Chapter 172 Ryan's Naked Provocation
Ava was missing again...
The doctor didn't see Ava during morning rounds. With her injuries not healed, there was no way she could have left on her own.
The hospital immediately notified Joshua. When Joshua learned Ava was missing, he was now searching all over Silverlight City for her.
Ryan curled his lips carelessly, "Let me think about it... Done thinking. No way."
Ava immediately grabbed a pillow to throw at him. Ryan casually dodged to the side. That handsome face with its teasing smile looked more and more annoying. Ava was furious, "That's enough, Ryan. I was doing just fine at the hospital. Taking me out without a word is one thing, but now you won't let me go back. What do you want?"
"You wouldn't come to me, so I came to you. I finally made a trip to Silverlight City, wanted you to keep me company for a while, but you just keep wanting to leave. You're so ungrateful."
Ava rolled her eyes in exasperation, then spotted her phone on the nightstand. She needed to let Joshua know she was safe.
The moment she grabbed the phone, before the screen even lit up, Ryan snatched it away at lightning speed, playing with it in his palm, "You want to message Joshua."
Ava gritted her teeth.
"No way."
If it weren't for the fact that every movement hurt her wounds right now, she really wanted to get up and kill him. "Come here."
Come over there so you can hit me? Am I stupid?
Ryan raised his eyebrows smugly, "If you can, come over here yourself."
Ava made a move to get up. Ryan immediately leaned his face close, surrendering, "Don't move, I'll come over so you can hit me, okay?"
"I promise not to kill you." Ava raised her uninjured hand and punched Ryan right in the face.
Ryan covered his face, not angry but laughing instead, "That actually hurt."
Actually, with Ava's current strength, the punch didn't hurt at all, but to help Ava calm down, Ryan cooperatively sucked in a sharp breath.
"Feel better?"
"Give me back my phone." Ava said through clenched teeth.
"Dream on." With a wave of Ryan's hand, the phone traced a beautiful arc... and flew out. This was the second floor, with a pool below.
Ava was about to explode with anger.
"Alright, now no one will bother us. Just stay here and recover for the next few days, don't go anywhere. If Joshua wants to worry, let him worry. Don't worry, a little worrying won't kill anyone." Ryan waved his hand breezily.
Ryan's slender fingers gripped the crystal pitcher and poured her a glass of water, "Drink some water, calm down."
Ava didn't take it. Knowing what happened to her phone, she didn't want to deal with him at all. "You know full well what my relationship with Joshua is, and you know how much he hates you. What you're doing is just making things worse between you two."
Ryan's handsome face turned cold, "Your relationship with him? What relationship? Ex-husband?"
"I don't want to discuss this with you. Take me back now."
"No way. I like being with you!"
"..."
"You said before you'd treat me to a meal."
"Look at me now, how am I supposed to treat you?" Ava was really at a loss with Ryan.
"It's fine, you can treat me after your injuries heal."
After her injuries heal, that would take forever. Ava's eyes widened, "You want to keep me trapped here for weeks?"
"What do you mean trapped? You can go out freely, casually, whenever you want."
Ava took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.
"Let's talk about this."
"Talk about what?"
"Take me back!"
"Not up for discussion."
"..."
Joshua stood in front of the computer with furrowed brows, radiating an icy coldness.
He had just checked the surveillance. The person who took Ava was Ryan. That guy seemed to deliberately want to be discovered, making a contemptuous gesture at the camera, full of provocation.
Joshua's voice was low and heavy as he called out, "Ryan!"
Standing behind Joshua, Samuel kept dodging back and forth, afraid of being caught in the crossfire and becoming collateral damage.
"Expand the search area, don't miss any corner of Silverlight City." Joshua said through gritted teeth.
Evening, deep into the night. Ryan seemed to have gone out for something. Ava struggled to prop herself up and get out of bed.
She tiptoed toward the door, quietly opened it. Outside was completely silent, as if no one was there.
Ava held onto the wall, inching her way out of the room bit by bit, holding her breath as she moved along the wall.
A window at the end of the hallway was open, cold night wind blowing in. Ava hunched her shoulders. The quieter it was, the more uneasy she felt.
Negotiating with Ryan was always useless. Ava had given up on talking, but she had to go back. She didn't want Joshua to worry anymore.
He wasn't here now. If she didn't escape now, when would she?
Because of her leg injury, Ava went downstairs extremely slowly, but at least it was only the second floor.
Using the moonlight streaming in, Ava headed straight for the door.
But she didn't notice that somewhere in the unlit living room, tiny sparks were burning.
Ryan lazily leaned back on the sofa, casually watching Ava crawl down from upstairs like a snail. A slight smile played at the corner of his mouth.
Ava's hand was just about to grasp the door handle.
"Where are you going?"
Ava jumped, whipping around and looking all around the living room before noticing a dark figure submerged in the darkness slowly standing up. He walked over slowly.
Ava's heart sank, feeling somewhat annoyed.
"I really need to go back."
Ryan smiled carelessly, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
"I've been missing for a day. Finn and Cleo, I'm afraid..."
"Those two have a whole bunch of people from the Thomas family taking care of them. What are you worried about?"
"They'll worry about me."
"Are you stupid? Before I brought you out, I already sent them both a message."
Ava bit her teeth in exasperation, "Can you please just talk nicely? This is really enough."
Ava tried to leave regardless, but was pulled back and pressed down on the sofa. Ava was getting angry, "Ryan! What's wrong with you?"
"Yeah, you're just realizing that today."
"..."
"I'm leaving."
"No." Ryan's gaze turned a few shades colder, "You want to go find Joshua?"
"So what? Is that not allowed?"
Right now Ava didn't want to wait another moment to get back to Joshua's side.
Ryan raised an eyebrow, "Sure, go ahead."
He gave in that quickly? Ava grabbed the keys from the table, turned and left, really... without any hesitation.
Ryan's eyes darkened, but it was buried in the night. He watched Ava leave, leisurely holding his wine glass and drinking casually.
Ten minutes later...
"Bastard!"
Ava stormed back in, slamming the keys on the table.
Ryan smiled wickedly, "Why'd you come back?"
This was on an island - how was she supposed to leave!