Chapter 58 For the Sake of Letting My Child Live
The air went quiet for a few seconds.
Ava nervously pulled Finn and Cleo into her arms.
"Joshua, you said you didn't take Finn and Cleo, so what's going on here? Explain."
"Mommy, actually..." Cleo whispered quietly.
"Don't be scared, babies. I'm here. He won't dare do anything to you!"
Finn and Cleo felt helpless. They had been hiding in that room just fine, planning to head back soon and everything would be okay. But suddenly someone burst in, and when he saw them, his expression was like... like they were aliens invading Earth.
And they found out this person was really quick to accept things. After the initial shock, he got all excited and started claiming them as family. His enthusiasm was just unstoppable.
Then he insisted on carrying them here...
Cleo swallowed hard and looked at Finn. Her eyes were full of fear. Should we still tell?
Ava looked so scary when angry right now, like she wanted to kill Joshua. Ava must have misunderstood.
Finn lowered his head and shook it fearfully.
Don't say anything. Just let Joshua take the blame. Joshua is already bad enough anyway - one more thing won't matter!
Cleo nodded in agreement. The two reached a silent understanding.
Ava was too angry to notice Finn and Cleo's little exchange, glaring furiously at Joshua.
A flash of light passed through Joshua's eyes, and joy filled and overflowed in his chest.
His gaze fixed on the children, not moving away for a moment.
One girl, one boy.
The girl was beautiful, tiny, and adorable. Her clear, pure eyes looked just like hers.
The boy had a face remarkably similar to his own, with a naturally serious expression, looking at him with shallow, cool eyes.
The appearance of these two children stirred incredibly strong emotions in him.
His well-defined hand lifted, wanting to touch the children. Ava immediately hid them behind her back protectively, looking at him with guarded eyes. Joshua snapped back to reality, his hand freezing slightly.
"The two children are called Finn and Cleo, right?"
Ava's eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't answer.
His expression was somewhat bitter. The children being here was truly unexpected.
But given the current situation, with the children appearing here, he had no way to defend himself. Ava's suspicion of him would only deepen. Joshua frowned with a headache.
Hayden coughed awkwardly twice. Why was the atmosphere in this room so weird?
"Um, Joshua, Ava, these two children are yours, right?" Hayden wasn't stupid. From the current situation, these children looked about five or six years old - they must have been conceived before Ava left. The children looked so much like Joshua, they were definitely his.
Back then, Ava disappeared overnight. Nobody knew why she left or where she went. Later they found out she and Joshua had divorced.
But if she was pregnant, why did they still divorce? Why did she leave so decisively?
"Ava, if you were pregnant back then, why did you still leave..."
Hayden choked on his words. The moment he asked, he wanted to slap himself. This didn't seem like the right time to bring this up.
Ava's eyes trembled. An uncontrollable sourness surged in her heart, tears welling up in her eyes. Finally, she looked away, forcing the tears back down.
Her voice was ice-cold. "To keep my children alive."
In that moment, Joshua's eyes shook violently, his heart feeling like something was squeezing it.
At night, a tall figure stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his unfathomably deep eyes watching Ava's slender figure leaving with the two children.
He smoked cigarette after cigarette, his deep eyes carrying an unprecedented loneliness.
The two children sat in the back seat with their seatbelts on, heads down, not daring to breathe loudly. This time they had made a mistake, making Ava worry and panic, getting Joshua scolded by Ava. The two children felt terrible.
Now Ava wasn't saying anything. Ava must still be very angry.
The car stopped smoothly in the apartment parking lot.
Ava led the two children home. She noticed these two children seemed even more down than she was.
A trace of confusion flashed across Ava's face. Thinking they were scared, as soon as they got home, she pulled both children into her arms to comfort them.
"Babies, it's my fault. I didn't protect you well. I promise this won't happen again, okay?"
Finn and Cleo exchanged glances, their emotions even more conflicted, guiltily lowering their heads.
Not only was Ava worried about them, she had also misunderstood Joshua, and now she was blaming herself. But this wasn't Ava's fault at all, and it wasn't Joshua's fault either - it was their fault.
Cleo secretly tugged gently at Finn's sleeve, her eyes full of questions.
"Mommy... actually..." After much internal struggle, Finn wanted to tell Ava the truth, but he was afraid she'd be angry. Yet he didn't want Ava to blame herself for not protecting them.
"What is it?"
After intense internal debate, Finn finally spoke up. "Mommy, actually today it was me who took Cleo to the Thomas Villa. Joshua didn't take us."
"What?"
The expression on Ava's face visibly froze. She looked up, staring in surprise at the two children sitting obediently with their heads down, as if waiting for her to scold them.
Disbelief flashed in her eyes.
"You're saying Joshua didn't take you, but you went to the Thomas Villa on your own?"
Ava almost doubted she had heard wrong and asked again.
Finn and Cleo felt even more guilty. They nodded and said weakly, "Mommy, we're sorry."