
Joanna lost her cool and hissed at him, "Ace, don’t you dare try to take advantage of . Let go before I hurt you!"
"Stop moving!" Instead of letting her go, he held onto her like his life depended on it.
"Clearly, you don’t value your life. Do you want to break your arm?" She was going to push him away when she heard sniffling. She hesitated, her eyes wide in disbelief.
’Is Ace... crying?’ She thought in shock. She imdiately cald down, taken aback by this unexpected occurrence.
"Are you alright?" She asked cautiously.
"You probably don’t know this, but when I’m alone in the dark... mories of what happened to my brother overwhelm , and I’ll sotis get a panic attack. I usually need soone to lean on, or else the consequences will be disastrous." He mumbled as he moved closer to her.
’Is he being serious?’ Joanna thought, bewildered. Unconvinced, she asked him, "How bad is it?"
"My breathing and pulse will quicken, and eventually all of my organs will cease working... and I’ll die."
It seed a bit exaggerated, but Ace didn’t seem like the type to lie about things like this.
Joanna decided to believe him, and let him hold her. The room was quiet for a while, and then she whispered nacingly, "This is an excellent chance for to murder you."
Ace tightened his grip and drew her closer to him, as if he wanted to ld their bodies together. His lips brushed her ear as he murmured, "I told you before that if you want to, you may."
In the darkness, all Joanna could feel was Ace’s hot breath on her skin. Her face turned red, but she didn’t say anything.
They held each other quietly for a while, unexpectedly accepting of the intimacy.
"Who exactly are you searching for?" In the dim light, Ace’s husky voice rang out.
Joanna snapped back to reality, and her body imdiately tensed up. "Do you truly not know or are you just pretending?’ She questioned, frowning.
"If I know, I’ll tell you. I don’t want to waste your ti. But I’ll ask you again ... Do you think you’re keeping anything from ?" Ace’s query was riddled with traps and revealed nothing about the children.
"It’s dark, and our position is rather... intimate. As you said, it wouldn’t be good if people spread rumours about us. We’ll talk about it once we’re out." She groped around the floor for her phone, planning to use its flashlight to lead herself out.
The Morans were wealthy, so even their study room was the size of a middle class family’s entire ho. Without light, it was difficult to discern where the exit was in such a large space.
As she pulled out her phone, she noticed a text and a video from Nancy. "Miss Joan, I can’t reach your phone. Hurry back, Adie and Abby are ho. They’re fine."
Adie and Abby were showing off a cake in the video.
To avoid arousing Ace’s suspicion, she imdiately closed the ssage.
She pulled away from Ace’s grip and went to the door using the light from her phone. Suddenly, as she turned the doorknob, she realized it couldn’t be opened.
"Why is the door not opening?" She twisted and turned the doorknob, but it did not open.
"Stop wasting your energy," Ace stated quietly as he approached her." Face recognition is required for the door to open. I think that if there’s sothing wrong with the circuit, the system must have been damaged as well, which is why it’s not operating."
"You an..."
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