CHAPTER 555: CHAPTER 543

This man had ended up in this state solely because of her. If she left after manipulating him, she could not live with herself.

"Oh, gosh! What should I do?"

She closed her eyes in a dilemma. She was in deep pain.

At that time, she heard a bang. A giant noise came from the antique shop before the whole shop collapsed abruptly. There was fire everywhere.

"Ah! It’s on fire. Hurry up. Save them!"

South Street was considered the liveliest street in that whole town. Besides, this antique shop generally had a lot of guests. When the explosion occurred, a good number of people were in it.

Endless screams of shock and horror could be heard from everywhere. People held their heads as they ran helter-skelter in a panic, fearing they might get burned by the raging flames.

Joanna was rendered speechless by the horrific sight.

With a wide-eyed gaze, she stared at the antique shop that was on fire. She was struck dumb.

She only managed to regain her wits after a long while.

"Jovan... Jovan!"

She quickly got out of the car and rushed into the fire frantically.

"Madam, it’s too dangerous in there! For the love of God, please don’t go in!"

The firefighters who had just arrived blocked Joanna outside the door.

"Let go of me. My friend is in the shop. He can neither see nor walk. I have to save him. Let go of me."

"Madam, we’ll save them. Please just wait here patiently!"

The firefighters persisted in stopping Joanna, prohibiting her from getting close to the fire.

The fire was soon put out. As the casualties were individually carried out, Jovan was nowhere to be seen.

The final person who was carried out was the driver who pushed Jovan into the shop.

His head was wrapped in wads of bandages, and he had a broken leg from the explosion. It looked particularly hideous and dismal.

Joanna tried her best to struggle out of the firefighters’ grasp before she ran to the stretcher of the driver. She stammered, "Jo... Where’s Jovan? Where is he? How is he?"

"He... He’s been kidnapped. Go and save him now!"

After he uttered that, he blacked out.

"Did someone take him away?"

Joanna was dumbfounded as she pondered over the words carefully.

The firefighters searched the scene again. As expected, they did not find Jovan.

Joanna was unsure of other things. The only thing that she was certain of was that Jovan was alive.

It also proved that this sudden explosion was not an accident but deliberately perpetrated by someone.

"Who could it be?"

Joanna’s mind was a mess.

She found it impossible to get her head around these incidents that happened almost simultaneously. They twirled and intertwined, mixing into a putrid mess of trepidation.

Now it seemed like the driver was the only witness. Thus, she could only wait for him to wake up before she could learn about what happened at that time.

Filled with anxiety, she waited at the hospital where the driver was.

He finally woke up the next morning.

"Van was asking the shop owner to take out the gift he had long ordered. A man came in before he patted Van’s shoulders and said, ’Mr. Moran sends his regards.’ After that, he took Van away and threw a grenade into the shop..." The driver described the incident weakly.

"Mr. Moran sends his regards?!"

Joanna furrowed her brows tightly. She could not believe what she had heard. With a solemn expression, she sought confirmation from the driver. "Are you sure that was what that man said? Are you mistaken?"

"Joan, I did get hurt, but I’m not dumb. I remember what happened at that time. I don’t have to lie to you."

The driver coughed twice. He sounded very firm.

Hailing from the same hometown as them, he spoke very good English. She could not have heard him wrongly.

However, he did not expect that everything would change so fast. He had no time to ask for help and could only watch Van getting dragged away by another man.

"Okay, I got it. Thank you. Take care. I’ll come to see you again if I have time."

Joanna was stupefied on the spot for a long time. Countless possibilities coursed through her mind before she gave the driver a firm bow and left the hospital.

She walked on the street alone. The weather in the morning was very low, and the air was wet. It was as cold, stuffy, and gloomy as her current mood.

If the driver’s words were true, the mastermind behind this sinister kidnapping was self-evident.

"Damn it!" she cursed herself.

She should have thought of the possibility that Ace wouldn’t give up when she bumped into him at the elevator that day, especially since he saw Jovan as the person who snatched his post. In the past, Jovan was the one who forced Ace into such a sorry state. Now that Jovan fell, Ace would never let him off the hook.

Thus, Ace was the only one who knew Jovan’s whereabouts now.

After taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to go to him and get to the bottom of it.

Even if she was full of reluctance, she still could not escape his meticulous scheme to catch her.

He didn’t even have to see her. She was forced to go and see him... Ace was indeed an apex predator.

Without much delay, Joanna immediately went to the hospital where he was.

She learned from the nurse that Seraphina still needed treatment for a week before she could be discharged from the hospital.

Ace should be in Seraphina’s ward now, acting as her perfect fiance, devoid of the slightest worry.

With a heavy mind, Joanna went to Seraphina’s ward. However, instead of going in, she waited outside the door for a long while.

Frankly, if she weren’t left with no options, she would’ve never wanted anything to do with them again. She didn’t possess a docile temper and could not be the enthusiastic spectator of their sappy little romance drama.

She was afraid that she might feel like hitting them if they showed off their love in front of her again.

"Huh?! Calm down. Hold yourself back."

Joanna stood at the door of the ward and repeatedly got herself mentally prepared before she knocked on the door.

"You are?"

The person who opened the door was a fair strange woman.

"Er, you are?"

Joanna was slightly stupefied before she looked around the ward.

Both Ace and Seraphina were no longer in the ward. It was now occupied by a completely different patient.

Joanna retreated a bit and glanced at the ward number. It was the right ward.

At that time, the nurse happened to walk over. When the nurse saw Joanna, she was very happy and slightly surprised.

"Wow, Joan. As expected, you came back. Mr. Moran said that you’d come back."

"Mr. Moran?"

"Yes, Miss Murphy was discharged in advance. Before Mr. Moran left, he gave me a letter and asked me to pass it to you. He told me you’d be back soon."

While talking, the nurse took out a letter from her bag and handed it to Joanna. "I’ll be relieved after giving you the letter."

Joanna was at a loss for words.

She slowly accepted the letter and tore it open quickly. There was only a row of simple words in it. [You reap what they have sown. Come to me if you want him back.]

"Damn it!"