Mr. Billionaire, I'm Back!

Chapter 48: The Audacity

At the Devine's Hospital - Joanna's Grandfather was in a wheelchair, and William Miles, the dean of the hospital, had pushed him into the room where his Granddaughter rested. She was still in a coma, but, fortunately, she hadn't been hurt very badly. There were some cuts and bruises all over her body. No bones had been broken, though, nor had there been any internal injuries - and the old man thanked God for that.

He had been at the hospital since she'd arrived, and he'd waited patiently – but angrily – for her to wake up.

When Joanna finally woke up, he was the first person she saw, and she was afraid. In her last life, her Grandfather had been fully aware of what Joanna and Sarah were doing to her, and he hadn't defended her. Thus, they were able to torture her and send her to Jared Gross without fear of there being any consequences for their actions. "What are you doing here?" she cried.

Joanna's Grandfather glared at her and said, "You are such a fool. You must know that! Do you know how dangerous it was to use yourself as bait?!?!?"

Joanna sat up and said, "Grandpa, I can take care of myself. I won't do this kind of thing again anyway, okay?" Using herself as bait had been a part of her plan from the beginning. She knew that after she put Sarah's video online, Sarah would definitely come after her, and this seemed like the best way to fight back.

If Sarah's fans had not come against her, and reporters had not besieged her, Julie and Austen's testimonies might have been suspect. In that case, the public, in general, would have been convinced that Sarah was the victim and that she had set her Stepsister up. Now that she was in the hospital, though, she would be seen as the victim, and Sarah would be seen as the villain.

Joanna's Grandfather was not happy with her answer. "Are you telling the truth?" he asked. "I can tell that you had fun setting this all up!"

Joanna shook her head and said, "Grandpa, it wasn't fun, and I promise that I won't do anything like this again. Please forgive me. This one time…"

Joanna's Grandfather was still distraught. "Do you think that I don't know what is going on?" he asked. "You did this to provoke them so that they would focus their attack on you and leave the people around you alone."

Joanna was surprised by her Grandfather's intuition, but she was not ready to admit the truth. "Why would I do that?" she asked.

"The first reason," her Grandfather replied, "is the one I've already given. The only way you thought you could protect the people around you was to force Susan and Sarah to go after you sooner than they otherwise would have. I think you had a second reason too. I think you were trying to sow seeds. Of course, you had no way of knowing if they would grow, did you?"

"What if I said you were right? Joanna asked. "What then? Why are you here?"

"I can help you," her Grandfather replied. "If you are worried about Olivia, I could send her overseas and support her financially. If you wanted, I could do the same for you. There is no good reason for you to put your life at risk."

Joanna thought about the old man's offer. The problem with his plan was that it didn't leave her room to get the revenge she desired. Furthermore, if she ran, she knew that people would see it as an admission of guilt. Finally, she shook her head and said, "That won't work. Olivia and I did nothing wrong, so why should we go overseas? At the moment, I have the upper hand, and I want to make the most of the moment while it lasts!"

Joanna's Grandfather's brow furrowed. "How come the bomb didn't kill you?" he asked. "I am glad that it didn't, but it doesn't make any sense..."

"I was wearing body armor," Joanna replied. She smiled and said, "Of course, knowing that there was a bomb in the box helped. It had a five-second delay, so after I pushed it off the table, I had time to curl up in a fetal position on the ground behind the desk, with my head covered and my back to the blast. The only thing I didn't account for was the items on the desk. When the explosion happened, everything on my desk – from my laptop to my coffee mug – landed on me. Almost all of my injuries are from them."

Joanna's Grandfather grimaced. "You think you are so smart," he said, "but I think that you got lucky."

William Miles, the hospital's dean, had been standing behind the old man while he'd been speaking to his Granddaughter. He was in his early forties, and he was wearing a white jacket over his hospital scrubs. Up until now, he'd been silent. Now, though, he felt he had something to say, and he hoped it wouldn't be seen as an intrusion. He looked at Joanna and said, "If your Grandfather sounds angry, it is because he cares about you, and you scared him. When he heard about what happened, he dropped everything so that he could be by your side.

"Julie and Austin are also in this hospital. It was your Grandfather who convinced me to hide their identity so that Susan and Sarah could not find them. You owe him a debt of gratitude."

Joanna felt terrible when she heard this, and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at her Grandfather and said, "Grandpa, I'm sorry that I made you worry. I suppose I didn't fully think through my plan. I promise you that I will never do anything like that again."

Joanna's Grandfather's anger finally left him, and he smiled. He turned to William and said, "Thank you. For everything. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Don't worry about it," William replied. "I was just doing my job. I am an employee of the Devine family, and Joanna is the future heir of the Devine legacy. Therefore, it is my duty to do everything I can to help her."

Just then, Brian walked through the door, and everyone turned to look at him.

"Who is this?" William asked.

Joanna smiled and said, "This is my friend, Brian Jones." Then she turned to Brian and said, "This is my Grandfather, Mr. Devine, and the hospital's dean, William Miles."

Joanna's Grandfather glared at Brian. There was something about the man that he didn't like. After a moment of awkward silence, he turned to William and said, "I'd like to leave now."

William nodded, and as he wheeled the man out of the room, Brian said, "Bye, Grandpa."

The wheelchair stopped, and Mr. Devine shouted, "I'm not your Grandfather, boy!"

Brian laughed when he heard that, and he said, "You will be, though; in the future!"

Joanna was so shocked that she almost jumped out of bed. "Brian!" she gasped. The audacity! – She thought - Why would he say that?

"Over my dead body!" roared Joanna's Grandfather.

"We'll see about that," Brian argued. "I will win your affection if it is the last thing I do!"

"Humph!" Mr. Devine snorted, and William pushed him into the hallway.

Once they were alone, Joanna turned to Brian and asked, "Why did you say those things to my Grandpa?"

Brian: "No reason. Anyway, there are more important things to talk about than my non-existent relationship with your Grandfather. For example, do you want to explain to me why you used yourself as bait and nearly blew yourself to Kingdom Come?!?!?"

Joanna gasped, and her face turned as white as a sheet, and she began to tremble. Was it that obvious? – she asked herself. She couldn't believe that he had seen through her ruse as easily as her Grandfather had. And if they figured it out, how many others had? – she worried.

"I was n-never in any r-real d-danger," she stammered. "I w-was w-wearing b-body arm-m-mor…"

"You were lucky," Brian sneered. "If anything went wrong, you would be dead! You promised me that you would be safe. Is this what you call staying safe?"