Chapter 87 Synthetic Wedding Photos
At the entrance of the marriage registration office.
Chris wasn't as happy as he'd imagined. He thought that getting rid of the troublesome Jones woman and marrying a wife his parents approved of should make him happy.
After all, Cynthia was a childhood playmate he'd known since they were young, and he'd had feelings for her during adolescence.
If Cynthia hadn't suddenly gone abroad, he and Cynthia would have gone to school together, graduated and worked together, and maybe would have started a family long ago.
It should have been something worth celebrating, so why did he feel so gloomy, as if... he'd lost something very important.
Chris watched Joanna's back as she walked away without any hesitation, pressing his lips together tightly.
She was like a butterfly flying toward freedom, while he stood there, feeling a moment of loss.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Nicole calling.
"Chris, you've made everything clear with that Jones woman, right? Since you're divorced, start preparing for your wedding with Cynthia. I had the servants throw away those wedding photos at your villa. Go take new ones with Cynthia in a few days."
When Chris heard about wedding photos, he frowned and thought for a moment before remembering that photo.
Back then, he really disliked the Jones family, so he never went to take wedding photos. Later when he saw it at home, he even lost his temper at Joanna.
Joanna had been very obedient then, afraid of making him angry, and explained: "I'm sorry, honey. Please don't be angry. I know you're too busy to take wedding photos with me, but we only get married once, and I didn't want my wedding to have regrets. When you have time later, will you go take new ones with me?"
After hearing her explanation, Chris's first thought was relief.
Because he didn't have to go through the trouble of taking wedding photos. He didn't have the patience to play house with Joanna's marriage game. With that time, he'd rather close another business deal.
So his response then was: "We'll see when I have time."
Now what hung at Hillside Villa was this photoshopped wedding photo.
Chris pressed his lips together and replied to Nicole: "Do whatever you want with it."
As for taking wedding photos with Cynthia, he neither agreed nor refused, leaving room for negotiation.
Nicole complained a few more sentences, but Chris lost patience and quickly ended the call.
After Joanna's emotions settled, she went to the nursing home.
Sandra's vital signs had stabilized, but for some unknown reason, she still hadn't woken up.
She wiped Sandra's face with a towel, speaking softly: "Mom, I got divorced. You probably wouldn't support this decision, but I can't be like you—maintaining family harmony through tolerance and grievance. I'm sorry, Mom... I can't do it."
Joanna's eyes reddened slightly. She stopped wiping and pressed her face into Sandra's palm.
"I actually tried, but that time was really painful. If you could hear me, you wouldn't blame me, would you?"
She was willing to say this now only because she knew Sandra couldn't hear.
If Sandra were awake, Joanna wouldn't be able to say any of this.
Joanna stayed with Sandra for a while longer before leaving the hospital.
After she left, the hospital equipment quickly sounded an alarm. The data showed abnormal activity, alerting Dr. Bruce.
He checked the situation and quickly told the medical staff: "Quick, prepare for a more detailed brain scan. The patient may be waking up."
The nursing home became busy.
Joanna knew nothing about all this. When she received the call from the nursing home, she was still meeting with Lyle.
"Did you find any leads on that project?" Joanna asked.
The worry on Lyle's face was obvious. "I asked some old friends to help investigate. It's very likely a gray-market operation, but the specific details might only be known by the person who ran this project—and they've disappeared. The name in the company records doesn't match any employee identity files."
In other words, this project manager might have used a fake name.
It was even possible that Henry himself ran this project, and used a fake identity because he was afraid of getting caught.
Joanna rubbed her temples with a headache. "I can't get anything out of him. Henry is very guarded around me. We'll have to approach this from another angle. Lyle, if I follow the address information left in the project files to investigate, what do you think the chances are of finding leads?"
"Setting aside how dangerous that would be, Ms. Jones, if the person in charge used a fake identity, how reliable would that address be?" Lyle's expression was serious.
Joanna understood this, but not finding any leads while worrying about a crisis project that could blow up at any time made her even more miserable.
She lowered her head to drink her coffee and happened to see Dr. Bruce's call.
"Miss Jones, after you left yesterday, your mother showed signs of waking up. After a night of examinations, her consciousness has now fully recovered. She wants to see you and seems to have something very important to tell you."
Joanna stood up excitedly: "My mom's awake? Thank you for telling me. I'll come right now..."
Just as she was about to agree, she suddenly remembered she'd squeezed in this meeting with Lyle, and she had to go back this afternoon to perform surgery on a patient.
In the past, Joanna would have chosen to take leave—after all, no one was more important than her mother.
But yesterday she'd divorced Chris without Sandra knowing, and Joanna wasn't ready to face her mother yet.
Joanna pressed her lips together and corrected herself: "I'll come after work. Please help arrange someone to look after my mother and tell her I still have work to finish."
Dr. Bruce agreed.
Lyle didn't know much about Joanna's family situation, so he didn't ask more questions, only saying: "If we can't find leads or evidence from Henry about this project, we can only passively wait for problems to emerge and then get implicated."
Joanna nodded: "I understand. Let's not rush. We'll think of other approaches."
After saying goodbye to Lyle, Joanna returned to the hospital to prepare for surgery.
She spent the entire afternoon in the operating room.
Although concentrating was exhausting, when she came out and saw the patient's family's gratitude and excitement, she felt it was all worth it.
It was still early before the end of her shift, so Joanna told Dr. Lawson and rushed to the nursing home.
Sandra looked somewhat tired, and her eyes lacked color, until Joanna put flowers in a vase and called to her: "Mom, do you like today's flowers?"
"They're beautiful." Sandra spoke, her voice a bit hoarse. "Joanna, is there something you need to tell me?"
Joanna's hand paused while wiping the vase, but she quickly acted as if nothing had happened, saying: "What do you mean? What do you want to know, Mom?"
Sandra looked at her without speaking.
Under that gaze, Joanna was the first to look down. "You suddenly triggered the monitoring equipment yesterday because you heard what I said, didn't you? I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't follow your teachings. I divorced Chris."