Chapter 173: Joshua Has Arrived
Ava closed her eyes, furious. "Don't talk to me."
...
The next day, Ava sat by the window looking outside and let out a silent sigh.
Every morning, a female doctor would come to change her dressing. The medicine was working well—the bruises on Ava's body had faded quite a bit and didn't look as shocking as before.
Seeing the door closed, Ava glanced at the female doctor a couple of times. The doctor was focused on changing her dressing, but she still noticed Ava's intense gaze.
"What's wrong, Ms. Davis?" the female doctor asked.
"Do you have a phone?" Ava lowered her voice.
The female doctor glanced at the door. Ava also glanced at the door, acting like they were doing something sneaky. The female doctor shook her head.
"You're lying." Who doesn't have a phone these days except her?
"Let me use it." Ava raised an eyebrow.
The female doctor kept her head down. Ava turned back to keep watch on the door, afraid the walls had ears, deliberately lowering her voice even more. "I really need it urgently."
"Ms. Davis, I'm very sorry."
"..." Ava wouldn't give up. "Please, please, I really need it urgently. I just need to call my family, five minutes—no! One minute. Ryan definitely won't find out, I absolutely won't get you in trouble."
Ava patted the bed, making promises to the female doctor.
The female doctor finished applying Ava's medicine and pulled down her clothes over her back, saying nothing.
Ava couldn't let this opportunity slip away. "Ahem, that bastard Ryan shouldn't be home today, right?"
The female doctor glanced up, then immediately lowered her head.
"He's not home, he won't know..."
"I'm home!"
A voice suddenly exploded from above.
Ava jumped in fright and trembled as she turned around...
The female doctor coughed awkwardly, stood up and said respectfully, "Mr. Martin, Ms. Davis's wounds have been treated. Her injuries are healing well. You can rest assured."
"Good, you can go."
The female doctor immediately ran off.
Her speed rivaled that of a sprint champion.
Ryan stood with one hand in his pocket, looking down at Ava. "Go on, keep talking."
Ava laughed dryly, feeling like she'd been caught doing something bad.
"I've noticed you're getting better and better at talking. You even wanted to use someone else to escape. Ava, how are you so clever?" Ryan looked at her with a half-smile.
She could hear the sarcasm in his voice.
Ava cursed Ryan in her heart.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
As soon as Ryan finished speaking, the sound of helicopter propellers came overwhelming from outside.
Footsteps sounded outside, and York appeared at the door. "Boss, Joshua's here with his people."
That was really fast. Ryan responded, and though his expression remained calm, it inevitably carried a hint of gloom.
"Just have the porridge you used to like best." Ryan said softly.
Ava sighed. "Ryan, I need to leave."
"Who said so?" Ryan brought her slippers over. "Come down and eat."
Ava didn't know what he was up to, but she still followed him downstairs. Ava walked slowly, and Ryan wasn't in a hurry either, supporting her.
"Are you and Joshua getting remarried?" Ryan suddenly asked.
"Probably."
She loved Joshua, Joshua loved her. This time she wanted to give each other a chance to have each other again.
Ryan looked at her sideways. "No."
Ava saw coldness in his eyes. "Why? Because of your grudge against him? Ryan, can you tell me what happened eight years ago?"
Ryan was indeed ruthless in his actions. Everyone said he was a complete tyrant who everyone had to avoid. Those who defied him died.
Ava understood Ryan. In his environment, being ruthless and making everyone fear him was a way of protecting himself, but he wasn't a bad person and wouldn't kill people for no reason.
Maybe there was a misunderstanding back then.
Ava didn't want to see Ryan and Joshua in conflict. If there was a misunderstanding, she hoped to clear it up.
She wanted to know the truth from back then.
Ava clearly felt the hand supporting her suddenly tighten. His expression became dark, as if someone had touched a forbidden subject.
Ryan rarely showed such an intimidating expression in front of her. "You?"
"Stop talking. Don't bring this up again. Did you hear me? I told you, there's no reconciliation between Joshua and me. I don't want you to remarry him because I like you."
Ava froze.
What did Ryan say?
"Why are you looking at me like that? Can't someone like you?" Ryan felt a bit at a loss under her shocked, disbelieving gaze.
"...Are you joking?"
"Look into my eyes. If I'm joking, I'll get hit by a car when I go out."
Ryan's usually lazy, casual eyes were unprecedentedly serious.
Ava was so startled she got agitated.
In all their time together, she had never thought of their relationship in terms of "liking" in that way, because Ryan treated her...
Not to mention now—before, he didn't treat her like a girl at all. To teach her self-defense, he played the kidnapper and just grabbed her and threw her on the ground.
That was only three months after she'd given birth to Finn and Cleo.
Absolutely inhuman.
Ryan was indeed good to her, but she had always categorized that kind of goodness as care between family members. Ava had always thought of Ryan as family.
So this confession really caught Ava completely off guard.
She couldn't handle it.
Looking at Ava's overly shocked expression, Ryan almost thought he had a ghost face when he confessed to her.
"Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that. Just pretend I said it casually." Ryan pulled her downstairs.
Ava held onto the railing, quickly trying to recover, forcing herself to speed up. The man ahead had already slowed down, continuing to match her pace.
A loud bang.
The door was pushed open.