Chapter 38 Attitude
"Joanna! Don't you have anything to say to me?"
Joanna, halfway up the stairs, impatiently quickened her pace.
She still needed Chris to help her fool Henry, so she couldn't tell him the real reason she came back home yet.
Chris better not bother her either!
As soon as she entered the bedroom, Joanna shut the door.
To be safe, she even locked it and placed a door stopper behind it. This way, it could only be opened from the inside, so she wouldn't have to worry about Chris losing control in the middle of the night and going crazy.
Chris was very unhappy. He grabbed a maid who was about to clean up the floor and asked, "Tell me, what kind of attitude is this? She made such a huge fuss with me before, and now that I'm back, she can't even say a kind word. Is this how she apologizes!"
The maid didn't dare get involved in their relationship and kept her head down, saying nothing.
But Chris figured it out himself. "Forget it, she's a woman after all. After making such a big scene before, she's probably too embarrassed to admit she was wrong now."
Looking in the direction Joanna had gone upstairs, Chris smiled, thinking that Joanna was in such a hurry to go to sleep that she might have prepared a surprise for him in the room!
Thinking that tonight no one would interrupt him and Joanna again, Chris got a bit excited.
He also got up and went upstairs, but couldn't open the bedroom door.
Chris knocked anxiously. "It's me. If you don't open the door, how am I supposed to get in and sleep?"
No sound from inside.
Chris pushed again, but still couldn't open it. He got impatient and warned in a low voice, "Joanna, if you don't open the door, no matter how much you try to please me, I won't forgive you!"
No response.
Chris's face darkened.
He thought Joanna had come back to make up with him. But this is her attitude?
"Joanna! Open the door!"
Chris waited outside for a while longer, but still no one opened it.
He wanted to get the keys to all the villa's rooms and force the door open. But thinking it over, Joanna had already come back on her own to admit her mistake; one more night wouldn't matter.
She probably just hadn't figured out how to face him yet and was feeling shy. As her husband, he should be understanding of his wife's little moods. Although it was a bit troublesome, as long as Joanna behaved herself as his wife, it wasn't a big deal.
After thinking it through, Chris said at the door, "I'm giving you time to prepare yourself mentally, but Joanna, don't make me wait too long. My patience is limited. If you made a mistake, you should take responsibility."
Joanna still didn't answer.
Chris, outside the door, having said his piece, left in a fairly good mood.
No matter what, today was a change. Tomorrow might be even better.
Until he went to sleep, Chris was somewhat excited. He tossed and turned all night and ended up sleeping in the next morning.
When he came downstairs and saw Joanna's room door still closed, he walked over and knocked.
The maid reminded him, "Sir, Madam has already left."
Chris panicked. "She left? Why did she leave? She hasn't even apologized to me yet. I haven't forgiven her!"
The maid didn't know what had happened between them and just told him what she knew, "Madam said she was going to work. But she made breakfast and left a portion for you, sir."
Hearing there was breakfast, Chris barely calmed down.
Good thing she wasn't throwing a tantrum and running away. If she went to work, that meant she'd come back in the evening, so last night wasn't a dream.
Joanna really recognized her mistake and came back to him!
The breakfast was indeed the usual dishes Joanna would make. Chris finally felt better and was in a pretty good mood all day at work.
Seeing Chris like this made Cynthia feel a bit uncomfortable.
Could Chris be this happy because of Joanna? Had those two made up?
Cynthia felt more and more uneasy.
As for Joanna, she sent the breakfast photo to Henry as usual, who still didn't reply. The messages above still stopped at Henry telling her to have a child with Chris.
Joanna looked at it again and again, and could only exit the chat and call Angelo.
Angelo seemed to be busy too, quietly telling his assistant to leave first.
Joanna suddenly felt a bit guilty. She was always bothering Angelo with her own problems. Angelo was the CEO of Smith Group and had a lot of work to do.
"What's wrong?" A gentle voice sounded, pulling Joanna back from her thoughts. "I'm still looking into your mother's whereabouts. I've already contacted people I know at the police station. If they find any leads about your mother, I'll let you know."
Joanna pressed her lips together. Thinking about her temporary compromise at the villa, the sense of shame made it hard for her to speak.
Until Angelo called out again, "Joanna?"
"I'm here." Joanna said, "I'm sorry, Angelo, I'm always causing you trouble. I've taken a few days off from the hospital, so I won't be going to work. I'll also try to find Henry again and see if I can get any clues."
Angelo nodded, not forgetting to ask, "Henry suddenly took your mother away; he must want to threaten you, right? Does he want money or something else? Joanna, you just need to keep him calm; don't do anything stupid."
Joanna, who was already doing something stupid, felt guilty inside and said quietly, "I know, Angelo. What he wants is just money, I can handle it." Afraid Angelo would cleverly guess the truth, Joanna quickly finished with one last sentence, "I won't disturb your work then."
Then she hung up directly.
She didn't go to work at Grace General Hospital, but went back to the surveillance room at her mother's hospital, trying to recover data or find other clues.
But after a whole day, she found nothing.
Joanna was extremely discouraged and had to return to Hillside Villa first.
Did she really have to do what Henry said and have a child with Chris?
She didn't want to!
The pleasing behavior she showed last night was the result of her having already tried her best to restrain herself.
Chris obviously thought she knew she was wrong and came back to apologize, constantly acting superior—just like he did during their three years of marriage.
She used to really like all this, but now everything felt uncomfortable.
Probably knowing Joanna was home, Chris came back early too.
He bought flowers for Joanna, his tone extremely proud. "Didn't you use to love arranging these flowers and plants around the house? Go on, put them in a vase. The house feels so cold now—no warmth at all."
Warmth?
Joanna glanced at him, thinking it was pretty ironic.
Back then, Chris always said her flower arranging was pointless, that all the bright colors didn't fit the house at all.
Now that they've been apart for a while, does he finally get what warmth really means?