Chapter 231

Chapter 231

Ella didn't deny it. She had indeed spent most of her childhood with Michael.

But it wasn't by choice.

She had saved Michael once, and after that, he used gratitude as an excuse to bring her into his castle and restrict her freedom. She tried to escape home several times, but each time he would catch her and bring her back. Even when law enforcement got involved to mediate, it only brought a brief peace before she was taken away again.

Later, when her grandfather fell seriously ill, worried that Michael would return to his old ways after he passed, her grandfather arranged to send her to the Thomas family in Emerald City.

Ella didn't want to think about those teenage years anymore—it was an inescapable nightmare. She avoided Joshua's probing gaze and took Aurora and Dorian by the hands instead.

"Aurora, Dorian, let's go wash up and get ready for bed."

Aurora and Dorian noticed Ella's low spirits and immediately comforted her, "Mom, don't be sad. If those two women dare to bully you again, we'll help you chase them away."

"Mom, living here when you were little must have been really hard, right?"

"Don't be afraid, Mom. From now on, we'll protect you."

Looking at Aurora and Dorian before her, Ella felt a warmth rise in her heart. She ignored Joshua and took them to wash up.

Joshua sat there alone, his face dark, his chest feeling like it had a stone pressing on it. He couldn't imagine how young Ella had spent day after day with Michael.

Ella had come to his family when she was fifteen. When he first met her, she was well-behaved, clean, and graceful.

He really couldn't connect that girl with the idea of spending long periods with Michael.

An indescribable feeling spread through Joshua's heart. He stood up and decided to go outside for some air.

After Ella finished washing up with the children, they got into bed. Seeing that Joshua hadn't returned yet, she didn't pay much attention and took out her dead phone to charge and turn it on.

As soon as it powered up, the screen was filled with countless messages and missed call notifications from Michael.

Just then, his call came through again.

Ella immediately thought of the special medicine Aurora urgently needed, which was still in Michael's hands. She couldn't completely break ties with him.

If she couldn't get the medicine, Aurora's life would be in danger. She had to keep him calm and find a way to trick him into giving her the medicine.

She tucked Aurora and Dorian in and said softly, "You two sleep first. Mom's going outside to take a call."

The children nodded obediently.

Ella took her phone and left the room. Joshua was still nowhere to be seen in the living room. She sat down and answered Michael's call.

Michael's nearly out-of-control shouting immediately came through, "Ella, where have you been these past few days? Why aren't you answering my calls or replying to my messages? Don't you love me anymore?"

"I'm telling you, Ella, I'm giving you three days to come back to me! Otherwise, I'll destroy Aurora's medicine right now. Without the medicine, your daughter is as good as dead!"

"Did you hear me? Answer me!"

Ella held her breath, clenched her teeth, and forced herself to respond in that submissive tone from the past, "Sorry, I've been in the countryside these past few days. My phone had no signal."

"Didn't we agree that I'd come back to you after I have the baby?"

"Can you please calm down? If Aurora's medicine is gone, I won't come back either."

Michael seemed to be trying to suppress his anger, but his tone was still full of rage, "I can't wait that long! Don't you love me anymore? Have you been with Joshua these past few days?"

"Ella, don't you know I can't live without hearing from you?"

"I don't care, you have to call me every day, or I guarantee you'll regret it!"

Listening to every word he said, Ella felt physically sick. But for Aurora's medicine, she had to endure it and even soothe him with a gentle tone like she used to.

Just as she was placating Michael, she saw Joshua walk back in from outside. Ella panicked and hurriedly said "good night" to the person on the other end before hanging up.

Worried that Joshua would misunderstand, she immediately explained, "I can't break things off with Michael right now. I need to get Aurora's medicine from him."

Until Samuel developed a substitute medicine, for Aurora's safety, she could only pretend to maintain her relationship with Michael.

Joshua's face was dark, but he pretended not to care, "It's fine. As long as you're not pushing me away, how you deal with him is your freedom."

He was used to her previous coldness and rejection toward him. Even now, seeing her in contact with Michael, no matter how painful it was, he could only endure it. What else could he do? After all, this was the woman he wanted to spend his life with.

"Good that you understand." Ella reminded him, "Let's sleep. It's getting late."

Joshua went to wash up. They had just returned to the old house and had only prepared one bed with brand new sheets and covers. Fortunately, the bed was big enough for a family of four to sleep together.

The next morning, Joshua got up early and began surveying the area around the house, thinking about a design plan.

He planned to hire a construction crew to build a modern luxury-style villa here, making it convenient to bring the children for vacations in the future.

After all, this was where Ella had lived as a child. She might miss the memories of being here with her grandfather.

After finishing the design, he called his company and arranged for someone to handle the project. Then he went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the family.

Hearing the noise, Ella got up too. She saw Joshua wearing an apron, standing at the stove, cooking noodles. She walked over and skillfully helped him tend the fire.

"I didn't expect you'd know how to use a rural stove."

Joshua smiled at her, "It's not hard, very simple. Do you want yours soft or firm?"

"Soft, please."

Watching him work methodically and carefully, Ella thought back to her own strange behavior during this time and felt a wave of guilt.

She thought that if it were any other man, he probably would have left her long ago. Yet he was willing to endure such humiliation just to be with her.

When Joshua placed a bowl of noodles in front of her, she took it and said softly, "Joshua."

Joshua looked at her, "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry about before." She apologized for hurting him, making him kneel, and even acting intimate with Michael in front of him. Even she couldn't forgive herself for those actions.

However, Joshua didn't seem to mind. Ella wasn't sure if this was because he truly loved her deeply or because she was carrying his child. Either way, she owed him an apology.

But this apology inexplicably made Joshua's heart ache. His throat tightened and his chest felt bitter.

But he quickly covered it up, pretending not to care as he ruffled her hair and laughed.

"What are you talking about? Those things before weren't your true intentions. I always knew you were just being controlled."

He paused and continued, "I just didn't expect there really was such a thing as a love curse in this world. Fortunately, it's all in the past now, and I've finally seen the light after the storm."

Seeing that he really didn't mind, Ella felt much more relaxed and began eating her noodles.

Before long, Aurora and Dorian woke up too. After the family finished breakfast, they took a walk around the village. Standing by the river in front of the village, they could look up and see the ancient castle halfway up the mountain.

Aurora was very curious and pointed at the castle, "Mom, is that castle Uncle Michael's home? It looks so beautiful. Can you take us inside to see it?"

Before Ella could answer, Dorian tugged at Aurora's sleeve. "Mom doesn't like that place. We shouldn't go. Besides, don't we have our own castle at home?"

Aurora realized she'd said the wrong thing and quickly looked at Ella. "Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to. I was just curious."

Ella smiled faintly, "It's okay. That house probably hasn't been lived in for a long time. It's probably messy and dirty inside. Nothing worth seeing."

Since Ella said so, Aurora didn't insist and nodded.

But Joshua suddenly spoke up, "If the child wants to see it, let's take them to see it."

Ella looked at him, somehow feeling that his tone was strange, as if he really wanted to explore traces of her past. So he did care after all.

"Mom already said there's nothing to see. Why do you have to go? If you want to go, go by yourself!" Dorian clearly sensed Ella's displeasure and snapped back at Joshua angrily.

But Joshua was as curious as Aurora. He glanced at Dorian, then took his daughter's hand and said, "How about you two wait here, and I'll take Aurora up to look."

He wanted to go to that castle to see if there were any traces of Ella's existence left. He wanted to know what exactly Ella and Michael had experienced together during those years.

If he didn't see some things with his own eyes, they would remain like a thorn, stuck in his heart, impossible to shake off.

"If you want to go, go by yourselves." Dorian held Ella's hand. "Mom, I'll stay with you. Let them go on their own."

Ella perhaps understood Joshua's thoughts and seemed more calm about it. "If you want to see it, I'll take you there."

She and Michael hadn't done anything shameful when they were young. They were both still children then. Michael just kept her locked at home because of his lack of security, not allowing her to go out. He hadn't done anything inappropriate to her. It was fine to go look.

"Okay, let's go. We don't have anything else to do anyway." Joshua walked ahead holding Aurora's hand.

Ella and Dorian followed behind.

From the foot of the mountain to halfway up was quite a distance. Just climbing would take two or three hours.

After walking for a while, perhaps because of the pregnancy, Ella felt somewhat overwhelmed and slowed down.

Aurora and Dorian were full of energy, chasing each other ahead, and soon ran far ahead.

Joshua reached out to hold Ella's hand, "Tired? Let me carry you."

"No need." Ella refused and continued walking forward, breathing heavily.

Joshua didn't listen to her. He stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms effortlessly. Even pregnant, Ella weighed less than a hundred pounds, and for the tall, strong Joshua, carrying her was easy.

Being suddenly picked up, Ella felt a bit uncomfortable and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to avoid falling. She stared at his strong, handsome profile, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.

"Joshua," she couldn't help asking, "do you think that because I grew up with Michael, we had an inappropriate relationship as children?"

Otherwise, why would he insist on going to that castle? Ella remembered that the castle did seem to have many things left from when she and Michael lived together. If Joshua saw them, he would definitely overthink things again.

Joshua looked down at her and explained, "No, I'm just curious. If you really don't want to go, we can go back down the mountain right now."