CHAPTER 21

"Whether or not your figure is worthy of being shown in public and admired is my business and mine only."

Ace stared at Joanna with burning eyes as he said that, and there was a hint of possessiveness in his tone that even he did not notice himself.

"You're my wife," he reminded her "Don't forget that. It's your most basic duty to appear as dignified as possible. Dressing the way you do now is completely indecent. In fact, you're only attracting unwanted attention this way!"

Ace thought of those men just now who had been ogling Joanna as if their eyes were going to fall out of the sockets, and he felt strangely furious. He even had the urge to gauge those men's eyes out!

"Put this on!" he ordered, taking off his coat and roughly wrapping it around Joanna's body.

"You're acting like my dad" Joanna laughed, but her charming eyes were full of mockery and disdain. "I'm not sure if you noticed that it's no longer the Victorian era, Mr. Moran I'm the master of my body, so if I want to attract any attention, it's perfectly in my right to do so it's absolutely none of your business.

As she spoke, she removed the coat and hung it on her index finger, slowly uttering, "I have no need for your good intentions"

After finishing her sentence, she let go of Ace's black coat, which fell straight to the floor.

With her chin raised high, she walked away from him confidently like a proud peacock, her enchanting figure disappearing into the distance.

With a gloomy face, Ace stayed silent as her graceful figure walked away. He was burning with rage, yet he realized it was not his place to interfere with her anymore. He had lost that right.

The host repeatedly tapped on the champagne glass, announcing that the Charity Dinner Gala was about to begin officially.

All the dignitaries and VIPs were gathered here for the annual banquet. Ace, Joanna, and Liam were all seated in the first row. Directly behind them in the second row were Lucy, Wyatt, Alice, and the

others

"Look at her, Alice! Didn't I tell you how shallow and superficial that Pierce woman is? All she does is seduce men everywhere all day long!" Lucy glared at Joanna's sexy back as she grumbled through gritted teeth to Alice.

Alice quickly shushed her, "Not so loud, Lucy! Someone might hear you."

"So what if anyone heard me? Wasn't everything I said true?" Lucy was almost mad with jealousy at that point, and she continued her verbal assault, "Who does she think she is, sitting there with Ace on her right and Master Blackwood on her left? Look at her acting all frivolous and fake! She barely knows how to handle herself-like a rat that has fallen into a rice vat!"

"Hahaha!"

Alice and the other ladies in the same row could not help but purse their lips and laugh at the mockery of Joanna-but it could not be helped. When you were the person who stood out the most in a gathering such as this one, you would inevitably become the target of envy and jealousy.

"But she won't be happy for long!" cried Lucy, gritting her teeth. "She'll see soon enough!"

She had already figured out how to teach Joanna a proper lesson.

The host stood in the center of the stage enthusiastically performing his duty.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! It is once again the annual City Charity Dinner Gala! The rules this year are the same as the previous years. We will be receiving donated items from charitable people all around the world."

"These items will then be auctioned off here," he continued, "and the proceeds will be donated to a cause for children in the rural mountainous region after being notarized by a notary agency."

"Now, we'll move on to our first session right away. We will present to you all the donated items that we "received this evening."

"The first item is the painting named Love in the rain by the artist Dante Ambrose, donated by Mr. Charles Hughes, the President of Syllar Corporation. The current market value of this item is 500,000 dollars."

"The second item is a limited edition Hermes purple-gold handbag, donated by the actress April Watson, with a market value of 300,000 dollars."

"The third item is a rare and authentic Tibetan Dzi bead, donated by the international supermodel Jakob Thibault. The market value for this item is around 1,000,000 dollars."

As the host continued to introduce the donated items to be auctioned off, the room's atmosphere grew more and more fervent, and the crowd's voices grew louder and louder.

Each year, the presentation of donated items and the subsequent auction became a sort of disguised contest for financial strength and power. Whoever donated the most valuable item and the person who

paid the highest price for these items would eventually become the most influential person in the City for the year.

That is why new companies, celebrities, and socialites would take the plunge and try to donate the most. valuable possession that they owned in exchange for glowing reputations. However, because Ace and Liam both already possessed a high reputation and influence in the city, to begin with, they would not participate in the donation part of the event but only in the subsequent auction.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I will present to you the most precious treasure donated to us this evening!"

At this point, the host's voice grew tangibly more excited as he added, "This treasure was donated to us by Mr. Wyatt Larson, of the notable Larson family, as a token of his love for his girlfriend, Miss Lucy, I would like to invite our personnel to reveal this treasure to everyone…"

As soon as the personnel pulled away the white cloth covering the exhibition box, the whole audience burst into an excited gasp.

"Wow!"

Inside the exhibition box shone a pink peach-shaped pendant, dazzling the eyes that saw it.

"As you can see," said the host, "this peach-shaped pendant was cut from a single whole piece of pink. crystal, and it was given an incredibly romantic name-External love…"

"This is far from being a normal crystal pendant," the host continued. "Legend has it that it was specially made for the adopted daughter of the king of a small kingdom in Varangia, which means that this… is a royal treasure, ladies and gentlemen. It is absolutely one of its kind in this world. Currently, it's being valued at around three million dollars!"

The host's colorful descriptions endowed the already luxurious pendant with even more hype and splendor. The audience's continuous gasps in awe were enough to show how highly regarded this crystal pendant was. Numerous ladies even cast an envious look at Lucy.

"So," Wyatt took Lucy's hand and asked in a groveling manner, "do you like this surprise that I've given you, baby?"

Lucy's vanity was fully assuaged by that point, and the grin on her face could not get any wider.

Meanwhile, Liam was frowning slightly in the first row as he studied that pendant with a scrutinizing gaze. Disdainfully, he said, "The crystal's coloring is mediocre at best, but I guess the label of being a royal jewelry managed to get it to be valued as high as three million dollars. Do these people think that we're all idiots with too much money in our hands?"

"It is indeed a good quality crystal," responded Joanna in a half-smile and a vaguely mysterious tone, "but as for whether or not it comes from a royal family, well…"

"Right," the host continued, "we have just presented to you all the items that will be auctioned off today, and among all the donated items, the most valuable one is the pink peach-shaped crystal pendant that Mr. Wyatt Larson donated in the name of his girlfriend Lucy, therefore, I'd like to invite Miss Lucy to please come on stage."

And so Lucy appeared on stage like a celebrity amidst loud cheers and applause. She took the microphone and spoke to the audience in an obviously affected tone, "Thank you for your applause, ladies and gentlemen. I'm really happy to be here with you today in the name of charity. To spread the love, I would like to invite my cousin-in-law, Joanna Pierce, to come on stage and share this beautiful moment with me."

As she finished her sentence, she extended her arms toward Joanna as an inviting gesture.

Joanna knew at the drop of the hat that Lucy must have some hidden bad intentions for her, but still, she showed no sign of timidity and proudly walked up on stage.

She really wanted to know what kind of trick this silly cousin-in-law of hers had up her sleeve.

In an instant, the audience's attention was focused on Joanna's beautiful figure. They were mesmerized by her blinding beauty. This made Lucy even more jealous of her now.

"Anyway, I invited you up here because I've got a simple question for you. You see, we're gathered here in the name of charity this evening, and everyone has donated so much to show their support for the cause, and yet it seems that you've… not donated anything at all?"

"In any case," Lucy continued, "you are a part of the Moran family. You must've obtained a substantial amount of money these past few years, so wouldn't it look like you're a little cold-hearted when you don't contribute anything at all?"

Evidently, she had done everything up to this point just to embarrass Joanna in front of the huge audience, making it too shameful for her even to leave the stage. Surely enough, the people in the audience had begun to criticize Joanna, each standing on the moral high ground, accusing Joanna of being one of those greedy rich people who had no charitable heart at all, painting her as the kind of woman who only knew how to suck on the fortune of the Moran family, yet being unwilling to give anything back to society. She might look stunning outside, but her heart was hollow and ugly.

"F*ck!" cursed Liam. He clenched his fists in anger as he watched it all transpire. He could barely stop himself from rushing onstage and beating those people up. In fact, he knew of no one else in this world who was kinder and more charitable than Joanna!

Meanwhile, Ace, who was seated in the same row as Liam, merely pursed his lips tight. His handsome face was gloomy and severe. His eyes were focused keenly on Joanna as he waited for the situation to develop.

Despite being surrounded by vocal disparagement and criticism from the audience, Joanna appeared perfectly calm. She faced the audience and said, "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen. I will definitely donate something to the cause in time, but before I do that, I would like to give everyone a sincere apology on behalf of my cousin-in-law."

Those words completely confounded the crowd.

Lucy gritted her teeth and, in a lowered voice, asked her, "What the hell are you talking about, your gold digger?"

Without bothering to look at Lucy, Joanna continued, "Because the pendant she had just donated is a fake!"