Chapter 287

Kathy nodded. "Since I've worked with Joanna before, we should definitely invite her. But I'm not sure if she'll actually come."

"Yeah, I've been wondering how we should break the news to her..."

At the mention of this, both Kathy and I fell silent.

This was a tough situation for us.

"I still think we need to tell Joanna as soon as possible," I said firmly.

The thought of a possible contagious disease made me anxious to let Joanna know the seriousness of the situation right away.

And from our perspective, she would definitely get a divorce.

Not everyone can handle being the bad guy.

That was the main reason for our unease.

Kathy, hearing my words, made up her mind. "We should tell Joanna before the baby's one-month celebration."

"Why do you think that?" I asked. Even though I had suggested telling Joanna soon, I hadn't thought of a specific date, just sometime in the next few days.

Kathy suddenly gave me a precise time, which puzzled me a bit.

Kathy glanced at me, put down the small spoon in her hand, and said, somewhat exasperated, "Caroline, are you serious?"

"Think about it. At Isadora's baby's one-month celebration, everyone will be talking about marriage and having kids. As someone who's already married, Joanna will definitely be pressured by everyone around her to have a baby."

"If she suddenly gets the idea that babies are cute and decides to go home and sleep with Ronnie..."

That would be a disaster!

I immediately understood what Kathy meant. "You're right."

"We really need to hurry."

"But we don't need to rush too much; there's still a week until the celebration."

Kathy was also worried about Joanna's situation.

The conversation we had at the spa was still fresh in my mind.

Joanna was somewhat inclined to leave this loveless marriage, but she hadn't made up her mind yet, and the surrounding conditions were also restricting her.

"Let's hope they don't suddenly decide to have a heart-to-heart and reconcile in the next few days..."

I sighed.

Kathy thought for a moment. "There's a way to handle this. I have a party coming up soon. I can keep Joanna busy by inviting her to be a model, keeping her distracted. That way, she won't focus on Ronnie."

This temporarily resolved the issue.

I went to the office to handle some of my own matters and confirmed with Asher that the project was gradually being implemented.

Only then did I go home satisfied.

I didn't have to worry about work for the next few days, so I could take a break.

But the issue with Joanna was still weighing on my mind, and I couldn't completely relax.

On my way home, my phone suddenly started vibrating like crazy.

At first, I thought someone was calling me, but when I looked, I saw a flood of messages.

I initially thought it was Yvonne causing trouble again, but upon closer inspection, the tone was different.

And the sender's identity was clear.

It was Brandon, using his old number.

"Caroline, I'm out of prison!"

"Let's see how you fight me now! You think you're so tough?"

"I'm telling you, I'm going to make you pay for all the suffering I endured, and then some!"

"You thought you had me, didn't you? Last time you even pretended to be nice to me, and I believed you!"

His messages weren't filled with insults, just threats of revenge, but they made my heart race.

Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I didn't know how to feel...

I just knew that seeing these messages made me dizzy.

I didn't understand why he contacted me as soon as he got out of prison.

But I didn't reply. After a while, he started calling me frantically.

I was startled and quickly blocked his number.

We had already deleted and blocked each other on all other platforms, so he couldn't reach me for now.

I had kept this number for evidence when I reported him, but now it had backfired.

Staring at the screen, I calmed myself and took screenshots of the messages to send to Royce.

A moment later, Royce replied with a question mark.

I explained the situation with Brandon, and he sent me several voice messages.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to the police."

"I've been investigating who's been helping him from the shadows. I have a feeling that solving this will uncover a bigger conspiracy... and we might catch a bigger mastermind."

"So stay calm. I'll make sure you're safe. I'll arrange for someone to pick you up and drop you off for the next few days."

Hearing Royce's voice reassured me.

But on my way home, I didn't dare linger. I took a cab and only relaxed when I reached my apartment complex.

I decided to follow Royce's advice and have someone pick me up starting tomorrow. I wouldn't drive myself.

I was really scared.

Maeve's cryptic words came to mind, but one thing she said was true.

Brandon had nothing to lose now.

His goal was revenge.

After all, he had already burned his bridges. For him, attacking was the only way to turn the tables.

So ensuring our safety was the most important thing.

That night, another unknown number started bombarding me with texts and calls.

I set my phone to block all unknown calls and asked Royce to help me get a new number for work.

I thought this would temporarily stop Brandon's harassment, but the next day, I got a call from the property management, asking me to handle something at my old house.

When I got there, I saw a crowd gathered at the door.

I pushed through the crowd, thinking something had happened, and saw red paint splashed all over the front door.

The red paint was glaringly obvious!

A worker was scrubbing it off, and Kelly was standing at the door. When she saw me, she rushed over and grabbed my hand.

"Caroline, thank goodness you're back..."

I held my mom's hand tightly and whispered, "What happened?"

Seeing this as soon as I arrived made me really scared.