Chapter 167 The Number You Have Dialed Is Powered Off
Mia's fingers lingered over a row of knives. "Which one should I use to torture you?"
Joshua gripped his phone, turning it off and on, on and off, over and over. His emotions were all over the place.
Joshua finally called Ava back.
"...The number you have dialed is switched off..."
"The number you have dialed is switched off..."
"The number you have dialed is switched off..."
......
Joshua anxiously made three or four calls in a row, but the phone stayed off.
Hayden watched Joshua fail to get through and felt a bit speechless at his panicked expression.
See? You didn't answer her call earlier, and now she's not picking up yours.
"Joshua, stop calling. Maybe Ava went into surgery like last time. She's a doctor—doctors don't take their phones into the operating room. Or maybe she's sleeping and doesn't know her phone is off. It's normal, totally normal."
Hayden tried to comfort him.
Joshua's brow furrowed. Those were the only reasons he could think of.
Samuel noticed the video conference was about to start and stepped forward to remind him, "The video meeting you added to the schedule is about to begin."
"Okay." Joshua glanced at his phone, put it down, and entered the study.
......
The whip lashed down hard on Ava's body. Mia swung it like a madwoman.
One lash!
Two lashes!
Three lashes!
......
With each strike, Mia's eyes gleamed with crazed, twisted excitement.
Ava bit down hard on her lower lip, trembling all over from the pain. This type of whip wouldn't leave blood marks, but it damaged you deep inside. Each lash felt like ten thousand insects tearing at your flesh—first numbness, then spreading pain. Extreme agony.
Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Mia, but she still clenched her teeth, refusing to make a sound.
"Ava, do you know how much I hate you? It's all your fault, all your fault. Why did you come back? What right did you have to come back? If you hadn't come back, I would be Joshua's wife by now.
If you hadn't come back, my life would be wonderful.
It's all because of you, it's all your fault, all your fault. I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death!"
Mia swung the whip with all her might.
Each lash that landed on Ava gave her immense satisfaction.
"And those two kids you gave birth to—I went through so much trouble, and not one of them died. I even lost my mother because of it. Bitch, bitch, you're the one who deserves to die. You should die, just die already."
"Why are you looking at me like that, bitch? Beg me, beg me!"
"Never." Ava said coldly.
"Let's see how long you can stay stubborn." Mia landed two more lashes on Ava.
The men in black standing nearby couldn't bear to watch.
Mia was too ruthless.
Ava was even more ruthless. A grown man couldn't take this many lashes from this whip, yet she endured it all, refusing to make a single sound.
Finally, after who knows how many lashes, Mia threw down the whip with satisfaction.
Ava was barely breathing, on the verge of death.
Mia rubbed her palms and looked coldly at Ava. "Get a doctor. Don't let her die. And get her some clothes."
Will said not to harm her. If he found out she'd beaten Ava like this, that would be bad.
Having vented her anger, Mia finally left.
Once Mia was gone, two men in black immediately went to Ava's side and took her down. "What are you standing there for? Go get a doctor."
"I can't believe there's actually a woman this stubborn in this world." Both men were deeply impressed.
The next day.
The first thing Joshua did when he woke up was call Ava.
He had no idea what she was doing.
Not a word from her all night.
"The number you have dialed is switched off..." The cold mechanical voice repeated over and over.
Joshua's brow furrowed tightly. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately called Finn and Cleo.
"Hello? Daddy, what's up?"
"Where's your mommy?" Joshua asked urgently.
"Mommy?"
Joshua heard footsteps—Finn must be running to find Ava.
Finn searched the house inside and out but didn't see any sign of Ava. "Mommy didn't come home last night!"
Because last night Ava had called them early to say she was working the night shift and would be home very late, so they went to bed first.
But it was only six-thirty now, and Ava's shift started at seven-thirty. She wasn't home, and her room was neat and tidy—clearly she hadn't come back at all last night.
When Ava worked night shifts, no matter how late, she always came home because of them. But this time she hadn't. Finn couldn't help but feel nervous.
Joshua's heart clenched as he listened. He ran outside while instructing, "Got it. Stay home and be good. I'll go find her."
With two kids at home, Ava would never stay out all night. Something was clearly wrong.
And her phone had been off since last night...
Joshua panicked instantly.
He grabbed his keys and headed out immediately, putting on his bluetooth earpiece.
"Samuel, pull up all the surveillance footage from the hospital to Ava's apartment right away."
"Mr. Thomas, what happened?" Hearing Joshua's rapid speech, Samuel grew tense too.
"Let's hope it's nothing."
Joshua's eyes were intense, his heart pounding violently. He kept accelerating toward the hospital.......