Chapter 41 Not Coming Back
Chris had been busy with meetings all through lunch, so naturally, he didn't notice whether Joanna had sent over any food.
But by the time he got off work, she still hadn't shown up.
Chris was a bit unhappy. Wasn't Joanna trying to please him? She'd only been sending food for a week and was already backing out?
He took out his phone and checked if Joanna had sent him any messages, but after refreshing several times, there were still none.
Chris's expression darkened, and he called the villa's maid directly. "Where's Joanna? Did she realize her mistake today?"
The maid's voice sounded nervous. "Mrs. Cooper went out today. We just cleaned her room, and it looks like she took all her clothes with her, as if..."
As if she wasn't planning to come back.
The servant didn't dare finish the sentence.
Chris heard half of it and already filled in his own interpretation, saying coldly, "She's throwing another tantrum."
He loosened his tie and said, "Tell her I'm coming back tonight. If she's thought things through, she'd better have the right attitude for apologizing, and don't pull the same stunt as last time."
After saying this, he happened to have one last work document to handle, so Chris hung up without hearing the servant's response.
When he drove back to the villa and didn't see Joanna, he finally realized something was wrong.
"Joanna hasn't come back yet?"
The maid kept her head down, her silence saying everything.
Chris finally couldn't contain his anger and called Joanna directly. "Do you still want my investment or not! Joanna, ever since you came back, you've been acting like you're being forced. I've already given you enough time to adjust. Is this how you've adjusted—by moving out of the villa?"
Joanna hadn't wanted to answer this call. But seeing her mother's weak vital signs and thinking that she still needed Chris to teach Henry a lesson, she answered.
"Jones Corp has already received too much investment from you over the years, but not a single project is profitable. Mr. Cooper, you shouldn't need a high-input, low-return company, right?"
Hearing Joanna suddenly change her tone and talk seriously about work with him, Chris frowned. "So you're saying you don't need my money anymore?"
"Mr. Cooper, maybe you should figure out where Jones Corp's money is going before you start handing it out!"
After saying this, Joanna hung up.
She hadn't directly refused the investment, nor had she compromised with Chris.
Pointing Chris toward the missing Jones Corp funds was her way of making things harder for Henry—to keep him from stirring up more trouble.
Chris hadn't expected Joanna to hang up on him, and she showed no sign of admitting fault.
He was about to get angry when he saw the vase of flowers that the maid had arranged and placed on the table.
Chris thought about it—Joanna probably felt he was making things difficult for Jones Corp, which was why he hadn't invested yet, right?
Neither Henry nor Chad had any business ability. Before investing, Chris had already prepared for this money to go down the drain.
He hadn't expected Joanna to actually start considering his costs. Was she reluctant to see him waste money?
Chris felt slightly comforted inside and didn't hold the phone hang-up against her.
After all, as long as he didn't invest in Jones Corp for one more day, Joanna would still have to come back and beg him.
As for sending someone to investigate Jones Corp's fund flow, Chris briefly considered it.
Right now, the company's most important matter was the Blue Ocean Design Contest. As long as Cynthia could win an award, they could recover the losses from the previous photo incident.
Henry's situation wasn't that important. Whether to investigate or not depended on Joanna's attitude. If she still wouldn't listen, then he definitely couldn't let Henry get this money too easily.
After thinking it through, Chris sent Joanna a message: [Come back early, and I'll consider investing in Jones Corp!]
Joanna didn't reply.
When she received the message, Angelo happened to see her phone's background.
Since she needed to screenshot evidence of caring for Chris to show Henry, Joanna had simply set that flower arrangement photo as her phone's background.
She hadn't expected Angelo to see it, and felt somewhat embarrassed and nervous. "This is... Henry forced me to go back and please Chris to get investment for Jones Corp, so I took it to show him."
Angelo's gaze was deep. He didn't say anything, just helped her fasten her seatbelt. "Should I take you back to your apartment?"
Joanna paused, then quickly said after realizing, "Yes. Now that Mother's been rescued, I don't need to keep up the act anymore."
Angelo nodded. The ride back was very quiet.
When they reached the apartment building, just as Joanna was about to unbuckle her seatbelt after thanking him, he suddenly pressed down on her hand. His gaze wasn't aggressive, but it made Joanna nervous.
"Angelo?"
"Joanna, you said today that Chris isn't someone you can trust. Do you think I am trustworthy? What kind of person do you think I am?"
Joanna nervously gripped the seatbelt, not knowing how to answer this question for a moment.
Her mind went blank, and she didn't even know what she was saying. "Um... you're certainly a very good person. If anyone could start a family with you, it would definitely be a happy thing."
After saying this, seeing Angelo's gentle and tender gaze, she realized what she had said.
She quickly added, "Angelo, you've helped me so much. I'm very grateful to you, and I'll find a way to repay you."
With that, she got out of the car with a red face. The cold wind helped her regain some composure.
Joanna wasn't sure what Angelo meant, but right now she didn't dare think about the implications of his words. The Jones family troubles, her mother's illness, and the unresolved divorce with Chris...
She had too many things to do and couldn't consider personal feelings for now.
Also, had she gotten a bit too close to Angelo, making him have some romantic thoughts?
Joanna patted her face and quickly turned to go upstairs, not daring to hear Angelo's response.
Angelo's car stayed parked downstairs for about ten minutes. He watched the apartment lights turn on, waited a while, then sent Joanna a message: [Don't misunderstand. My family's been pressuring me about marriage lately, and I thought it was my problem, so I asked you about that.]
He didn't dare scare Joanna.
Knowing her personality well, he was very clear that if he didn't explain tonight, Joanna would likely avoid him.
[So even someone as excellent as Angelo has these kinds of worries! But you can explain to your parents that you just haven't met the right person yet, and you'll definitely have a happy family in the future!]
After Joanna replied, she also sent a cute emoji.
Angelo saw it, chuckled softly, and drove away.
The next day, Joanna went to Dr. Bruce's team's care facility. After arranging her mother's matters, she went straight to the hospital to return to work.
She had been away for several days, and her patients' cases had been transferred to other doctors.
So when she came back, she brought small gifts for everyone as thanks.
While discussing the patient's condition, she suddenly received an unexpected phone call.