Meanwhile downstairs, Amos was seen looking at the picture frame hanging on the walls.
Two maids kept a close eye on him as he moved from one corner of the room to the other.
"It's so cruel of them to exclude her from every picture they took," Amos said as he stretched his hand and lifted a family picture sitting on the long brown table connected to the wall.
His eyebrows creased to form a frown as he stared at the smiling faces of the family of four on the picture in his hand.
Adhara wearing a green off-shoulder evening gown had the broadest smile in the picture.
[How dare she smile after bullying my woman by excluding her from all the family pictures?]
Amos grabbed the picture frame tighter.
He was about to apply more strength and break the frames into pieces when loud footsteps descending the stairs caught his attention.
He resisted the desire to chuckle seeing her running like a cheetah.
"Don't forget to catch a breath because it's gonna be very funny if you pass out…," Joanna, who just got there staggered to a stop.
She frowned when she saw the picture frame in his hand. Without wasting time she collected the picture frame from him and returned it to its original position.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Joanna gasped.
"I missed…," Joanna raised her hand and covered his mouth when she saw how attentively the maids stared at them.
"Let's go," Joanna grabbed his left hand. "We will talk upstairs in my room," She proceeded to the stairs not letting go of his hand.
She ignored the maids' mean glares. They can only glare at her but not harm her. The era that the maid could easily bully her has long passed.
Reaching her room Joanna pushed him in and slammed the door closed behind her.
She stepped toward Amos, glaring at him. She pushed him backwards, demanding, "What are you doing in my house?"
"Do you perhaps have plans to see my family and I fight to our death? Is that why you showed up…," He raised his hand and held her shoulders.
"Don't be angry. I just wanted to see what your house looked like in the daytime," There was gentleness in his voice and eyes as he talked.
"Also you don't have to worry about Adhara meeting me here. I made sure she was preoccupied outside before I came," Amos grinned. He released her shoulders, noticing that she was a bit calmer.
"You kept her occupied?... What does that mean?" The now relaxed Joanna asked curiously.
Amos grinned when he recalled the scene of two women holding each other at the collar on the road when he was coming to her house.
"I just got a perfect match to deal with her. It's nothing worth mentioning… so let's talk about us instead," Amos said. He turned and looked around the room.
He has snuck into her room thrice but has never realised just how small her room was until today.
"Your room is quite small… and you happen to be a lady at that," Amos said as he stared at the room plain room.
No decors or paintings were hanging on the wall.
The room wasn't fancy like all the ladies' rooms he had been to.
He walked to the desk laid close to the window and rested his butt against the edge of the table.
"Compare to all the ladies' rooms I have entered yours happened to be the less attractive… It's lifeless unlike how a ladies' room should be," Amos diverted his gaze to the bed.
Her bed wasn't huge nor was it very small. It was just enough to fit her and another tiny figure.
"This is enough for me if you were to ask me," replied Joanna as she walked to the bed and had her seat.
"It's better than being thrown out on the cold street to survive," A painful smile appeared on Joanna's face when she recalled how she got to own a room.
In the past, she didn't have a place to sleep on. She has experienced how it feels to sleep on the cold floor the entire night without any blankets to shield her from the coldness of the night.
She has slept leaning against the wall throughout the night so many times. When Adhara kicked her out of the house she even had to make do with sleeping at the gate.
It was like a dream come true when she was given this room after she fell sick and was almost at death's doorway.
She had this room all thanks to Anthony's tantrums back then.
"And what did you mean by my room is the less attractive room compared to all the ladies' rooms you have been to?" Joanna asked her eyes glued on his face.
"Does that mean my room is not the first girl's room you have snuck into…,"
"What… what are you saying?" Amos stammered as he avoided staring in her direction.
"I am not a pervert…,"
"But that's what your word means… and you dared to compare my room to theirs," Joanna stated. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her knees.
"I… I…," Amos was lost at what to say to save himself from this awkward situation he has put himself at.
He wondered why he even had to compare her room to other ladies' room. He must have been momentarily out of his mind.
His hands began fidgeting with her table. Joanna was still waiting for his response when she saw him open the part of the drawer she shoved the notebook into earlier.
The blue note caught Amos' attention. He puts his right hand into the drawer and brought the notebook out from where Joanna kept it.
"What's this?" Amos said as he bent the notebook to the side and tried to open it.
"No….," Joanna yelled with her hands extended in Amos' direction.
She ran like a wounded lion to where Amos leaned against the table.
He was just about to get a glimpse of the first page when the running Joanna lost her balance.
With the force she came at, Joanna collided with him causing the book to fall to the floor with a thud.
Amos leaned back and embraced her. His powerful hands circled her back preventing her from slipping off.
In this ambiguous position, they both raised their gaze at the same time to look at each other.
With their eyes locked together, they couldn't look away from each other's eyes.
Joanna's world spun and came to a complete halt.
At that moment he was the only thing she could see. In her head, his face glowed more than it had ever done.
Joanna's heart started thumping and before you know it the little throbs turned to an erratic heartbeat.
"I love you," Amos stared into her lovely eyeballs as he confessed his love one more time.
His words resounded in Joanna's head so many times.
I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU!
Joanna's heart swells in excitement. She couldn't believe she got him to say the word without having to work hard for it.
[Whoa… I have completed the mission. Now my powers are saved]
Joanna grinned. She was so distracted and didn't see Amos bring his hand to her face.
Meanwhile, as this was going on in Joanna's room, Laura returned to the house from her outing.
Irene, the busybody maid didn't even wait for her to sit when she left her post and approached Laura.
Laura lifted her gaze off the shopping bags on the table on feeling the presence of someone beside her.
"What's it?" Laura was irritated that the maid had to come at the time she did.
"Miss Laura, I wanted to confirm whether Joanna informed the Madam that she was going to bring a male visitor home," Irene said, pretending as though she was only doing her duty.
"What!" Laura exclaimed in shock. She removed her hand from the pink shopping bag and stood straight.
"Did you just say that stupid girl brought a man back home?" Laura asked to confirm that she heard the right words.
"Yes," the maid said with so much confidence. "As we are speaking he is in her room right now. Heaven knows what kind of abominable act they might be doing in there," Irene made sure to emphasize the words as she spoke.
"How dare she bring her lover into the house and not only that she even let him into her room?" Laura demanded with a clenched fist. She lifted her gaze and stared in the direction of Joanna's room upstairs.
"If she has a plan of being just like her mother then she should do that in a hotel… I will never let her turn my parents' home into a motel. Never!" Laura yelled.
She abandoned what she was doing and stomped upstairs.
Back in Joanna's room, he was about to kiss her when the white notification screen popped up.
<Deadline: You have only 14 days to complete your mission>
Joanna's fist clenched into a ball setting her eyes on the notification. She couldn't believe she rejoiced earlier for nothing.
It was at this moment that the door flew open. Laura met them right in this position.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter