Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 9: Plan B

Ken was furious, but he was not so angry that he couldn't smile. He looked Joanna in the yes and said, "Until now, you have been good at pretending to be a good girl, but when you slander Janie, your true colors shine through."

Joanna sighed helplessly. She knew that no matter what she said, Ken would not believe anything that she said. Thus, she was just wasting her time and energy. "Just eat," she said gingerly. "Don't stay up late. I'll leave you alone."

Joanna turned to leave, but Ken got up and grabbed her wrist. She felt a sharp pain as he applied pressure, and she cried out. He had caught the place where she had been injured. Ken shook her arm, unaware of the hurt he was causing, and said, "Joanna, remember this: If you ever do something like this to my Janie again, I will make you pay!"

Joanna pulled her hand away. "That is not going to happen!" she shouted. "I will never leave Jane alone, and your threats don't scare me one bit!" And she stormed out of the office before Ken could get another word in.

Joanna went back to her bedroom, and when she lifted her sleeves, she saw that she was bleeding again. She wanted to take a bath and had wanted to have one ever since the man had stroked her cheeks and taken her clothes off at the hotel. Now that her hand was broken, though, it was impossible.

Joanna wrapped some tissue around the gauze on her arm and donned her pajamas before washing up, which turned out to be difficult and time-consuming with only one functional hand. Thus, by the time she got into bed, it was past midnight.

Lying on the bed, Joanna thought about what happened today, and she decided to send Olivia a text message: "Hey, Olivia. How's everything going with the bodyguards from earlier?"

Olivia: "I just found them. I was going to destroy them, but someone beat me to the punch. The baddies were already pretty battered up by the time I located them."

Joanna: "How is everything going now?"

Olivia: "If I send the bodyguards to the hospital, they may live, but they will be permanently disabled."

Joanna: "Don't send them."

Olivia: "Joanna, you are a bad girl. I like it!"

Joanna: "Do you want to be a bad girl with me? If you do, I'll help you."

Olivia: "It's a deal, but you owe me a big dinner."

Joanna: "Okay. A big dinner it is! Are you free tomorrow?"

Olivia: "I am!"

Joanna: "I have been thinking about something. I am going to try to get over Ken and move on with my life. I think it's time for Plan B."

As Joanna pressed SEND, she began to cry. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Text Messaging, Olivia had no way of knowing that her friend was in distress. She wrote back, saying, "Joanna! That's the greatest news I've heard in days! It is about time you gave up that scum bag!"

Joanna laughed and typed back: "Okay. Calm down. You don't want to give yourself a heart attack." Now that she had made her intentions known to her friend, she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest.

Joanna and Olivia chatted for a while longer, and when they were done, they both went to sleep. And while Joanna slept, she dreamt of Brian.

***

The next day, a lot of famous reporters went to the hotel to catch Joanna red-handed, which was what Sarah and Susan had planned. Sarah stayed at the plastic surgery hospital, and Susan went with the reporters.

Unexpectedly, when they opened the door to the hotel room, they did not find Joanna. Instead, they only found a man, and he was gagged, tied, and hung upside down like a pupa. When Susan saw this, she was furious, as were the journalists – they did not appreciate being misled, and they blamed Susan and Sarah.

After the reporters left, Susan approached the man who was tied up. She sneered and slapped the man fiercely. "i***t!" she hissed. The man grunted, but the gag prevented him from defending himself.

Susan slapped him again. And then once more. Each slap was louder than the last, and they left giant red welts on his cheeks. Finally, Susan leaned in and whispered in his ear, saying, "You had better keep your mouth shut about what went on here. If I find out that you talked about this with anyone, you will come to rue the day you were born! Have I made myself clear?"

The man nodded emphatically.

"Good," Susan said, and she left the man hanging where he was.

***

When Sarah learned that Joanna wasn't in the room when the reporters arrived, she called her bodyguards, but nobody picked up the phone. This was very upsetting to her, and she threw her phone across the room in anger. "Joanna--" she roared, and her fury was so incredible that almost everyone in the building heard her venting.

***

When Joanna woke up, her arm still hurt a lot. She got up carefully and went downstairs. Ken was sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, and Joanna joined him. As soon as she sat down, though, Ken wiped his mouth impatiently, stood up, and left the room.

Joanna sighed, and she continued doing what she was doing as if nothing had happened. When Mrs. Peck saw this, she frowned. Mrs. Peck didn't understand why Mr. Green didn't like Mrs. Green. After all, Mrs. Green was such a nice woman.

Mrs. Peck walked around the table and patted Joanna on the back. She smiled and said, "Don't worry. He'll come around."

Joanna grinned bitterly. It was too late for that now. She couldn't wait any longer for him to fall in love with her. She had to move on to Plan B. She nodded, though, for Mrs. Peck's sake, and said, "That would be nice."

After breakfast, Joanna took a taxi to the hospital, and she ended up with the same doctor that she'd had the day before. When the doctor saw that her wound had gotten worse, she told her to be more careful. After she was done with the doctor, Joanna walked out into the corridor and was surprised to see Brian sitting in the Waiting Room. What a happy coincidence – she thought.

When Brian saw her, he smiled and asked if she was there to have her bandages changed.

When Joanna saw him, she thought about the kisses they'd shared, and she couldn't look him in the eyes. So, she bowed her head and said, "Uh-huh."

The doctor was still nearby, and when she heard Brian's question, she walked over and said, "You must be her boyfriend." She smiled. "Anyway, I will give you the low-down: Joanna's wound is inflamed. I gave her an anti-inflammatory. I am still curious about the injury, though. She said that she was just walking along, and she fell…?"

Joanna heard the skepticism in the doctor's voice, and her cheeks turned pink from embarrassment.