Chapter 3
As Joanna reached the doorway, she suddenly remembered something. She turned to Chris and said, "Nine o'clock tomorrow morning. See you at the courthouse."
Hearing this made Chris even angrier. This woman really was pushing her luck! Did she really think this would make him give in?
"I'm busy lately. If you want a divorce, schedule it with my assistant. But Joanna, I'm giving you one last chance. If you don't come groveling and apologize to Cynthia before the date's set, we're definitely splitting up."
Chris was upset, so naturally, his tone wasn't pleasant.
He was certain that Joanna's father wouldn't let his daughter leave this cash cow, so she would definitely come crying back!
Hearing this, Joanna's heart trembled. She lowered her eyes and walked straight out of the villa.
The night wind was cold, but not as cold as her heart.
Three years of marriage, ending so carelessly. She felt unwilling and resentful, but still forced herself not to look back.
She hadn't done anything wrong. She refused to bow down to Chris!
Inside the villa.
Seeing Joanna leave so decisively without another word, Chris's expression darkened completely.
He had this feeling that things were slipping out of his control. This feeling was both annoying and frustrating, leaving him confused.
Watching Joanna's figure disappear, Cynthia felt very pleased inside.
She linked her arm through Chris's, her voice sweet and soft. "Chris, I think Joanna's just out of it. Let her cool down for a couple days. She'll come back when she thinks it through. Right now, the most important thing is your grandfather's surgery. I know you've been having your assistant look for that orthopedic whiz, Dr. J, so I asked my overseas mentor to help keep an eye out. Just now, she accepted a surgery through her former assistant Luke."
"Where?" Hearing this, Chris's expression improved considerably. "Dr. J has been out of the scene for a long time. I've tried to book her many times, but couldn't get an appointment. Thanks for going to the trouble, Cynthia. You've helped me so much in both life and work, while Joanna just gets jealous."
Chris's grandfather, David, had a leg problem that stemmed from an accident ten years ago. A famous domestic doctor had performed surgery at the time, but it had recently relapsed. Tests revealed foreign objects with a risk of complications. Chris had contacted many orthopedic authorities, but the highest success rate was only 50%.
All the medics told him that if he wanted a better success rate, only the hard-to-find Dr. J could pull it off. So for the past month, Chris had been trying to contact Dr. J, but she had completely stopped doing surgeries after getting married.
"Dr. J's surgeries are really hard to book, so I only managed to find out where she'll be. The lucky thing is, the surgery she accepted through her assistant is tomorrow at Stanford Hospital!" Cynthia said with a smile.
Chris quickly understood what she meant. "I'll go wait at the hospital tomorrow. As soon as I set eyes on her, no matter what she charges, I'll book that operation!"
"No one turns down money that comes to their door. This time, David's leg injury will definitely be cured." Cynthia's voice couldn't hide her excitement. "How about I come with you tomorrow?"
"Okay." Chris's mood improved, and he took the initiative to say, "When the clothes arrive, I'll take you home."
Cynthia said with a smile, "That's so nice of you, Chris."
Meanwhile, when Joanna left Hillside Villa, she was still in a daze.
For a moment, she didn't know where to go.
She couldn't go back to the Jones house, and the hospital had no bed for her. In this world, it seemed she only had herself to rely on.
Fortunately, she had earned some money when she took on surgeries as Dr. J, and had bought a small apartment downtown.
It had sat empty for ages and hadn't been tidied up. The appliances were still in their packaging.
Joanna simply tidied up the bedroom and bathroom first, then couldn't fight off her exhaustion and fell asleep.
When she woke up, dawn was breaking.
Probably because of the change in environment, Joanna hadn't slept well, and now she couldn't fall back asleep.
She opened her phone and first checked the patient information Luke had sent, mentally assessing the surgical risks.
After breakfast, she remembered to schedule the divorce with Chris's assistant, Matthew.
Matthew's contact information wasn't hard to find, since Chris transferred the monthly $10,000 to him. For any matters, big or small, at home, she had to contact him first and let him decide whether to report it to Chris.
Joanna opened the chat and typed a message: [Please check Mr. Cooper's schedule and save half a day to go to the courthouse with me for the divorce.]
When Matthew saw the message, he instinctively thought Joanna was throwing a tantrum, trying to get Chris's attention. After all, this wasn't the first time.
But to be safe, Matthew still went to the office to ask Chris.
Chris had come to the company early in the morning, planning to finish his work ahead of time so he could get to the hospital to wait for Dr. J.
Hearing that Joanna had actually contacted his assistant to schedule the divorce, he couldn't control the force on his pen and tore through the contract he was signing. "Schedule it for this Friday from now. I don't believe her father will agree."
Matthew hesitated before asking, "Do we need to tip off Mr. Jones about this privately?"
Chris looked at him coldly, his eyes full of sarcasm. "With how Henry and Chad stir the pot, it won't be long before they're hounding Joanna."
"Understood."
Matthew immediately replied to Joanna: [This Friday at 10 AM, Mr. Cooper is available.]
After receiving the message, Joanna finally felt at ease.
Seeing it was about time, she got herself ready and left.
Stanford Hospital.
When Chris arrived, Cynthia had already been waiting for a while.
She came up to him. "I asked around. Dr. J still isn't here. The hospital staff on greeting duty told me she'd be wearing a light gray trench coat and a hat today."
Chris nodded and joined Cynthia in watching people coming and going through the hospital entrance.
The moment the trench coat appeared, he instinctively stood up, but stopped within three steps.
Because he recognized the face under that hat!
Joanna?!
She was Dr. J?!