Chapter 56: Is Ava in Joshua's Heart
Ava picked up her coffee and took a sip, calm and elegant, her indifferent face showing no extra expression.
"Ava, people need to know their place. You should know I don't want to see you at all, and you should know that with your background, you're not worthy of the Thomas family."
A trace of bitterness flickered in Ava's clear eyes, but she still smiled faintly. She didn't get angry at Ursa's words. Instead, her expression remained calm, as if completely unaffected.
"Mrs. Thomas, I think you've misunderstood. I have no interest in the Thomas family anymore."
Her unhurried voice carried cold sarcasm, her aloof face flawless.
Her good upbringing still prevented Ava from saying harsh words to an elder.
But these past few days, her patience with Ursa had truly reached its limit.
"Don't worry, I never thought about returning to the Thomas family."
"Stop pretending!"
Ava couldn't help but smile sarcastically. "How interesting. I say I don't want to return to the Thomas family, and you say I'm pretending. Since you've already judged me guilty in your heart, why bother going through the motions of asking me?"
Ursa's face suddenly darkened.
"Ava, what tricks are you trying to pull now? What, retreating to advance? Let me tell you clearly - don't even think about it! As long as I'm here, you'll never get back into the Thomas family. Give up that dream."
"Get into the Thomas family? I told you, five years ago I chose to leave, and now I have no interest in it." Ava's heart turned cold. "Rest assured, I just want to save Grandpa, that's all."
"What makes you think you can save my father?"
"Because what I set my mind to, I will definitely accomplish." Ava lowered her eyes, her cool voice firm and resolute, her gaze determined and confident, making it hard to doubt her words for a moment.
Ava's phone vibrated twice. She looked down and opened Isabella's message, which clearly showed what Isabella had sent five seconds ago: Ava, Finn and Cleo are missing!!
Ava's calm expression froze completely. She suddenly stood up, making quite a commotion.
Ursa frowned in displeasure, but Ava was already grabbing her bag to leave.
"Ava." Ursa said angrily, "I'm not finished yet..."
All she got was Ava's retreating figure.
Ava immediately called Isabella back. "Hello, what happened?"
"I just went to school to pick up Finn and Cleo, and the teacher said someone already picked them up. Ava, what should we do?" Isabella's voice was choked with emotion, almost crying from anxiety. "Could it be that Joshua found Finn and Cleo and took them away?"
Ava took a deep breath. That was the first thought that came to her mind too, especially with Ryan's warning that the Thomas family was looking for Finn and Cleo.
An unprecedented fear welled up in Ava's heart.
"Ava, what should we do? Say something, I'm dying of worry."
"I'll go find them."
With that, Ava hung up. Her eyes were red, her brows tightly furrowed, her face growing colder layer by layer.
The watch Finn had given her had shared location tracking for three people. Ava, holding onto a thread of hope, opened the location.
Suddenly, her hand gripping the phone tightened.
The small hope Ava had been holding onto suddenly shattered.
The location showed that Finn and Cleo were currently at the Thomas Villa.
Joshua! He said he had no intention of taking the children, so what was this?
That liar. Ava cursed Joshua hundreds of times in her heart.
She started the car and drove straight to the Thomas Villa.
At that moment, two small figures were quietly moving through the Thomas Villa.
"Finn, this is too dangerous. What if Daddy finds us and takes us away?" Cleo crouched down, following behind Finn, asking worriedly.
Finn held a small location device, searching for the room where Buddy was. "But Cleo, Buddy is a birthday present for Mommy. We have to find Buddy. Don't worry, I hacked into Daddy's computer before coming and checked his schedule. He has a meeting today and probably won't be home until late. We'll find it quickly, and then we'll leave."
Hearing Finn say this, Cleo also gathered her courage and searched together with Finn.
Joshua, who was supposed to be home very late, was currently walking into the Thomas Villa with Samuel and two secretaries following behind him.
"Mr. Thomas, there's another video conference later at five o'clock."
"Got it." Joshua's face was cold. While unbuttoning his suit jacket, he went upstairs first to Victor's room, asked about his condition, and instructed, "Keep a close watch on Grandpa. What happened last time can't happen again. Have the doctor stay at the Thomas Villa 24 hours."
"Yes, Mr. Thomas, rest assured."
"Also..."
Joshua's voice paused. His head tilted slightly, his sharp eyes narrowing ever so slightly. He seemed to have just seen something run past.
"Mr. Thomas, what's wrong?" Seeing Joshua suddenly stop, Samuel asked nervously.
"Did you see something run past just now?"
Samuel was startled and looked in the direction of Joshua's gaze. Everything ahead was calm and peaceful, not even a mosquito in sight. "Mr. Thomas, I didn't see anything."
Joshua withdrew his gaze. Perhaps he had seen wrong. He frowned.
"Finn, look, it's Buddy." Cleo climbed onto the chair with difficulty and excitedly took Buddy down from the desk. "We found Buddy."
"Cleo, you're amazing." Finn carefully protected Cleo with both hands, helping her down from the chair.
Finn took Buddy and did a simple check. Only after confirming it was just out of battery did he feel relieved.
"Finn, look. Daddy actually has photos of Mommy hidden here. Mommy looks so beautiful in a white dress." While Finn was checking Buddy, Cleo held up a photo frame from nearby, her small hand touching the photo of Ava in a beautiful wedding dress.
In the photo, Ava wore a pure white wedding dress, holding a bouquet, incredibly beautiful. She was 20 years old then. When taking the wedding photos, her exquisite face showed youthfulness and shyness. Her beautiful amber eyes were filled with smiles and infinite hope for the future. Her eyes held only Joshua, and only Joshua. She looked completely like a happy woman in love, intimately holding Joshua's arm, her head gently resting on Joshua's shoulder.
Although Joshua's stern face didn't show much expression, you could see a hint of a smile in his eyes.
Looking at this photo, Finn couldn't help but ask, "Cleo, do you think Daddy has feelings for Mommy in his heart?"