Chapter 155
Joshua got slapped twice by Ella in less than two hours.
He felt wronged and upset, but since it was Ava who lost Dorian, he had no complaints.
After dropping Ella off at home and confirming Dorian hadn't returned, he left dejectedly to continue the search.
He gave himself one week—if he couldn't find Dorian, he would atone with his life.
When Ella learned Dorian hadn't come back, she collapsed onto the sofa with Rhea's support, completely drained.
She had no idea where Dorian could be.
They'd searched all night without a single lead.
She was terrified Dorian might never come back.
Rhea knew Ella was devastated and held her, trying to comfort her, "Didn't you report it to the police? Maybe they'll find him and bring him back."
"Ella, you need to take care of yourself. You can't break down."
Heath also said, "Why don't you go rest in your room? You probably haven't slept all night, have you?"
But how could Ella sleep?
She kept thinking—was this punishment from heaven for causing Scarlett's child's death?
Taking away her two children so cruelly.
Ella clutched her phone, staring at the screen over and over, desperately hoping Dorian would use someone else's phone to call her, just to let her know he was still alive.
"Ella, go rest in your room. We'll send more people to search."
Seeing Ella's pale face and vacant expression, Rhea felt heartbroken and helped her up.
Ella didn't even have the strength to stand, let alone walk.
In the end, Heath had to carry her upstairs.
Mason had also heard about Dorian's disappearance. Despite hating Ella for causing his child's death, he was upset about Dorian too and had sent people to help search.
For three whole days, they searched the entire mountain area around the cemetery and checked all surveillance footage, but there was still no news of Dorian.
Ella fell seriously ill.
She had just gotten out of the police station, and now with Dorian missing, she fell into unconsciousness.
Heath and Rhea were so heartbroken they couldn't help crying.
But this was a sickness of the heart—even the doctors who came to see her were helpless.
After Zachary's mother Lavinia passed away and he went to Eldoria, he avoided calling Ella much, worried it would make her sad for him.
He only called Heath and Rhea, and when he heard there was no news of Dorian, he worried too.
But he had to stay home for Lavinia's funeral and couldn't come back.
Since Ava had lost Dorian, she blamed herself and fell ill too.
Joshua, who was already injured, hadn't slept at all these past days and looked completely haggard.
He also collapsed from exhaustion during the search for Dorian.
Dorian's disappearance had made several people seriously ill.
Just when everyone had no leads and thought Dorian might be like Aurora and never come back, on the fifth night, Ella's phone rang.
In her daze, she answered.
From the phone came Dorian's childish voice.
"Mommy, come get me. Come quietly, don't let that bad guy know."
Hearing Dorian's voice, Ella sat up suddenly, crying tears of joy.
"Dorian, is it really you? Where are you? Are you okay?"
Dorian's voice was cheerful and strong, "I'm fine, Mommy. I'll send you my location, just come quietly to get me."
Ella quickly agreed. No matter how weak her body was, she forced herself up to rush to the location Dorian sent.
On her way downstairs, she grabbed a piece of bread from the kitchen and drove away from the villa alone late at night.
When Heath and Rhea heard the noise and got up, Ella was already gone.
They worried about Ella and called her.
Hearing that Ella had news of Dorian, they felt relieved but didn't dare make it public, afraid Joshua would snatch Dorian away.
Dorian's location wasn't far.
It was in a small village less than ten miles from the cemetery.
When Ella arrived, it was 3 AM.
Following the GPS, she found the house where Dorian was and knocked on the door.
An old woman in her sixties or seventies opened the door. She looked somewhat wary when she saw Ella and asked coldly, "Who are you looking for?"
Ella's voice trembled, "Hello, is Dorian here? A three-year-old boy?"
Dorian had told her this was the place.
It shouldn't be wrong.
Ella was nervous and scared.
Scared this was a dream, scared she wouldn't see Dorian here.
Just as the old woman was still hesitant, Dorian's voice came from inside the house, "Mommy."
He rushed over, hugging Ella's legs, calling out sweetly, "Mommy, I finally escaped to see you. Mommy, aren't I amazing?"
Ella looked down and saw it really was Dorian, who had been missing for days. They had gone crazy searching for him, never expecting he was less than ten miles from the cemetery.
She crouched down and hugged Dorian tightly, tears streaming down her face.
"You naughty child, didn't Mommy tell you not to run off? Do you know how worried Mommy has been these past days?"
"You scared Mommy to death."
At this moment, feeling Dorian in her arms, smelling his familiar scent and feeling his warm body temperature, Ella finally felt at peace.
Her Dorian was safe, her Dorian had come back.
Holding Dorian tight, she couldn't bear to let go for even a second.
Afraid that if she loosened her grip, Dorian would disappear again.
But her crying made Dorian feel bad. He freed his arms and wiped the tears from Ella's face.
"Don't cry, Mommy. I know it was my fault for making you worry."
"But I didn't want to be with that bad guy. They wouldn't let me contact you. I missed you, so I had to find a way to escape and find you."
Dorian also felt wronged, pouting as if about to cry too.
Ella couldn't bear to scold him anymore and hugged him tightly again.
"I'm sorry, it's Mommy's fault. Mommy couldn't keep you by her side."
"No, it's that bad guy's fault. I just wanted him not to find me, to make him think I was dead."
Dorian took Ella's hand and led her inside.
A little girl, about four or five years old, was leaning by the door, staring at them with bright eyes.
Ella followed him in and saw the old woman bringing her water.
She quickly took it with both hands and bowed sincerely to the old woman, thanking her, "Thank you for saving my son, thank you."
The old woman gestured for her to sit and sat down herself.
"This child is very smart. He came to my house asking for food and told us human traffickers were looking for him, asking us not to tell anyone."
"He's been hiding in the house all these days. The police did come looking for him, but we were afraid they might be bad people pretending to be police, so we didn't say anything."
"Thank goodness you finally came. Seeing you two reunited, I can rest easy."
After hearing this, Ella couldn't help pulling Dorian into her arms again, her voice still hoarse, "Those police weren't bad people pretending. When Mommy couldn't find you, I reported it to the police so they could help search."
Dorian looked like he understood and insisted, "If those police had taken me away, that bad guy would have known I was okay and would have caught me again."
"I deliberately didn't want the police or firefighters to find me. Mommy, take me away. Let's go abroad with Daddy, then that bad guy won't be able to find us."
Anyway, Dorian didn't want to be separated from Ella again.
He was afraid that if they kept separating, he'd never see Ella again.
In this world, he only loved Ella, no one else.
Ella's heart stirred, and she choked out, "Okay, we'll go abroad to find Zachary."
To thank the old woman for sheltering Dorian, Ella went to her car and got a stack of money to give her.
Seeing the little girl nearby, she had nothing else to give, so she took off her bracelet and gave it to her. After patting her head, she prepared to leave with Dorian.
Before leaving, Dorian ran to the little girl, held her small hand and said, "I'm too young now and have to leave, but you stay here and grow up. When I grow up, I'll come back to find you."
Dorian pointed at the bracelet Ella gave her.
"Remember, keep this safe. This is a token my mother gave you, proof for us to recognize each other in the future."
The little girl seemed to understand and nodded.
To save time and avoid being discovered, Ella hurried away with Dorian.
After all, Joshua had been posting announcements everywhere through the media to find Dorian, offering a ten million dollar reward.
If Joshua found out about Dorian's whereabouts, he would definitely take him away by force.
On the way back, Ella thought of that little girl and asked Dorian, "Is that little girl important to you? You want to come back and find her when you grow up?"
Dorian smiled shyly, "Mommy, don't you think she's cute? Like my sister."
Ella frowned. That child didn't look anything like Aurora.
She didn't think they were alike at all.
Dorian continued, "During these days at their house, she's been taking care of me, helping her grandmother send away those police officers."
"She's even more pitiful than me—no father or mother, only a grandmother, and she can't speak."
During his days at the old woman's house, he had examined the little girl—her vocal cords were damaged.
Dorian had done some treatment, but didn't know if it would help.
But he didn't have time to see if she got better.
He had to leave quickly, or that bad guy would definitely come back looking for him.
Ella was somewhat surprised.
So Dorian was showing gratitude.
That little girl had such a pitiful background.
She would definitely have Rhea come take the child to the hospital for a checkup.
When mother and son arrived at the Lewis family home, it wasn't yet dawn.
Heath and Rhea were overjoyed to see Ella had really brought Dorian back, and kept hugging and kissing him.
Ella told them, "I want to take Dorian to Eldoria. Dad, can you arrange it for us as soon as possible?"
Hearing this, Heath and Rhea exchanged glances and asked reluctantly, "Are you going there for a few days because of Zachary's mother's death and then coming back, or are you planning not to come back at all?"
Ella told them the truth, "I'm afraid Joshua will take my Dorian away again. I want to go and not come back."
The couple fell silent, wanting to keep Ella but afraid of what happened these past days happening again.
They had seen it all—Ella had gotten so sick over Dorian that she collapsed.
For Ella and Dorian's sake, they had to let go despite the pain.
"Alright, I'll have someone prepare the plane right away. You can leave at dawn."