Chapter 124: Return the Injury Tenfold
"No, it's not like that, it's not like that. They're lying. I didn't, I didn't do it. I don't know them. They're lying. Don't believe them."
Oscar picked up his phone and after reading it, his face turned as dark as ink. He kicked Katya, "You! You bitch, how dare you, how dare you! You're going to destroy me, destroy the Wilson family!"
"I didn't, I didn't. Oscar, there's been a misunderstanding. I really didn't." Katya crawled to Oscar's feet, desperately clutching his pant leg.
"The video evidence is all here. How are you going to deny it?"
Katya covered her head, "No, I really didn't."
"So it really was you." Ava stood there quietly, suddenly speaking up, her eyes falling on Mia. "You were involved too, weren't you?"
"No!" Mia immediately shouted firmly, "I don't know anything. I was kidnapped too! To save Finn and Cleo, I was kidnapped too! I don't know anything, I really don't."
Mia gritted her teeth. Katya definitely couldn't escape this time. She cried out, "Mom, you're so foolish! How could you be so foolish? How could you harm Finn and Cleo?"
"I... it was clearly you..."
"Mom!" Mia shouted, drowning out Katya's voice. "Mom, just admit it. It's no use. You can't refuse to admit your mistakes!"
Katya looked at Mia with a terrified face. She could hardly believe this was her daughter. "You, you!"
Mia gripped Katya's hand tightly, her eyes pitiful and pleading.
That look clearly said: let her take the blame for everything.
Mia froze, then heard Mia's voice so low only the two of them could hear, "Mom, please, help me. I don't want to die. I still need to marry into the Thomas family. Just take the blame for all this. I'll thank you. Mom, I'm your own daughter."
Katya tilted her head back, eyes wide open, staring at Mia in front of her. After a full minute of being frozen, she closed her eyes hard. "Yes... I did it. I did it all alone. I hate Ava. It was me, everything was me."
Mia let out a huge sigh of relief and scolded Katya, "Mom, you, you're terrible!"
"Take her away." Joshua said coldly.
Samuel and his men immediately restrained Katya.
Katya struggled desperately.
Everyone knew Joshua was cold and ruthless. Would she even come back alive after being taken away?
No, no, she didn't want this.
"Save me, Oscar save me! I'm your wife! I won't go, I won't go." Katya struggled with all her might.
Seeing Katya like this, Oscar looked at Joshua pleadingly, "Joshua, Ms. Davis, she knows she was wrong. Please let her go. I'll have her apologize to the children. No, our whole family will apologize to the children..."
"Not needed." Ava said coldly. She lifted her eyelids, "Whatever my child suffered, she'll suffer ten times over, then I'll let her go."
Ten times over?
Cleo had been stabbed once.
Katya would be stabbed ten times, then she'd be let go!
This was basically asking for her life!
"No, no, I'll die, I'll really die... let go... let go of me." Katya struggled desperately, thrashing on the ground like a mad dog.
"Joshua, please, please, my mom was possessed. She didn't mean harm, she really didn't mean harm. Please let her go. Ten stabs, ten stabs will really kill her." Mia knelt on the ground crying.
Joshua tilted his head slightly. His stunningly handsome face showed no emotion. His thin lips parted, "Then you take her place?"
Instantly, Mia was so scared even her crying stopped.
In the cold space, only the terrible sound of cold blades cutting through flesh and Katya's inhuman moans of pain remained.
The key was that each stab avoided vital areas. Katya could only endure the pain, unable to die even if she wanted to.
Joshua reached out and gently pulled Ava, who had been standing calmly beside him, coldly watching everything, into his arms.
Touching Ava's body, he realized she had been trembling all along, her hands clenched tight, her sharp nails already deeply embedded in her palms.
Her palms were covered in blood.
From when Cleo was hurt until now, she had handled everything extremely calmly, so calm she seemed soulless, just a shell. Even watching her enemy pay ten times the price, she didn't even blink, still unable to soothe even a bit of the hatred in her heart.
Joshua's brow furrowed deeply, the anger in his heart burning even stronger. He tenderly pried open Ava's fingers one by one.
...
The ICU was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Ava sat by the bed looking at Cleo's pale face, completely lifeless.
In the room, besides the beeping of machines, it was terrifyingly quiet.
Cleo's body was connected to various tubes and instruments. On her small arm were several prominent needle marks, surrounded by purple-red bruising and dried medication.
Ava's eyes had gotten wet and dried, dried and wet again, holding that ice-cold little hand.
Ava had been here for two days and one night. Her eyes were filled with red veins. She refused to leave. Her delicate face was more haggard than ever. She kept watching Cleo, rubbing her little hand, touching her little face, softly telling her stories, just like when she usually coaxed her to sleep.
From sitting still for so long, some joints had temporarily stiffened, but even so she refused to leave. She was afraid that when Cleo woke up and didn't see her, she would be scared. Cleo would cry.
Joshua stood outside, not moving an inch.
"Mommy..." Finn called out to Ava very softly. "Cleo will wake up, right? Cleo is just sleeping, right?"
Ava's body moved slightly. Her eyes never left Cleo for a moment. "Yes, Cleo is just sleeping. Cleo will wake up. Finn, will you wait with me for Cleo to wake up?"
"Yes, when Cleo wakes up, we'll wait together for Cleo to wake up. Finn still wants to take Cleo to play."
Ava bit down hard on her teeth and hugged Finn tight.
The cold alarm of the machine rang out piercingly.
Instantly, Ava's heart contracted violently. She looked dejectedly at Cleo's small body full of instruments.
A large group of doctors rushed in. Cleo began her third round of emergency treatment.
After another round of resuscitation, the doctor shook his head helplessly. "Ms. Davis, the child's condition is very bad right now. Whether she can wake up next, we can only hope for a miracle."
Joshua strode to Ava's side and pulled Ava into his arms.
Ava bit her lip hard, all her strength drained away, unable to say anything.
She leaned against Joshua's firm chest but couldn't feel any warmth.
Ava took several sharp breaths. Joshua only felt the person in his arms trembling badly, but soon, his arms felt heavy—Ava had lost consciousness.
"Ava!" Joshua quickly picked Ava up. After examination, Ava had suffered too great a shock, hadn't eaten for a long time, her body was overloaded and collapsed, and she had passed out.
Joshua ran back and forth between Ava's and Cleo's hospital rooms.
Ava lay on the hospital bed, eyes closed but covered in sweat. Her expression was extremely painful, as if she was having a nightmare that made her terribly sad.
In the dream, Ava saw Cleo constantly moving away from her, and no matter what, she couldn't reach Cleo's little hand.
"Mommy, I have to go. Mommy, please take care of yourself from now on."
Cleo kept moving away. Ava chased desperately, but her speed was far slower than Cleo's departure.
"Cleo, don't go! Cleo, Cleo!"
Cleo waved at her. "Mommy, I'm sorry. I'm really so tired and it hurts so much. It's just a shame I can't go to the amusement park with Mommy and Finn anymore. Mommy, I'm leaving. Don't be sad. Live well. I'll always be Mommy's baby."