Chapter 10
Ella's legs went weak with shock, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.
Her delicate, round face turned deathly pale.
The property manager standing beside her, who had been watching the surveillance footage with her, looked somewhat sympathetic and reached out to steady her.
"Ms. Garcia, do you know this person? If not, we should call the police. Your two children are so adorable—we can't let them get kidnapped."
Ella struggled to compose herself and stay calm.
She waved her hand to signal the property manager not to worry, then staggered out of the surveillance room, her head feeling like it had been struck by something heavy.
She had no idea how Joshua found out about her children's existence.
Even less did she know where they were taking her kids.
No wonder Joshua wouldn't let her return to Tranquil Villa.
So he knew everything all along.
Ella knew it was her fault. She shouldn't have kept this from Joshua.
But the children were innocent.
Terrified that Joshua might hurt her children, she quickly pulled out her phone to call him.
But the call wouldn't go through—he seemed to have blocked her.
Ella didn't dare hesitate. After steadying her emotions, she immediately took a cab back to Tranquil Villa.
Joshua must be there.
He must want her to come find him and confess on her own.
Though afraid of seeing Joshua angry, for the sake of her children, she had to go even if it meant walking into hell.
At ten o'clock that night, Ella arrived at Tranquil Villa.
She went to open the door, but her fingerprint wouldn't register, and facial recognition didn't work either.
It seemed Joshua really didn't want her coming back, so he'd changed all the passwords.
Ella had no choice but to call Karen and ask her to let her in.
Karen rushed to the door and saw Ella looking anxious, as if something urgent had happened.
Karen opened the door to let her in and reminded her. "Mrs. Thomas, Mr. Thomas is busy in his study, but he's been in a bad mood since he got back. Did something happen between you two?"
Ella said nothing.
She hurried into the house, went upstairs, and pushed open Joshua's study door.
She saw Joshua sitting in front of his computer. The screen was black—he wasn't working.
He was just sitting there quietly, his face terrifyingly grim.
Ella held her breath as she approached Joshua, her heart in her throat.
"Joshua, do you know everything? Where did you take them?"
Joshua only gave her a cold glance.
Acting as if he hadn't heard anything, he raised his hand to the keyboard and lit up the computer screen, pretending to work.
Ella was frantic. She moved closer to him, her voice trembling as she spoke.
"Joshua, I know you had Brian take them away. Tell me what you want to do. Why did you take them?"
Her precious children were only three years old, so sweet and adorable.
Joshua better not do anything extreme.
Otherwise, she would never forgive him.
Joshua suppressed the rage burning in his chest, his gaze landing on Ella as he feigned ignorance.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand any of this."
Ella's heart tightened, and she grew more anxious.
"Can you stop pretending? Can you just tell me where you sent my Aurora and Dorian?"
She was so anxious she was about to cry.
But Joshua remained detached, as if it had nothing to do with him.
"What am I pretending? What Aurora and Dorian? Ella, what are you even talking about?"
Ella knew he was doing this on purpose.
She lost all reason and spilled everything.
"You want to know why I divorced you, right? Well, those two children are the reason."
"I had someone else's children while studying abroad. I never loved you at all."
"If it weren't for Grandpa, I never would have become your wife. So please give me my children back, and I'll disappear with them immediately. I absolutely won't stand in the way of you and Scarlett."
Ella knew there was no possibility left between her and Joshua.
Now that he knew about her children, he definitely wouldn't continue their marriage.
She only begged him to show mercy and return her children.
Joshua's eyes were like ice picks, coldly piercing into Ella.
Hearing her words, every sentence, every word was like a blade stabbing into his heart.
Joshua didn't know where he found such tolerance, but he still sat there, composed and calm.
He even smiled, asking Ella with a laugh. "You're my wife, and I didn't know you had two children out there?"
However, his reaction was not what Ella had expected.
She thought Joshua would be angry, would grab her and demand answers.
He might even hit her, curse at her, humiliate her.
But no.
Joshua just sat there, staring at her, so calm it made her feel chilled to the bone.
Ella knew it was her fault.
She shouldn't have hidden this from him.
Ella lowered her head and apologized.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth when you took me to get our marriage certificate, but at the time I thought we'd divorce soon, so I didn't tell you."
"I've always known you didn't like me, that you only married me because Grandpa forced you to. I was always waiting for you to divorce me so I could take Aurora and Dorian abroad."
"Joshua, if you blame me for deceiving you, you can do whatever you want to me, but please don't hurt them. They're so young, they don't understand anything."
Ella knew she had no right to feel wronged.
Even less right to shed a single tear in front of Joshua.
But she was truly worried about her children.
Afraid they'd be scared.
Afraid Joshua would take his anger out on them and do something to them.
Ella was so anxious that tears spilled from her eyes despite her efforts to hold them back.
Joshua remained very calm.
But the heart in his chest ached, shattered to pieces.
Joshua didn't know why he felt this heart-wrenching pain.
But more than anything, he felt rage.
Angry that Ella had played him for a fool.
There was no way he'd just let her walk away with those two children unscathed.
"The Thomas family gave you money and sent you abroad to study—is this how you repay the Thomas family?"
Staring at Ella, Joshua really wanted to strangle her.
But what would he gain from her death? And how would he explain it to his family?
So he could only keep her alive and torture her slowly.
After all, he had plenty of ways to make her wish she were dead.
"I know it's my fault."
Ella raised her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, looking at Joshua. Seeing that he still didn't seem angry, she was surprised by his reaction and quickly apologized again.
"I'm sorry, I disappointed you all. I owe the Thomas family money, and I'll pay it back slowly. Please, can you just give me my children back?"
Joshua stopped looking at Ella, holding back his dissatisfaction and anger, and answered indirectly, "Who is the children's father? During this year of our marriage, have you been sleeping around with him?"
If Ella dared to have an affair with another man during their marriage, he would never show her mercy again.
Ella quickly shook her head. "No, the children's father died before they were even born."