Chapter 128 Imprisonment
"That's not arrogance!" Chris couldn't help but argue back. "We've been the ones putting up with your bad habits all along!"
Joanna laughed in anger. "See, you never listen to what others say. So why even bother asking me for reasons?"
The car had already stopped at the apartment entrance. Joanna was ready to get out and didn't care about Chris's reaction anymore.
But without Chris's instruction, the driver didn't dare unlock the door.
Joanna pushed it but couldn't open it, so she had to sit back down angrily.
"I'll send Cynthia away, and you come back." Chris spoke in a simple tone, as if he were just commenting that it was a bit cold today.
Joanna turned around in shock and couldn't help asking: "Isn't she the woman you love most? You respect her, care for her, and even had a child with her!"
"She's not!" Chris didn't know how to explain. He said through gritted teeth: "I used to see her as a childhood friend, like a sister! If it weren't for that accident that night, we wouldn't have had any relationship. If it weren't for that child, we wouldn't have gotten a fake divorce, and you'd still be my Mrs. Cooper!"
The fake divorce thing - Joanna had actually forgotten about it.
She had always taken Chris's divorce proposal as real, after all, she did end up with a divorce certificate.
And Chris's current attitude toward Cynthia made her heart go completely cold: "So you don't even respect Cynthia. She just lost the baby and you're going to abandon her."
"I'm not." Chris didn't know how to explain his thoughts.
He wanted Joanna back, hoped life could return to how it was before, but also didn't want to hurt Cynthia.
After all, their parents had a relationship too. Mireille was visiting David every day now, catching up with Sandra.
"I can send her away from Austin City. You'll never see each other again. She won't come bother you anymore," Chris said.
But Joanna wasn't moved at all. She just shook her head: "I don't need that. My boyfriend will be back soon. Since you chose her back then, if you don't want to end up like me, then cherish Cynthia."
Although Cynthia hadn't been good to her - had even been cruel - as a woman herself, Joanna knew clearly that the one who did wrong was Chris.
If Chris had been like Angelo - not flirting with other women, not being nice to them or showing concern - then someone like Cynthia would never have appeared in their relationship.
"Are you already living together?" Chris felt his sanity burning up.
He wanted to have a proper talk with Joanna.
But Joanna was unmoved by either soft or hard approaches. Every sentence she spoke ignited his anger.
He couldn't help but reach out and grab Joanna's wrist, demanding: "Have you kissed? Slept together? Joanna, do you have any shame left?"
"The one without shame is you!" Joanna broke free and pounded on the car door. "Does Cynthia know what you're doing now? Does she know you're still driving your ex-wife home in the middle of the night! Chris, stop doing these things that only move yourself. Nobody cares!"
So it only moved him?
Chris's sanity disappeared completely. He ordered the driver: "Back to my villa!"
Under Joanna's desperate gaze, the car drove away from the apartment, heading in the opposite direction.
Joanna got angry and slapped Chris directly, then took out her phone to call the police.
"Hello, police? I'm in a car right now. My ex-husband is kidnapping me..."
Before she could finish, Chris snatched the phone, opened the car window, and threw it out.
Joanna was shaking with anger!
"Chris! What exactly do you want?"
"You're not allowed to live in your apartment anymore. I won't allow that man near you!" Chris's eyes grew increasingly cold.
As if he were the one who had just been drenched in the rain.
Joanna shuddered and tried to struggle but couldn't escape at all.
Until she threw her bag at Chris.
Chris finally couldn't sit still and grabbed her neck, pushing her down.
"Why are you struggling? I'm clearly doing this for your own good. Joanna, you can't betray me! I won't allow other men around you!"
Crazy!
Joanna couldn't speak. Her whole face turned purple.
The driver was also startled. His sudden brake made Chris lose control of his strength and almost strangled Joanna to death.
"Mr. Cooper, I think you might have killed her?"
Chris's sanity returned. Seeing Joanna lose her strength to struggle, he quickly let go.
He patted Joanna's face, fearfully checking her breathing.
Thankfully she was still alive.
"She's just unconscious. Head to the villa first."
The driver swallowed nervously. "But Mr. Cooper, this lady just called the police, and she's been sending messages to people the whole way. I'm afraid we'll be arrested before we even reach the villa. How about... we take her to the hospital instead?"
Chris had gone crazy to lay hands on her. He actually just wanted to win her back.
The inner torment made him determined. He insisted: "Take me back. After you drop me off, go destroy this car, then leave the country!"
The driver didn't dare question him and could only comply.
He was afraid Chris would kill him too.
After arriving at Riverside Court, the driver left immediately.
Chris carried her into the villa. He had kept a basement here.
He had originally wanted to use it as a boxing gym, but now it was perfect for imprisoning Joanna.
He calmly found chains and blankets, set up the prison space, then locked Joanna in the basement.
When he went out again, he heard the police asking: "Sir, have you seen Joanna? She just called the police saying you kidnapped her."
Chris maintained basic courtesy, showing none of his earlier madness.
"It was pouring rain today. I just drove her home. You can check my vehicle's route. I stopped for a long time downstairs at my ex-wife's apartment building. She had already gone home by then. This might be a misunderstanding."
The police remained suspicious. "Then please come with us to make a statement."
The subsequent questioning was meaningless.
Because Chris really had driven her to her doorstep before leaving.
As for whether anyone saw Joanna get out of the car - that spot wasn't even covered by cameras, and with such heavy rain you couldn't see clearly. There was no way to prove it.
Twenty-four hours later, Chris was released.
And as soon as he walked out of the police station, he was met with Angelo's fist.
He threw two punches and still wasn't satisfied. The anxiety on his face was overflowing: "Where did you take Joanna? Chris, do you want Cooper Corporation to go bankrupt? I can make that happen!"
Chris didn't care about his threats. He just said coldly: "She's your girlfriend. You should look for her yourself instead of asking me. Joanna and I are divorced. How could she possibly be willing to come home with me?"
"Because you kidnapped her! Where did you take her?"
After finishing his meeting, Angelo had been calling Joanna's phone, but later it became completely unreachable.
He was absolutely certain that Chris must have done something!