“I was supposed to follow my mother after the divorce, but she remarried when I was in the second half of the eleventh grade. The man was rich and had his own children, so my mother arranged for me to study overseas to hide the fact that she had a child. She had often visited me in the first two years, but that was about it. She had stopped coming to visit me since then,” Johanna told her story in a hoarse voice.
Her eyes turned red as she continued, “I wanted to visit her when I came back last year, but she refused to meet me. She gave her a credit card and warned me not to look for her. If I did, she would stop giving me money-”
“I’m not after her money. I just want to spend time with her. Does she not think of me as her daughter?” Johanna said in between sobs while sprawling over the table.
Genevieve could only stroke her back to console her.
Genevieve still remembered how Johanna used to tell her that her parents were the happiest couple in the world during their school days. At that time, Johanna also thought she was the luckiest girl in the world.
Little did she expect her parents would part ways when she was in the eleventh grade.
“But it’s okay now. It’s fine if she doesn’t want to acknowledge me as her daughter. No big deal.” She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.
“I’m an adult now, and I can look after myself. What drove me mad is my gambler father lied to me, telling me he had cancer. He even sold me to a whor* house!” Johanna trembled in anger when she recalled what her father did.
“He had never shown any concern about my life and death after divorcing my mom, yet he had the guts to sell me off? What a monster!”
After venting her frustration, Johanna went up and embraced Genevieve. “Thank God I met you, Genev. My life would have been over if it weren’t for you, and the world would never get a chance to see what a brilliant designer I am. You’re my savior, Genev-”
“Get off me, please!” Genevieve could not take it. Johanna was just as expressive as she was during their school days. “You better behave if you don’t want me to throw you out of the room.”
Johanna instantly released her and continued eating her food. After a few bites, she could not stop herself from asking Genevieve why she went to Ambrosia.
She also wanted to know why Gabriel called Genevieve Mrs. Faulkner.
“You can read about everything on Twitter,” Genevieve replied before walking to the bathroom.
By the time Genevieve came out of the shower, Johanna had read all the updates on Twitter.
Her eyes got teary, and she went up and gave Genevieve a hug. “Genev, you and I are destined to a hapless fate. I can’t believe you’ve become a widow at such a young age, you poor thing! But it’s all right. I’m here with you and I can be your wifey!”
Johanna’s remark rendered Genevieve speechless. “Thanks, but no thanks! I want a man to be my life partner, not a woman!”
Johanna stopped teasing upon hearing what Genevieve said. She then fell into a deep slumber, giving Genevieve a chance to sleep peacefully.
The next day, they went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
Johanna asked Steven, “My dad should still be around Xedells. Steven, do you think you can find him?”
“Why would you want to look for him?” Genevieve tilted her head aside and asked Johanna.
“If the monster knows someone redeemed me, he might come to me and sell me for the second time. He did it once, and he can do it again!” Johanna pouted and stuck a fork on a strip of bacon. “I must teach him a lesson!”
Genevieve recalled how Johanna wept last night and wondered if she was capable of teaching her father a lesson.
Yet, she still asked Steven, “Can we find him?”
“Not a problem, I guess. Give me some time,” Steven said. After breakfast, He got his friends’ help to locate Johanna’s father, Yorick.
Genevieve returned to the hotel room to continue with her work while Johanna waited quietly as she knew she should not disturb Genevieve.
At noon, Steven came to look for Genevieve and told her he had found Yorick at a local sauna.
He then sent the two ladies over to the sauna.
Johanna went into a massage room and noticed a few men lolling on the recliners on the right side. They were all smoking and chatting, enjoying the time of their lives.
Johanna instantly recognized Yorick. She exploded with rage and flung a foot bath basin at him.
Yorick, who was all drenched, immediately got up from the recliner. “Who the hell-”
When he lifted his head and saw Johanna, he froze for a moment. “Jojo? what are you doing here?”
“Why? I should be in that filthy whor* house, right?” Johanna smashed the basin to the ground and shot daggers at her father.
“I never counted on you to take care of you after you’d divorced my mom, but I’m still your daughter! How could you sell me out just because you needed to pay off your debts?”
