Chapter 20
Joanna gritted her teeth. "I haven't even gone after you for kidnapping me last time, and you have the nerve to tell me you'll let it slide? You and Chad really are father and son—equally shameless! If you want to apologize, do it yourself. Don't try to use me to get benefits for yourselves again!"
"You're my daughter!" Henry was so angry he wanted to curse. "How dare you talk to me like that!"
But Joanna cut him off directly, saying with determination, "Yes, I'm your daughter, but you really don't deserve to be a father. Henry, I've had enough of cleaning up your messes all these years! If there's a next time, we'll handle it officially and let the police decide who's wrong!"
Henry's face flushed red with anger at being called out by his daughter in public.
He wanted to teach Joanna, this disobedient daughter, a lesson, but Angelo stood nearby, his eyes sharp, his warning intent obvious.
Thinking about being sent to the detention center last time and the beating he took for no apparent reason, Henry ultimately didn't let the curse words out. "You dare send me to jail?"
Joanna had also reached her limit. "If you push me too far, I'm capable of anything! And stop going to Chris; we're getting divorced!"
Henry couldn't find an outlet for his anger and felt very unwilling. "Is that thug next to you filling your head with this crap? You used to be such a good little girl and never had the guts to mouth off to me or Chris. Joanna, how can you listen to some random guy? Once you divorce Chris, who the hell's gonna want damaged goods?"
"Divorce?!" Chad didn't know about what had happened recently, and his tone was very agitated. "Joanna, you can't get divorced! I'm still counting on graduating and having Chris hook me up with a sweet gig at Cooper Corporation!"
Joanna looked at the father and son with disappointment. "I'm a grown-ass woman. I can work and make my own money. Even without leeching off some marriage, I'm not gonna starve. If you had any shame at all, you'd know you can't mooch off people like freeloaders your whole damn life!"
The father and son's faces turned red, whether from shame or anger.
Just as they were about to get physical, Angelo walked over and stood beside Joanna in a protective stance.
"Joanna is an independent person. She has the right to choose her own life and marriage. If you continue to harass her, I'll have Peter sue you. You can experience what it's like to be locked up in prison together."
Angelo's voice was calm, without any angry emotion, but still very intimidating.
Henry vividly remembered being sent to the detention center by Angelo under similar circumstances last time.
He was somewhat afraid of this man. Although he didn't know his identity, he could find another opportunity to teach Joanna a lesson—no need to suffer a loss himself.
Chad, who didn't know about Angelo and Henry's history, said angrily, "Who are you? Do you know my brother-in-law is Chris! Believe it or not, I'll have him get someone to arrest you!"
"Go ahead and try!" Angelo smirked. "But let me tell you, when Chris sees you and your old man, he'll run the other way like you've got the plague!"
Henry quickly pulled his son aside and reminded him quietly, "Watch out for this guy. I got burned by him last time. Look, he's not glued to your sister's hip 24/7, so we'll catch her when he's not around and set her straight. As long as she's got the Jones name, she's stuck with us for life!"
Chad didn't want to back down, but he let his dad drag him away.
As soon as the two left, Joanna felt like even the air around her became fresher. She let out a breath.
Peter waved his phone, indicating, "I got a call. There's another case I need to handle. I'm outta here. Joanna, if you need anything else going forward, you can contact me."
"Thank you, Peter." Although Angelo had already paid the lawyer's fees, Joanna knew the best way to show gratitude was through word-of-mouth recommendations. "I'll make sure to recommend your services to anyone who needs a great lawyer. You've been incredible."
After seeing Peter off, Angelo opened the passenger door and naturally invited her into the car. "I heard you've been job hunting recently. I have something here that might interest you. Get in, and we can talk?"
Joanna didn't want to keep troubling Angelo. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to repay him.
But before she could say no, Angelo said, "It's Grace General Hospital. They've looked at your resume and some of your past surgical cases. They're very satisfied with you and willing to offer you an interview opportunity."
Joanna couldn't refuse this temptation.
When she was submitting resumes, the place she most wanted to go was actually this hospital.
But Grace General never hired from the outside, so Joanna had to scratch it off her list. She never thought Angelo could actually get her a foot in the door there.
"I've said thank you too many times, so I won't be polite with you."
Angelo chuckled softly. "My pleasure."
After driving Joanna home, he sent over a contact.
The other party was also very straightforward about their purpose: [Hello, Miss Jones. Our hospital's senior management has already reviewed your resume, so you can come directly to start work tomorrow.]
Joanna was a bit surprised: [No interview needed?]
[Your abilities are excellent enough. We can see that from your resume. Grace General looks forward to having you join us!]
Not expecting it to go so smoothly, Joanna immediately sent the news to Angelo to share her joy.
He replied quickly: [Your abilities are excellent. This is the treatment you deserve.]
Having resolved her brother's troubles and being recognized by others, Joanna truly felt incredibly lucky.
Even the next day, when she came to Grace General to complete her onboarding and received her work ID as an orthopedic clinical doctor, she was still immersed in this joy.
But the second she sat down at her desk, Dr. Lawson from ortho walked over. "Dr. Jones, I'm putting you on a transfer case. It's a tough surgery. I checked your background. You've done this kind of thing before, so you should be able to handle it. The family is in VIP room 709. Go fill them in."
"Okay, Dr. Lawson!"
Joanna was pumped about her first case at the new job and headed straight over.
She just didn't expect that she knew the patient and had already refused their surgery requests more than twice.
The sight of Cynthia and Chris standing close together stung Joanna's eyes.
The two of them were now appearing together in public without any attempt to hide it.
Joanna adjusted her emotions and walked over as naturally as possible. "I'm Dr. Jones. I'll be the lead surgeon for David's operation."
"You?" Chris frowned. When he saw Joanna, he thought she had come to apologize on Henry's behalf.
He didn't expect she had actually joined a hospital, and the renowned Grace General Hospital at that!
"Joanna, my grandfather's leg isn't a surgery for you to practice on. I don't agree to you being the lead surgeon. Call your director over and change doctors for me!"