Chapter 47: Encountering an Unprecedented "Terrorist Attack"
Ava's eyes widened as she turned around to see Joshua's face, cold as ice. The dark, menacing aura radiating from him made him look like a demon crawling out of hell.
A chill ran through Ava's heart, and she rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"You... let go." Ava said through gritted teeth. Why was he always haunting her like this? "Where are you taking me?"
"Taking you home."
"I don't need you to!"
"Like you have a choice?"
"..."
Hayden could practically feel the fury blazing in Ava's eyes.
Ava was so angry she closed her eyes. "Joshua, you're nothing but a bandit..."
Joshua didn't say another word, just dragged her outside without even looking at her.
His domineering, arrogant attitude was on full display.
"Joshua, can you stop manhandling me all the time?"
"I can walk by myself. Will it kill you to let me go? You've got issues, go get help! Joshua..."
Even downstairs, Hayden could still hear Ava's helpless and furious cursing as Joshua dragged her away.
What Ava didn't know was that the moment she left, the Thomas Villa's main hall was about to suffer an unprecedented "terrorist attack."
A loud crash - something had collapsed.
The servants all rushed downstairs, creating chaos as they chased after... a robot dog?
Hayden was shocked. What was going on?
He hurried downstairs and his eyes went wide. In just moments, the luxurious hall had turned into a complete mess - the sofa had several holes bitten into it, a huge vase had crashed to the ground, soil from the large planters was flying everywhere, debris and fragments scattered about. It looked like it had been attacked by aliens.
Hayden was absolutely stunned.
"Catch that dog!"
"Where did this dog come from causing trouble? Get rid of it, quick!" Ursa was so angry she was seeing stars.
All the bodyguards mobilized to capture Buddy, but Buddy was small and agile, able to climb walls and leap through the air. The fist-sized robot dog had dozens of people running in circles, wailing constantly.
What's more, the robot dog kept shouting in a mechanical voice, "Down with the bad guys, rid the people of harm, down with the bad guys, rid the people of harm."
What did "down with the bad guys, rid the people of harm" mean?
Mia heard the commotion and came downstairs. Seeing the scene before her, she could hardly believe it. "What's going on?"
Mia's voice caught Buddy's attention. Its mechanical eyes turned red, locked onto the target, and charged straight at Mia.
Shouting, "Bad woman! Let me show you what happens when you make me angry."
Before Mia could figure out what was happening, Buddy suddenly lunged at her. She didn't even have time to cry out before she stumbled and fell on the stairs.
"Get away, get away!"
Buddy's powerful suction cup feet stuck right onto Mia's face. Mia flailed wildly, but didn't hurt Buddy at all - instead, Buddy became even more aggressive.
Finn and Cleo, operating all this from behind the scenes, couldn't help but laugh. "That bad woman is always giving Mommy trouble. Serves her right."
"Cleo, watch this - I've got something even better." Finn curved his lips into an evil little smile, his fingers nimbly pressing a small button.
As Mia kept flailing, suddenly she felt something cool on her head - some liquid was flowing down from above.
Dog pee!
Mia's voice became shrill and loud. "That's disgusting, so disgusting!"
Hayden, enjoying the spectacle, couldn't help but laugh at Mia's state.
This was low on damage but sky-high on humiliation.
"Hey, stupid woman, robot dogs don't pee - it's just water." Hayden had no intention of helping her. He leaned lazily against the wall, watching casually, occasionally clapping and cheering for Buddy.
Mia's face was ugly with rage. First she'd been humiliated by Ava today, and now even a mechanical dog dared to pee on her head and make her lose face. "Are you all dead? What are you all standing around for? Won't anyone help? What's the point of keeping you useless people?"
Mia's voice became incredibly shrill and harsh with anger and panic.
Only then did Ursa snap out of it, staring at Mia in shock.
It wasn't just Ursa who was stunned - every servant was surprised. This Mia, who usually seemed so gentle and well-mannered, had turned into a shrew.
And that mechanical dog was strange too. Before she came down, it was just destroying things and had no intention of hurting people. But as soon as she appeared, it drew all the fire and chased after her specifically.
How bizarre.
"What are you all doing?" Joshua had just forced Ava home and returned to see the hall in complete disarray, like a battle had just been fought. The bodyguards and servants all looked disheveled, and Mia was in the worst state.
Seeing Joshua return, Mia's sharp, harsh demeanor vanished, replaced by a pitiful, innocent look. "Joshua... someone must be playing a prank."
Joshua glanced at Mia coolly, his dark eyes devoid of warmth. His gaze shifted to the robot dog lying motionless on the ground, and his deep eyes narrowed.
Joshua crooked his finger, and Samuel immediately stepped forward to pick up the robot dog and hand it to Joshua.
Joshua's brows furrowed, a layer of coldness gathering between them.
Finn pressed the switch twice, but Buddy only moved its feet slightly before losing power completely.
"Finn, what's wrong with Buddy?" Seeing this, Cleo asked worriedly.
Finn frowned, looking troubled. "Buddy's out of battery."
The sound of a door opening came from the entrance.
Finn's sharp ears caught the sound. He immediately closed the surveillance video and put the laptop back on the desk.
Cleo also quickly climbed back into her little bed, but before she could get up, the door opened. So Ava saw Cleo hanging on the edge of the bed.
Ava's heart leapt with fright, thinking Cleo had fallen from the bed.
"Cleo?" Ava hurried to hold Cleo in her arms. "Why are you awake?"
Cleo blinked blankly, her clever little mind working fast. She raised her small hand to her forehead, her face scrunching up pitifully. "Mommy, my head hurts."
"Your head hurts?" Ava became even more anxious, quickly pressing her hand to Cleo's forehead. "It's not hot, no fever. Could it be heatstroke? No, Cleo, get up, I'm taking you to the hospital."
Hearing about going to the hospital, both Finn and Cleo's hearts tightened.
If they went to the hospital for an examination, wouldn't everything be exposed?
"No, Cleo doesn't want to go to the hospital." Cleo reacted strongly.
Cleo's anxious reaction puzzled Ava. "What's wrong? How can you not go to the hospital when you're sick? Cleo, be good..." Ava sat on the bed holding Cleo, then froze - her bottom had sat on something.
Ava suspiciously pulled back Cleo's blanket and found a mechanical remote control. Ava looked at it with confusion - she had seen this remote in Finn's lab. It was Buddy's special controller.
"Cleo, were you playing with Finn's Buddy this late?"
"What?" Cleo didn't know how to answer and looked to Finn in the next bed, who was successfully pretending to sleep.
Ava's gaze shifted to Finn, then to her laptop that had been open but was now closed, and the remote in her hand. Obviously these were all things Finn would play with.
"Finn!" Ava called helplessly. "I've already figured it out."
As soon as she finished speaking, Finn opened his eyes and threw himself into Ava's arms guiltily.
"Were you still playing with Buddy at night, Finn?"
"Yes, I wanted to quickly fix the problems with Buddy. Isn't your birthday coming up, Mommy? I wanted to give Buddy to you as a gift."