Chapter 159
Rhea had no idea who would be visiting at this time.
She walked over and looked through the glass window into the courtyard, saw it was a stranger, then told Ella.
"Must be a neighbor? It couldn't be Joshua's people. Don't worry, Mom's here, I'll protect you."
Rhea still went out to open the door.
The visitor was indeed a stranger.
When the person saw Rhea coming, they lied, "Hello, the landlord sent me over to see if you need anything."
Rhea thanked them briefly, said they didn't need anything, then closed the door and went back inside.
At that moment, in a car not far away.
Brian said, "Mr. Thomas, it really is Rhea. If she's here, then Ms. Garcia must be here too. Should we..."
Joshua just didn't believe what Mason said and came to see for himself whether Ella and Dorian were here.
Turned out, Ella had returned to the country long ago and was living here with Dorian.
She was living here because she was afraid to return to Emerald City - afraid he would fight her for Dorian?
Thinking that Ella would do such a thing, Joshua felt deeply guilty.
He told Brian to drive away - better not to disturb Ella.
As long as she and Dorian were safe, from now on, he would never appear in their line of sight again.
Even if he missed them, he could only watch from afar.
Brian drove away, couldn't help but advise, "Since we're already here, why don't you talk to Ms. Garcia directly and tell her you won't fight for Dorian's custody anymore? Ask them to move back to Emerald City. That way it'll be more convenient for you to see them in the future."
He believed Ms. Garcia was a reasonable person.
Besides, Ms. Garcia's parents were also in Emerald City. Staying at home would always be better than being away.
But Joshua refused.
He knew that right now, Ella hated him to the bone.
She would probably hide when she saw him - how could she possibly have a proper conversation with him?
To avoid scaring Ella into running away overnight, he'd better not appear!
Seeing that Mr. Thomas still didn't plan to show himself, Brian couldn't say more and drove away.
Ella thought Joshua didn't know she had already found Dorian. When Rhea came back, saying it was someone from the landlord, she didn't think much of it.
In the afternoon, she went to pick up Dorian from kindergarten on time.
The kindergarten wasn't far from where they lived, so Ella walked home with Dorian.
She had no idea that in the hotel building they were passing by, Joshua was watching them through binoculars.
Only after confirming that the child Ella was holding was indeed Dorian did Joshua feel at ease.
He stayed in this small county town for three days.
Watching Ella and Dorian from the shadows for three days.
During those three days, he never showed himself, and didn't see Zachary either. Finally, when driving back to Emerald City with Brian, Joshua instructed, "Go find out what Zachary's situation is at the Baker family."
Brian nodded.
Joshua could probably guess that Zachary must be trapped there, which was why he couldn't come back.
Thinking that all of this was caused by him.
Thinking that without Zachary around, Ella living with Dorian was somewhat unsafe.
After all, Ella was beautiful and young.
What if when he wasn't around, the mother and son were bullied?
Anyway, no matter what he did, he couldn't change the fact that Ella was now Zachary's wife.
Joshua came to terms with it and told Brian, "If Zachary is trapped at the Baker family and can't get out, find a way to help him escape and bring him back."
Brian couldn't quite understand. "Mr. Thomas, if Mr. Baker doesn't show up, maybe given enough time, you'll still have a chance."
After all, Dorian was Ms. Garcia and Mr. Thomas's child.
Ms. Garcia would eventually return to Mr. Thomas for the sake of giving Dorian a complete family.
The prerequisite was that Zachary wouldn't appear.
So now he couldn't quite understand Mr. Thomas's thinking.
Joshua's face was serious, his voice guilty, "If I hadn't interfered, Ella and Zachary would be living happily together right now. I'm the one who caused them to be separated."
"Since I've chosen to give up custody of Dorian, I hope Dorian can grow up in a good environment, with someone to care for him and protect him."
Ella could never accept him again.
So he would help Ella bring Zachary back.
From now on, he wouldn't interfere with their married life anymore.
Brian felt it was a pity.
Mr. Thomas was just giving up on Ms. Garcia and Dorian like this. As someone who had watched them all the way to this point, how could he not feel conflicted?
Not daring to say more, Brian could only do as Mr. Thomas said.
He sent people to the Baker family in Eldoria, successfully rescued Zachary, and brought him back to Emerald City.
After returning, Zachary didn't go to the Lewis family, nor did he go directly to see Ella.
Instead, he went to Joshua's company.
In Joshua's office, Zachary looked at the man on the sofa in the reception area, dressed in an elegant and distinguished suit.
The floor-to-ceiling window behind him overlooked most of Emerald City, proof enough of how capable someone in this position must be.
He walked forward and spoke, "Why are you helping me?"
Without Joshua's help, Zachary was very clear that his family wouldn't have let him leave.
Of course, he didn't know that the reason his family had kept him confined was also because of Joshua's scheming behind the scenes.
But this matter would probably never be exposed.
Joshua looked up at him, his posture proud, gesturing for him to sit across from him.
Zachary went over and sat down, still showing no friendly expression toward Joshua.
"Are you trying to use me to force Ella to compromise?"
He figured Joshua must know about Dorian's existence now.
Maybe he couldn't take Dorian away, so he brought him here, wanting to use him to threaten Ella.
Joshua took a sip of coffee, his face calm and composed.
"I brought you here just to tell you to go bring Ella back to Emerald City. Tell her I won't fight her for Dorian anymore."
"Also, regarding the cooperation with the Lewis family, you can handle everything with me from now on. She doesn't want to see me, so I won't appear again."
Even though doing this would still hurt, still ache, still matter to him.
But letting go would be better for Ella and Dorian.
Otherwise, the lesson from when Aurora and Dorian went missing - he really couldn't bear to go through that a third time.
He also hoped that his letting go would make Ella hate him a little less.
Zachary was somewhat shocked.
He actually knew where Ella was with Dorian.
He actually wasn't going to fight for Dorian anymore.
Was it because he was afraid that if Dorian fell into his hands, she would choose to run away again, afraid something would happen to Dorian, so he chose to let go?
Thinking about it, if several previous lessons couldn't teach him a lesson, he really would be no different from a murderer.
Zachary responded, "Alright, I'll go bring Ella and them back, but you must personally write me a promise that you won't fight for Dorian's custody."
Otherwise Ella definitely wouldn't bring Dorian back.
Only this way could Ella stay in Emerald City with peace of mind.
Joshua agreed.
To let Ella live in Emerald City without worry and at ease, he personally wrote a letter of commitment giving up custody of Dorian.
After getting the commitment letter, Zachary rushed to the small county town overnight to pick up Ella and Dorian.