Chapter 217

Chapter 217

When the Lewis family arrived, they saw Joshua kneeling in front of the house.

A strip of gauze was wrapped around his forehead, making it obvious that he was hurt.

Jasper and Ava had both tried to persuade Joshua to stand up, but nothing worked.

Seeing the Lewis family arrive, Ava walked over to them, her expression dark with anger.

"Look at what Ella did to Joshua. She hurt him like this and made him kneel here without letting him get up."

"Joshua used to be such a proud and capable man. Just because she's pregnant, she's using the baby she's carrying as an excuse to humiliate and torment my son like this. You need to give me an explanation, or I won't let Ella off easily."

The Lewis family looked at Joshua's condition. He was indeed badly hurt.

Seeing him kneel there in silence, Rhea felt sorry for him and asked, "Joshua, did Ella make you kneel here?"

Joshua kept his head down, feeling ashamed. He didn't want them getting involved in his and Ella's affairs. He said impatiently, "You don't need to worry about this. If you're here to see the kids, then go see them."

Rhea looked at Ava. "See, Joshua told us not to get involved, so there's nothing I can do."

Thinking she should still ask Ella what was going on, she turned and went into the house.

Ava was furious. Looking at Joshua, she felt both heartbroken and frustrated. She reached out to pull him up.

"Joshua, don't you have any dignity left? Get up! So many people are watching. Aren’t you embarrassed?"

"Mom." Joshua pulled his hand away from Ava’s, his voice low. "I'm fine. I did something wrong and made Ella angry. I deserve this."

"Please don't interfere. Go stay with the kids!"

He refused to get up, determined to meet Ella's demand.

As long as he knelt there all night, Ella wouldn't make a scene anymore.

If it meant Ella and the kids would be okay, what did one night of kneeling matter?

"You really..." Ava had no choice but to let him be, and Jasper pulled her into the house. She felt wronged.

Heath and Vida also went inside.

Finally, Mason was the only one left. He squatted beside Joshua and sighed. "I know you love Ella and are willing to be punished like this by her, but you don't really have to kneel. This is humiliating."

As a friend, he sympathized with Joshua and couldn't bear to see him kneeling like that.

After all, it was getting dark and about to rain.

He reached out to pull Joshua up. "Come on, get up. You've made your point."

Joshua still refused. "It's okay. This is the only way for Ella to calm down."

Then she would stop thinking about going to find Michael.

He firmly believed that what Ella had been doing lately wasn't her true self.

He had to be patient and help Ella get back to normal.

Mason had no choice either, and reminded him, "Then at least go kneel on the steps over there. It's starting to rain, and you'll get sick if you get wet."

Joshua shook his head and stayed kneeling there, motionless.

Heath, Rhea, Vida, Jasper, and Ava, all went into Ella's room one after another.

They saw Ella leaning against the headboard, relaxed and carefree, completely unconcerned about how she'd treated Joshua.

Rhea sighed and carefully asked, "Ella, what happened between you and Joshua? Why are you making him kneel outside?"

She knew that Ella wanted to go abroad to find Michael.

She'd come to talk to her about it before, but couldn't change her mind.

She guessed that Joshua had tried to stop her from leaving, which had made her so angry. Joshua must have been kneeling willingly as punishment to calm her down.

But having a grown man kneeling there was really inappropriate. Rhea felt that, as elders, they should try to mediate.

Ella looked at the group suddenly crowding into her room and felt inexplicably irritated and displeased. Facing Rhea, she lost her patience too.

"If he likes kneeling so much, let him kneel. He doesn't think it's a big deal, so why are you all worrying about it?"

"Also, I don't really like crowds. Next time, could you please not all come at once to bother me?"

This was the first time Rhea had been rejected by Ella like this.

She felt hurt, but didn't dare speak too loudly to Ella.

She was afraid that if Ella got angry, she would really go abroad and abandon them all.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. Don't be angry. We'll leave right now." Rhea turned to tell the others to go.

Ava was furious and couldn't help raising her voice. "Look at your daughter."

"She doesn't even respect her own parents. She has no manners at all."

"Ella, if you don't love Joshua, then break up with him. You don't have to humiliate him like this."

"That's enough. Stop talking. Let the young people solve their own problems."

Jasper quickly pulled Ava away, not letting her say more.

If this continued, it wouldn't be good for either side.

But Ella got angry. Looking at Ava, she laughed coldly. "Fine, I'll break up with Joshua. Take him away right now and don't let him bother me anymore."

Ava realized she'd been impulsive.

Joshua couldn't leave, or what would happen to her three little grandchildren?

She felt trapped, unable to do anything or force the anger down.

Jasper quickly said, "Ella, don't be angry. Your mom is just going through menopause and has been a little short-tempered. Don't take it personally. Just focus on your pregnancy and don't worry about us."

He was really worried that if Ava kept causing trouble, they might not even be able to see their grandchildren anymore.

Jasper hurriedly pulled Ava away.

No matter how angry Ava was, once Jasper reminded her of the grandchildren in a low voice, she had to swallow her anger and leave first.

Rhea knew Ella needed peace and quiet. Before leaving, she tugged at Vida and asked her to stay with Ella.

Then she pulled Heath away.

Soon, only Vida was left in the room.

Vida closed the door, then came back to sit by Ella's bed. She said softly, "Ella, don't take Ava's words to heart. She probably has never been wronged in her life, so seeing Joshua like that, she couldn't help getting angry."

"We won't stoop to her level."

Ella didn't care at all. She looked at Vida. "How are things between you and Mason now? Is he treating you well?"

Vida hesitated.

She hadn't expected Ella to suddenly change the subject and ask about her.

Mason had indeed changed recently.

He came home on time every day. Whenever he was home, he'd spend time with the kids and try hard to please her, even buying her gifts.

She had even thought about starting over with Mason.

Faced with Ella's question, she could only tell the truth. "Yeah, he treats me pretty well."

Ella continued, "If he doesn't treat you well, tell me. I'll make him kneel outside for two days too."

"Also, after I have the baby and go abroad, I'll promote you to vice president. Work hard during this time and prove you deserve the position."

After she left, she might never come back.

She didn't want the Lewis Group anymore either.

Even if she came back, it would probably just to see the kids.

Vida was shocked and quickly shook her head. "No, Ella, I only know how to do some design work. I can't handle that position."

Ella patted her reassuringly. "It's okay. You still have time. I still have several months before I give birth."

"But..."

"This is my decision. Think it over carefully!" Ella's tone was firm and left no room for argument.

Vida stopped dwelling on it and looked at Ella in confusion. "Are you really going to leave? What about the kids?"

Ella smiled and raised her hand to touch her belly, which still wasn't very obvious. "The kids are Joshua's. He has plenty of money, so he can just hire more nannies to look after them."

"Aurora and Dorian are older now too. They'll be fine without me."

Vida couldn't help tearing up. "But can you bear to leave them? Aurora finally came back alive. You used to love her so much and wanted to be with her all the time."

"If you leave, she'll be sad too. She won't want you to go."

Ella's face darkened, and a trace of sadness passed through her eyes. "Vida, you should know that Aurora's return to life is thanks to Michael. Without Michael, there would be no Aurora or me today."

Ella looked at Vida, her eyes were determined, as if Michael were the only one for her.

"I love him. I can't live without him, so I have to go find him."

Ella didn't know how she had fallen in love with Michael.

Now she desperately wanted to see Michael every day.

If she didn't call him, it felt like something was missing from her heart.

She really wanted to be with Michael.

As for Joshua and the kids, she felt that even without her, the father and children would be just fine.

There were so many divorced families in the world.

They all got by.

Vida was stunned.

She could hardly believe that Ella, who used to be decisive and independent, who thought little of men and only wanted to focus on her career, had become so confused about right and wrong.

Her current life was envied by countless people.

She was a CEO, and Joshua was also the CEO of a publicly listed company.

They had a son and a daughter, with another baby on the way.

They lived in such a luxurious estate and were served by so many staff every day.

Yet she wasn't satisfied and was having an emotional affair, wanting to be with another man.

Vida couldn't accept this version of Ella and tried hard to persuade her. "Even if that person saved you and Aurora, there are many ways to repay someone. Why do you have to abandon the kids to go find him?"

"Ella, please don't throw away your principles for any man, okay?"

When Ella heard her trying to persuade her again, she became displeased.

Her expression darkened.

"Vida, if you're here to lecture me, then leave."

"I love Michael. He's the only one for me, and I'm definitely going to find him. No one can stop me."

Vida fell silent.

This wasn't the Ella she knew at all.

Something must be wrong with her.

She didn't want to keep trying to persuade her and make Ella resent her.

She should go tell the family about the situation so everyone could figure out how to help Ella.

Vida got up and left.

When she went downstairs, she saw the elders all looking worried. She went over and said, "Something must be wrong with Ella. Mason, can you find someone to examine her?"

Mason's expression was also very serious. "Don't you think Joshua hasn't tried? He found someone, but it didn't help much."

"So are we just going to let Ella continue like this? She just told me she's determined to go find that man."

Vida was getting anxious.

She was really afraid that Ella would abandon the kids and leave.

Ava said angrily, "Listen to that! This is your wonderful daughter. She's pregnant with my grandchild, but her heart is thinking about another man. This is too much."