Chapter 222

Chapter 222

Ella hung up on Michael.

She noticed Joshua's face looked terribly gloomy, like someone owed him a huge sum of money. She put down her phone and asked, "Who are you pulling that sour face for? If you can't stand me being like this, you don't have to show up. Nobody's forcing you to seek attention in front of me."

If it weren't for having a child for him, she would have gone abroad to find Michael long ago and gotten the medicine Aurora needed. Who would want to stay here and put up with his moods?

In Ella's world, she didn't love this man, and there was no need to put up with his attitude.

Joshua realized he had upset her again.

He worried that once her emotions flared up, she would refuse the countryside trip plan. So no matter how uncomfortable he felt inside, he could only force out a smile and humble himself to coax her. "My stomach was bothering me just now, it wasn't directed at you. Haven't you been talking to him on the phone in front of me all this time? I haven't said anything."

Ella was still annoyed after hearing this. "Michael said places like the countryside have poor conditions and doesn't recommend I go. I think he has a point. There's so much work at the company waiting for me to handle, and I'm still not comfortable leaving it to Mason. I'm not going anymore. When you have time, just take Aurora and Dorian yourself."

Joshua panicked when he heard this.

He immediately walked closer to Ella and earnestly tried to persuade her, "But I've already arranged everything. The company doesn't have anything important going on lately, your dad and Mason can handle it completely."

"Ella, Aurora and Dorian also know you're going. If you don't go, they'll be very disappointed."

"I'll explain to them." Ella didn't want to waste more words and picked up her coat, ready to leave.

Joshua quickly followed, taking her bag and coat from her hands.

In the car on the way home, he continued coaxing, "Ella, I was indeed in a bad mood just now. I apologize to you, don't be angry. Come with the kids, okay?"

"Aurora and Dorian are sensible now. If you promise them something and then can't do it, they'll be very sad."

"When did I ever promise them I would definitely go to the countryside with them?" Ella looked coldly at Joshua. "From the very beginning, weren't you the only one talking?"

"Besides, I'm pregnant. I'm not suitable for a long bumpy journey. You guys go, I don't want to."

She leaned back against the seat, closed her eyes to rest, clearly not wanting to continue the topic.

Joshua looked at her, knowing in his heart that she had made up her mind. Whatever Michael said, she would listen.

Sometimes he felt like he couldn't hold on much longer either. Every day his heart felt like it was being cut with knives, going crazy with jealousy over her long-distance relationship with Michael. But when he thought about how if he gave up, Aurora and Dorian would truly have no mother, he could only grit his teeth and persist for the children's sake.

Seeing that she didn't want to say another word to him, Joshua didn't want to disturb her further and make her more annoyed.

He took out his phone and sent Dorian a message, telling him the actual situation, asking him and Aurora to convince Ella to go with them no matter what when she got home.

Dorian knew that Joshua was taking them to the countryside to find the high priest of that family who could raise venomous insects, to help remove the love curse from Ella's body.

If this succeeded, Ella wouldn't need to risk going abroad. He would definitely cooperate fully with Joshua.

To get Aurora to work hard too, Dorian gave her a heads up in advance.

As soon as Ella and Joshua arrived home, before they even entered, the two children ran out from inside to greet them.

They each grabbed one of Ella's hands, chattering excitedly about their expectations for tomorrow's countryside life.

"Mom, I checked online, the place Dad's taking us is really beautiful, I love it."

"Mom, when we get there, can we get a puppy?"

"Mom, I've packed all my luggage. What time are we leaving tomorrow morning?"

Ella looked at the two children beside her, led them to sit down in the living room, and patiently said, "Aurora, Dorian, Mommy's too busy with work and doesn't have time to go with you. You go with Daddy, okay?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Aurora's face instantly fell, and she said with grievance, "Why? Don't you have Grandpa, Uncle Mason, and Aunt Vida helping with your work?"

"Dorian and I finally have a vacation, and Dad has already arranged everything. Why won't you go with us?"

Dorian also pretended to be about to cry. "Mom, if you don't go, what's the point of us going?"

Ella rarely saw Dorian cry. Seeing him and Aurora both about to cry now, she felt a bit heartbroken and pulled them into her arms.

"Mommy's carrying a baby, it's not very convenient to go to that kind of place."

"But we'll take care of you. You don't have to do anything, just breathe fresh air every day, eat, drink, and sleep. We won't let you do any work." Dorian held her hand, imitating Aurora's usual way of acting cute, pleading with a crying tone.

"Mom, just come with us. If you don't go, I won't talk to you anymore."

"Please, please."

Aurora, watching Dorian like this, got goosebumps all over. She had no idea Dorian had such a side that could act so cute. With him crying and making a fuss like this, she didn't even know how she should perform anymore.

But seeing Ella still hesitating, Aurora could only continue trying to squeeze out tears, hugging her mom's arm and pleading, "Mom, just come with us."

Ella really had no way to deal with them.

Although her mind was full of Michael's warnings not to go to the countryside and not to easily trust Joshua's words, facing her own children, she was still willing to spend more thought and time.

Finally, under the two children's persistent pestering, she agreed.

That evening, Ella sat on the sofa in the living room, watching Joshua pack her luggage, and couldn't help complaining, "If I go with you and something happens, don't expect me to forgive you."

Joshua turned back to her and said, "Don't worry, I'll take good care of you all. Nothing will go wrong."

If they could really find that high priest and remove the love curse from Ella, she shouldn't love Michael anymore, right? If she didn't love Michael, she should be able to return to normal. Joshua was still quite confident in his decision.

However, that night, he didn't sleep well at all, always feeling that something bad would happen on this trip to the countryside. But to help Ella return to normal, he had to take her there.

Early the next morning, the servants loaded all the luggage into the car.

The family of four got into a seven-seater van, brought two drivers, and set off.

Getting to the countryside required a full day and night of driving. There was no direct high-speed rail or flight, they could only drive. One person driving would be too tiring, so Joshua brought two drivers to take turns.

At first, for the children's sake, Ella could endure several hours of driving. But as time went on, she became more and more impatient. Combined with morning sickness and car sickness, she felt nauseous the whole way.

During a rest stop, she finally couldn't take it anymore and threw up for quite a while by the roadside.

Dorian, who had some medical knowledge, quickly brought water for his mom to rinse her mouth, helped her put on motion sickness patches, and pressed acupressure points that could relieve car sickness.

Ella glared at Joshua, "Bringing me to this godforsaken place, seeing me suffer like I've lost half my life, are you satisfied now?"

Thinking about how there wasn't even a hotel around, they could only camp halfway, and tomorrow they'd have to continue the journey, she got even angrier.

Joshua hadn't expected her car sickness to be this severe, perhaps pregnancy had intensified the reaction.

He said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I checked the map, if we drive for another hour we can reach a village. We'll spend the night there, you can rest well for a day, and when you feel better we'll set off again."

Ella threw a tantrum and sat right down on the ground. "I don't want to sit in the car for another second. If you want to go, go by yourselves."

Dorian looked at Joshua, "Didn't we bring tents? Why don't we just make do here for the night, and leave after Mom has rested?"

Joshua was also afraid of hurting the baby in her belly, so he agreed. He had the two drivers find a flat area to set up the tents and prepare food.

Aurora was also exhausted. She had never sat in a car for this long. After getting out, she just squatted to the side, not wanting to move. Joshua brought out a camping blanket and spread it on the ground, letting the mother and daughter sit down to rest first, drink some water, and eat some fruit. He went to help the drivers prepare dinner.

Dorian saw that Ella was still very angry and might want to go back at any moment, so he sat down next to her and kept comforting her, trying to calm her down.

Ella wouldn't listen at all and just lay down on the blanket. When Joshua brought the food over, she didn't even have the desire to taste it.

Joshua knelt beside her, patiently coaxing. "You haven't eaten much since we left. We're not rushing tonight, please eat a little, okay?"

"I can't eat, take it away, stop bothering me." Ella didn't even open her eyes. Her stomach was churning, how could she have any appetite?

Dorian reminded from the side, "People with car sickness don't have an appetite in the short term. After Mom rests well, she'll naturally want to eat tomorrow."

Joshua could only follow Dorian's advice and took the food to Aurora. Aurora only ate a tiny bit. She was probably really tired and fell asleep shortly after lying down next to Ella.

Joshua gently carried her into the tent.

Not feeling at ease, he reminded Dorian, "Dorian, go sleep with Aurora, okay?"

Dorian agreed, and before leaving, didn't forget to remind, "Then you take good care of Mom. She needs to get some natural air right now. Let her go into the tent later, just be careful not to let her catch cold."

Joshua nodded.

After Dorian and Aurora both went into the tent, the two drivers also finished eating nearby and prepared to rest. Joshua didn't dare wander off, worried there might be snakes or insects nearby, so he just sat by Ella's side watching over her.

Ella opened her eyes, saw him still sitting there, and couldn't help kicking him. "Get lost, stay away from me."

"We could have had a perfectly good time at home, but you had to drag me out to suffer like this! The baby's not in your belly, so of course you don't know how to care, right?"

Joshua took the kick and could only silently endure it. He was like a child who had done something wrong, head lowered, full of apology.

"I'm sorry, I know the journey would be hard, but once we reach our destination, everything will be fine."

"Fine what? Won't we have to suffer the same way coming back? I think you did this on purpose, deliberately bringing me here to torment me."

Ella angrily took out her phone, wanting to call someone to pick her up and take her back, only to find that her phone had no signal at all.

No signal meant she wouldn't even be able to contact Michael later, right?

She was so angry she threw her phone directly at Joshua, "Now, immediately, have them drive me back."