Chapter 131: First Meeting, Display of Power
Ava raised her eyebrows slightly, "Thank you, I'll accept it on behalf of Finn and Cleo."
With that, Ava took out a card from her bag and handed it to Thea, "I didn't have time to prepare anything proper on such short notice. Please accept this small token of my appreciation, and I'm counting on you to take care of Cleo."
Thea's expression flickered for a moment as she repeatedly declined, "Ava, what are you doing? I can't accept this. Joshua and I are good friends, so naturally I'll treat his child like my own. You're being too formal."
Ava raised an eyebrow with a straightforward smile, "This is different. Even close brothers settle accounts clearly. Thea, your consultation fee isn't low, so how can Joshua and I be an exception? Miss Fu, please take it, otherwise I won't feel right about it."
"Just take it. She never likes owing people favors," Joshua said, standing beside Ava.
Hearing this, Thea stopped refusing and accepted it graciously, smiling gently, "Ava, Joshua, don't worry."
"Good. You must be tired from the journey. There are some desserts inside."
Thea immediately picked up a pastry, elegantly took a bite, and her face lit up with delight, "Joshua still knows me best, knows I love desserts."
"The servants prepared them."
Thea's smile didn't falter at Joshua's cold response. Instead, she smiled even more charmingly, "Joshua, you're still the same as before, always so cold. Be careful or you won't find a wife. But that's okay, I'll always be here."
Hearing Thea's words, Ava's delicate eyebrows raised slightly.
There was no way Thea didn't know about her relationship with Joshua, yet she could say such things right in front of her. Beyond the surface meaning, her words carried several deeper implications.
Sensing the change in the atmosphere around Ava, Victor's brow furrowed slightly as he smiled at Thea, "You're still as fond of joking as ever."
Thea glanced at Ava and playfully stuck out her tongue at Victor.
"Alright, dinner's ready. Everyone take your seats," Ursa came over, smiling as she took Thea's hand. "Thea, I haven't seen you in years and you've gotten even more beautiful. Let me have a look. You're just too thin."
"Mrs. Ellis, I've been missing your cooking while abroad," Thea said, linking arms with Ursa affectionately.
"I know you love to eat, so I personally made lots of dishes. Come, everyone take your seats."
"Everyone, please sit down," Victor's voice carried a smile.
Victor sat at the head of the table with the two children beside him. Joshua pulled out a chair for Ava, and after she sat down, he took the seat next to her, smiling and speaking to her in a low voice.
Seeing this, Thea's smile faded slightly, and a dark look flashed in her eyes.
At that moment, Ava happened to look up, her gaze landing on Thea's face. In just that instant, Thea's expression returned to normal.
Ava calmly withdrew her gaze, but she had caught that entire moment.
Hayden plopped down next to Joshua. Seeing this, Thea took Ursa's hand and, like good friends, they sat down one after the other.
Thea said with a smile, "Mrs. Ellis's cooking is really delicious."
"If it's good, then come eat here every day."
Thea laughed generously, "Then I won't hold back."
"No need to be polite with me. I think of you as my own daughter."
The food clearly suited Finn and Cleo's tastes as well. They ate everything that Ursa and Victor served them, bite by bite.
Victor looked at the two children with growing affection, overjoyed.
After dinner, Thea suggested doing a psychological assessment with Cleo.
"Thank you for this," Ava said politely.
"It's no trouble at all," Thea said, reaching out to take Cleo from Ava's arms. But as soon as she touched Cleo, the child clung to Ava, her soft little face full of resistance.
"Cleo, let me take you to play a little game, okay? If you stay in Mommy's arms the whole time, we won't be able to play the game." Thea smiled warmly, waving her hand in front of Cleo. "Cleo, look."
Thea opened her hand, and a lollipop appeared in her palm. Cleo's eyes lit up, looking at Thea as if asking how she did that.
"If Cleo wants to learn, I can teach you."
Cleo looked at Ava, who nodded, "Go ahead, Cleo. Go with Thea. Thea will teach you."
Ava and Thea coaxed Cleo for a long time before she finally went with Thea, but she kept looking back at Ava every few steps.
Ava knew this was the psychological trauma left from Cleo's kidnapping. She felt that being away from her, away from Joshua, meant she would be in danger and would be scared.
Ava couldn't help but feel her eyes sting with tears.
Because psychological treatment required an absolutely quiet environment, Thea took Cleo into a room while Ava waited outside.
"Still worried?" Joshua gently pulled Ava into his arms.
"Yes. Cleo's personality has changed a lot from before. She used to love interacting with people, was very outgoing, and never afraid of strangers."
Now Cleo had no sense of security when away from her or Joshua, which made Ava both worried and heartbroken.
Physical wounds heal, but psychological wounds aren't so easy to recover from.
"Trust that Thea will be able to treat Cleo," Joshua said, holding her tighter and kissing her forehead.
"Okay."
Ava didn't know much about Thea, but at this first meeting, she clearly sensed her hostility.
From the moment she entered and saw Victor, then Joshua and Ursa, Thea used everyone's attitude toward her to prove her position in this family.
She even showed her feelings for Joshua right in front of Ava without any hesitation, all of it asserting her claim.
Thea was subtly putting her in her place.
Ava still kept her guard up when entrusting Cleo to her.
Thea had been doing psychological treatment with Cleo in the room for half an hour when Ava heard Cleo crying from inside.
Ava's heart jumped.
Then she saw the door open and Cleo run out of the room, with Thea chasing after her, "Cleo..."
Ava immediately bent down and gathered Cleo into her arms, "Cleo, don't cry. Don't be afraid. I'm here."
"What happened?" Joshua's face darkened.
Thea explained helplessly, "Cleo is too young and has limited psychological capacity. During hypnosis, Cleo remembered the scene of being kidnapped and woke herself up out of fear."
"But this is Cleo's first treatment, so these things are hard to avoid."
Joshua watched Cleo cry until she could barely breathe, his eyes growing darker. "Let's stop here for today. You must be tired too. I'll have the driver take you back."
"Joshua, Cleo's psychological treatment needs to continue. I'll go back and develop a treatment plan," Thea said, looking at Cleo with concern.
"Alright, thank you for your hard work."
"I'll head back now. I'll come again tomorrow." Thea glanced at Ava as she spoke.
Ava's full attention was on comforting Cleo.
Ava held Cleo in her arms until she fell asleep. Cleo had cried until her voice was hoarse.
"It's too late tonight. We've prepared rooms for you. Stay at the Thomas Villa tonight and we'll send you back tomorrow morning, okay?" Joshua asked in a low voice.
Ava looked at Cleo in her arms and at Finn beside her.
"Yes, Ava, stay here tonight. Cleo's asleep and Finn is tired too," Victor added.
Ava nodded, "Alright then."
Joshua carefully took Cleo from Ava's arms, and Ava relaxed her arms.
Joshua carried Cleo to a room. Perhaps it had been specially prepared—it was a children's room with two small beds. One side had thick plush carpet with a light pink tent set up, filled with cute stuffed animals inside.
The other side had a huge toy car model, and a row of light blue cabinets displaying various mechanical toys—at least several hundred pieces, quite spectacular.
The room was very spacious. Even with so many things, it was still roomy, and decorated in a very fairy-tale-like and warm way.
Joshua placed Cleo on the pink bed. Ava asked in surprise, "When was all this prepared?"
"After I found out you had given birth to two children for me."
That was several months ago. He had started preparing back then, but at that time she had strongly opposed him seeing Finn and Cleo. Wasn't he afraid all his preparations would be for nothing?