Chapter 153
Ella was afraid Dorian might run out and get into trouble, so she told him to stay put for now.
She felt she still needed to gather materials to sue Joshua for custody.
After all, she couldn't really let Dorian stay with Joshua forever!
And she couldn't go begging Joshua again either.
After ending the video call with Dorian, Ella turned to Zachary.
"Zachary, show me the materials you prepared before for the custody lawsuit. Let's see what needs to be added."
She would find the best lawyer to fight this case.
Dorian had been hers since birth—she would definitely win this lawsuit.
She just hoped Joshua wouldn't mix this matter up with their business cooperation, or things would get really tricky.
Zachary asked her, "You're still going to sue?"
Ella nodded, "I have to sue. I can't wait for Dorian to grow up and come back on his own."
That would take too long.
She couldn't live without Dorian.
"Okay, I'll have the lawyer prepare everything and bring it over."
When the lawyer came with the materials and Ella found no issues, she had the lawyer file the lawsuit at court the next day.
This news quickly reached Joshua's ears.
When he was leaving work that day, Brian reported to him, "Mr. Thomas, Ms. Garcia has filed a lawsuit with the court, trying to get back custody of Dorian."
Joshua wasn't surprised at all.
Ella was heartless and had no feelings left for him.
Even though he didn't hold her hurting him against her and let her go, she still wanted to take Dorian back.
But what did she have to fight him with?
Joshua told Brian, "Have the lawyer prepare materials to respond to the lawsuit."
He didn't even need to get involved—his people would win this case.
When he got home and saw Ava reading with Dorian, Joshua walked over and asked, "Did anyone from the Lewis family come by today?"
Ava shook her head, "No."
"Did they call?"
Ava shook her head again, then thought of something and told the truth, "But Dorian asked me for my phone, said he missed his mom and wanted to call her, so I gave it to him. He stayed in his room with the phone for quite a while before coming out. I don't know what he talked about with his mom."
Joshua looked at Dorian and pulled out his own phone, handing it to him.
"Call your mom now and tell her this is the last time you two will talk. Tell her I said she'll never see you again for the rest of her life."
He'd been considerate of their past relationship and allowed Dorian to talk to Ella.
But Ella was thinking about taking Dorian back from him.
Since she wanted so badly to take Dorian away and go live with Zachary, he didn't need to be polite to her anymore.
"What do you mean?"
Dorian took the phone, looking at Joshua's cold expression with some worry.
Joshua stared at him and said, "Your mom wants to fight me for you, so you tell her—the more she does this, the less I'll let you see her."
"If she can actually win against me, I'll give her credit for that."
If he didn't teach Ella a lesson, she'd really think she was capable of anything.
Ava was afraid Joshua's attitude would scare Dorian, so she quickly reminded him, "Joshua, why are you saying all this to Dorian? He's only three years old, what does he understand?"
"He's smart. Mom, step aside and let him talk to his mom slowly. Anyway, this is the last time they'll talk."
With that, Joshua turned and left the children's room.
Ava comforted Dorian with a few words, then followed him out.
Ella, who had just gotten home from work, saw it was Joshua calling.
Knowing Joshua must have received the court summons and was calling her about it.
Ella answered the call.
But Dorian's little face appeared on the phone screen again, looking worried as he called out, "Mommy, are you going to sue that bad guy to get me back?"
Ella hadn't expected Joshua to give the phone to Dorian. Hearing his question, she comforted him, "Don't be scared, Dorian. Mommy will definitely get you back."
It might take a little time.
Exactly how long, she wasn't sure.
Dorian said worriedly, "That bad guy just gave me the phone and told me to tell you that if you fight him for me, he'll never let us see each other again from now on, and won't let me call you either."
"Mommy, Mr. Harris told me the bad guy is the most powerful person in Emerald City. We can't beat him. Why don't you stop suing him? I'll find my own way back to you."
Joshua couldn't keep him locked up at home forever.
He'd have to let him out eventually.
Or send him to school.
As long as he had a chance to go out, he could run away and hide.
Then no one would find him, and he could secretly go back to Ella.
Ella fell silent.
She hadn't expected that just filing a lawsuit would make Joshua so angry.
Not letting her see Dorian, not allowing phone calls—did he think this would make her give up the lawsuit?
That was impossible.
Ella still didn't feel safe about Dorian coming back to her. Even if he came back, Joshua would just take him away again.
Only by using legal means to get custody of Dorian would Joshua have no right to take him.
Ella comforted Dorian, "Dorian, be good and stay there waiting for mommy. Don't run out on your own—you're still small and could easily run into bad people."
Dorian had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Afraid he really wouldn't see Ella again, he held the phone, reluctant to hang up.
But Joshua didn't give him much time. He soon came in and took the phone away.
Seeing he was still cold, like someone owed him money, Dorian looked at him unhappily.
"Can't you and my mom just get along peacefully? If you let me go back to my mom, when I grow up, I'll still be good to you."
"But if you keep me here and won't let me see my mom, I'll just hate you more and more. When I grow up, I'll still go back to mommy."
Joshua didn't act like a father at all.
He wasn't good to him and Aurora before, and now he was treating him this way.
A father like this—Dorian looked down on him from the bottom of his heart.
He wasn't even half as good as Zachary.
Joshua looked at Dorian.
What he wanted wasn't a child to be good to him.
What he wanted was for Ella to come back, for the three of them to live happily together.
But Ella refused. Even though he didn't care about her and Zachary, she still wanted to sue for Dorian.
Since Ella was so cold-hearted, naturally he couldn't lose.
"I'm doing this to give you a healthy living environment. No matter how you treat me in the future, as your father, I can't let you go right now."
Joshua dropped these words and turned to leave.
Dorian had said to live peacefully with Ella.
But Ella wasn't willing.
It was Ella who wanted to oppose him, so he could only fight back.
Dorian watched Joshua's retreating back, his little face instantly darkening.
He had to leave as soon as possible and get back to Ella.
Otherwise, if his custody really ended up in Joshua's hands, that would be trouble.
To make Jasper and Ava let their guard down, after Joshua went to the office, Dorian acted cute and sweet in every way, hoping to get Jasper and Ava to take him out.
They were still worried and kept refusing.
So Dorian started crying, saying he dreamed of Aurora again and really wanted to visit her grave.
He also said he would be good and obedient.
Ava thought that if she brought several more bodyguards to take Dorian to the cemetery and didn't let the child out of her sight, it should be fine.
She already felt guilty toward Dorian.
Seeing Dorian crying and begging while holding her, Ava couldn't stand it and agreed to take him out.
At the Lewis Group building.
During work, Ella kept feeling uneasy.
Like something bad was about to happen.
She picked up her phone wanting to call and check on Dorian, but couldn't get through.
This time, Joshua had blocked her.
She couldn't get through to Ava either.
Just as she was worried that Joshua would never let her talk to Dorian on the phone again, Zachary pushed the door open, his expression somewhat grave, "Ella, I need to discuss something with you."
Ella looked at him, "Go ahead."
Zachary walked over, his fingers gripping his phone a bit hard. After a long pause, he said, "My mom was in a car accident. She's not going to make it. Can you come back with me?"
He knew Ella was in the middle of a lawsuit with Joshua and it wasn't convenient to leave.
But his mother was in critical condition and just wanted him to bring his wife home to see her.
He had no other choice but to ask Ella's opinion.
For anything else, Ella would have refused.
But hearing that Zachary's mother was in a car accident, she agreed without thinking, "Okay, arrange a flight quickly. We'll leave tonight or tomorrow."
Zachary was somewhat moved, "You're really willing to come back with me?"
Ella nodded, "Didn't you say mom was in a car accident and won't make it? For something this serious, we definitely need to go as soon as possible."
She said "mom," not "your mom."
This made Zachary feel for the first time that Ella was truly his wife.
Even though they hadn't consummated their marriage, even though he always felt deep down that they would eventually separate.
But at least, in this moment, Ella truly saw him as her husband.
He hurried to prepare for their departure.
That afternoon.
Just as Ava was taking Dorian back from the cemetery, Dorian ran away.
When no one was paying attention, he suddenly darted into a small grove nearby.
By the time the bodyguards reacted and gave chase, not only couldn't they catch him, they lost him.
Ava was so scared she couldn't stop crying.
Crying alone in the car, she called Joshua.
When the call connected, Ava said in a trembling, tearful voice, "Joshua, send more people to the cemetery quickly. Dorian is missing."
Joshua hadn't even left work yet.
Hearing what Ava said, he couldn't believe it.
"Dorian is missing? Didn't I tell you not to let him go out? Who let you take him to the cemetery?"
He knew Dorian was full of tricks.
If he wanted to go to the cemetery, it was definitely to find a chance to run.
Dorian was such a small child—if he got lost and something happened, if he ended up like Aurora, what would they do?
Joshua immediately rushed out, instructing Brian to send people while speeding toward the cemetery himself.
He had already lost one daughter. Dorian was his only child. If something happened to him on his watch, Ella would hate him to death.
On the way to the cemetery, Joshua drove himself, the tires practically smoking.