Chapter 16 Sharpening the Knife
Xavier's deep eyes narrowed slightly.
Joshua stood up, meeting Xavier's gaze at eye level. "Also, I advise you not to think about going after her and the child. I won't back down on this."
Joshua had no intention of staying longer and turned to leave.
"You care about that woman?"
Joshua's tall figure turned slightly, his voice calm. "She's my wife."
"That was before."
"Does it make a difference? Once she's my wife, she's always my wife."
Xavier's heart jolted. He knew Joshua well—his coldness was carved into his bones. He had never seen him care about anyone like this before.
Without another word, Joshua strode out of the study. Hayden was leaning casually against the doorway, a cigarette dangling from his lips, looking completely carefree and unruly.
Joshua asked flatly, "Where is she?"
"Ava?" Hayden stubbed out his cigarette. "She left."
Just as he expected, that heartless Ava had run away!
Standing nearby, Hayden could feel the cold fury radiating from Joshua. He straightened up a bit and hesitated before speaking.
"Joshua, you clearly care about Ava. Why didn't you tell her? You were obviously protecting her just now."
Victor's condition had gotten so much worse, and all the doctors were at a loss. Like Mia said, Ava hadn't even finished her sophomore year—how could she save Victor? If she tried to treat Victor and anything went wrong, she wouldn't make it out of the Thomas Villa alive.
The Thomas family wouldn't let her go, and Xavier definitely wouldn't.
Joshua knew this all too well.
"It doesn't matter." His clear voice rang out slowly, tinged with coldness.
"Mr. Joshua Thomas, should I go bring Mrs. Ava Thomas back?"
Joshua raised his slender hand slightly. "No need."
Ava was stubborn. She was convinced he wanted to take the child away. The harder he pushed, the deeper she'd hide the child, and in the end, nobody would benefit. Better to let her leave. With the child by her side, he just needed to keep a close eye on her—she'd slip up eventually.
He wouldn't take her child away. As a father, he just wanted to see the child.
"Joshua, dinner's ready." Mia came over with a bright smile on her face to call Joshua.
Joshua turned to look at Mia, his gaze indifferent, and replied, "Okay."
After dinner with the two children, Isabella drove Ava and the kids home first. As Ava got out with the children, she waved at Isabella in the car. "Drive carefully on your way back."
"Don't worry, I will."
"Bye, Isabella." Finn and Cleo said in unison.
"Bye, sweethearts."
Ava held Finn in one hand and Cleo in the other as they headed home. "Come on, babies, let's go home."
Ava had just recently returned, and Isabella had found this place for her—a three-bedroom apartment. The key thing was that it was quiet and close to the hospital, making her commute convenient.
"Finn, Cleo, you need to take your baths first. Tomorrow's Monday and you're going to school, so you need to sleep early tonight, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy. Will I have lots and lots of friends at school?"
"Yes, Cleo, you'll make lots of new friends."
Compared to Astoria, Cleo clearly liked it here better. She'd always enjoyed being around people and making friends, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation and curiosity about school.
Finn's expression, however, was a bit serious. "Mommy, are we going back to Mr. Martin's?"
Ava's expression became complicated. She sat down on the sofa with the two children. "Babies, we're not going back to Ryan's for now. Can you stay here with me?"
Cleo was all for it, of course. Finn liked it here too, but he didn't want Ava to be in danger again. He'd just overheard the conversation between Ava and Isabella—clearly Joshua wanted to take them away, Ava disagreed, and they didn't want to leave Ava either. So he felt this place was dangerous.
"What's Finn thinking about?"
Seeing Finn looking thoughtful, Ava asked worriedly. Finn was more mature than Cleo, more independent, more serious—more like a little adult.
Finn pressed his lips together, his eyes looking seriously at Ava. "Will Mommy be happy staying here? Can you be as carefree as you were at Mr. Martin's?"
Looking at Finn's serious expression, Joshua's handsome face flashed through Ava's mind. Finn looked so much like Joshua—when he was serious, the resemblance was carved into his very bones.
Ava felt sorry for the two children and pulled them into her arms. "Don't worry, babies. I'll do everything to protect you. I promise you can be just as carefree here as you were in Astoria."
Finn's worries weren't eased by Ava's promise—instead, he felt even more sorry for her.
After Ava helped the two children bathe, they were very well-behaved and went to bed on their own without needing her to worry. Just as Ava was about to take a shower, she got a call from Ryan.
Before Ava could speak, a magnetic voice tinged with anger came through the phone. "Did you crawl here on a plane or something? I've been waiting for you at the airport all day!"
Ava's breath caught. She had originally told Ryan she'd send the kids to him, arriving around 10 AM. Now it was almost 10 PM. "You're still waiting?"
Ryan had been waiting all day?
Ava could hardly believe it. This was Ryan, who got impatient waiting through a five-second ad while watching TV with the kids, and he'd actually waited for her at the airport all day?!
"What else?"
Even through the screen, Ava could feel Ryan grinding his teeth.
"..."
Ava gathered her thoughts and softened her voice. "Ryan, something came up here. I'm not bringing the kids over for now..."
"What did you say? Say that again, I didn't hear you clearly."
Ava's expression froze, and hearing Ryan's tone, she felt a bit guilty.
"Ava, you just wait."
"Wait, don't—" Ava quickly said, "I'll treat you to dinner next time."
"Too late. I'm really angry now. Hanging up."
Ava helplessly put down her phone and bit her lip. When Ryan got angry, he was capable of anything. He wouldn't fly over in the middle of the night just to drag her out of bed and shake her to vent, would he?
The thought made Ava shudder.
She quickly grabbed her phone and messaged York to check. "York, what's Ryan doing right now?"
After a few minutes, Ava got York's reply: ...Sharpening a knife!
"..."