Chapter 163
"What did you say?"
Brian could hardly believe it - Joshua had been shot and thrown into the sea?
Could he possibly still be alive?
Ella was filled with guilt. "I'm sorry. The day he came with me, he was shot three times, then dragged away. Michael said they threw him in the sea. I don't know if he's dead or alive."
Brian's voice grew hoarse with anxiety. "You need to get Aurora and leave with them right away. Leave the rest to me. Whether Mr. Thomas is dead or alive, I'll find him."
Ella didn't dare delay, afraid of causing Brian trouble. She quickly left with his people.
She didn't expect that when they arrived at the airport with Aurora, it would be Zachary waiting for them.
Seeing the mother and daughter, Zachary rushed over to take Aurora in his arms, his eyes reddening.
"Aurora, you're really here. Thank God."
Aurora still remembered him and called out softly, "Uncle Zachary, why are you here? Please take Mom and me home. I want to see Dorian."
"Okay, let's go home right now."
After getting them on the plane, seeing Ella's grief-stricken expression, Zachary asked, "Where's Joshua? Didn't he come with you? Why isn't he with you?"
Ella didn't dare think about what might have happened to Joshua.
She was afraid he was dead.
But he'd been shot three times - there was no way he could survive.
Her heart ached as if pierced by needles. She told Zachary the truth, "He's probably already dead."
Zachary was shocked, staring at Ella. "What do you mean?"
Ella said, "The day we arrived, Michael shot him three times, then threw him in the sea."
She believed that someone as brutal as Michael wouldn't let Joshua survive.
Joshua must no longer be in this world.
Joshua was dead.
Thinking of this outcome, Ella's eyes reddened again.
Aurora, sitting on Zachary's lap, corrected her unhappily, "My daddy will be fine. He'll definitely be okay. Daddy is a superhero, he'll come back to find me."
Ella took Aurora in her arms, lowering her head to nuzzle her. Thinking that Joshua definitely wouldn't come back, tears suddenly streamed down her face, unstoppable.
Zachary hadn't expected things to become this serious.
Seeing Ella sad over Joshua, his heart felt sour. He embraced the mother and daughter.
"Aurora's right. Joshua will be fine. He'll definitely come back alive."
Ella knew the chances of that were slim.
Only she knew how seriously Joshua was injured - shot in both legs and his waist. Without any medical treatment, he couldn't possibly last twenty-four hours.
And it had already been several days.
Ella didn't understand why she suddenly cared so much about him.
During the several-hour flight, she remained worried and didn't close her eyes once.
They arrived in Emerald City and returned to the Lewis family.
Everyone was thrilled to learn Aurora had come back alive.
They all surrounded Aurora, hugging and kissing her.
Even Jasper and Ava came over.
Ella let them keep Aurora company, fussing over her, while she went back to her room alone to call Brian.
It was already noon the next day.
But the calls she made went unanswered.
Her heart remained suspended in worry.
Zachary came to her side, asking with concern, "Are you worried about him?"
Since he'd seen Ella, even with Aurora by her side, Ella had looked worried and sad.
He had thought that after Ella hurt Joshua, she truly had no feelings for him anymore, that she wouldn't care what happened to Joshua.
But now, seeing Ella so troubled over Joshua made him feel very insecure.
Ella snapped back to reality and put away her phone. "I just wanted to ask Brian if he'd found him."
"You're still worried about him, aren't you?" Zachary pressed.
Ella avoided his gaze and didn't deny it.
She admitted she was worried about Joshua, truly afraid he would never come back.
After all, Aurora still had Joshua in her heart. When Aurora asked for her father, how would she explain it to her?
However, her silence pulled Zachary back to reality.
He finally realized that hoping for a happy marriage with Ella was simply wishful thinking.
The child wasn't his, and Ella didn't have him in her heart.
So what was the point of his existence as a husband?
Zachary smiled faintly, hiding his disappointment, but still comforted Ella first, "Don't worry, Joshua will definitely come back alive. He's tough - he won't die."
Ella murmured in agreement and turned to leave.
When she went downstairs to the living room, Ava came over very politely.
"Ella, I heard Joshua went with you. How come you and Aurora came back, but Joshua didn't come back with you?"
When the Lewis family had said Aurora was still alive, she hadn't believed it.
Then Joshua had quietly gone abroad with Ella.
These past few days, they hadn't been able to contact Joshua at all.
Fortunately, Ella really had brought Aurora back.
Not seeing Joshua made Ava uneasy, so she wanted to ask why he hadn't come back with them.
Ella remained silent, not knowing how to tell the elders about Joshua being shot.
If they knew Joshua might not come back, Jasper and Ava would be devastated.
To give them some hope, Ella had to lie.
"He probably has something to take care of. He'll be back in a few days."
"He's okay, right?"
Ava was still a bit worried.
Ella continued lying, saying Joshua was fine.
But her lie fell apart in just a few days.
A few days later, Joshua was found and brought back, sent to Samuel's hospital.
When Ella received Brian's call and rushed anxiously to the hospital, she ran into Zachary downstairs in the living room, where he was keeping her two children company. Rhea was there too.
Seeing her about to leave, Zachary got up and came over. "Where are you going, Ella? I'll take you."
Ella didn't hide it, telling him truthfully, "Joshua's back. I want to go to the hospital to see him."
Brian hadn't told her about Joshua's condition on the phone.
But she knew it must be bad.
Either way, Joshua had been injured going with her to get Aurora. Out of gratitude, she had to go see whether Joshua was dead or alive.
Knowing Ella had been worried about Joshua these past days, Zachary suppressed his feelings about Ella's concern for Joshua and offered, "I'll take you."
Ella didn't refuse. Just as she was about to tell the children, Aurora called out sweetly, "Mommy, why hasn't Daddy come to get us yet? I miss Daddy. Can you take me to find Daddy?"
Dorian immediately chimed in, "Aurora, Joshua isn't good at all. We don't need him. We have a daddy now. One daddy is enough."
Aurora refused, her big eyes looking pitifully at Ella as she insisted, "Mommy, I want Daddy. I don't want Uncle Zachary to be my daddy. I want my real daddy."
Hearing Aurora call Joshua "Daddy" over and over, Ella's heart stirred. She didn't know how Aurora could be so certain that Joshua was her father.
She crouched down and hugged Aurora, comforting her, "Aurora, be good. Stay home with Dorian and keep Grandma company. Mommy has to go take care of something. When your daddy comes back, I'll have him come see you."
She didn't dare tell the child about Joshua's condition, afraid she would cry.
Aurora was understanding and willing to stay home with Dorian to keep Rhea company.
After leaving with Zachary, Ella could clearly see he was unhappy.
She thought it must be what the child said that bothered him.
She tried to comfort him, "Don't take Aurora's words to heart. Actually, I don't know why she likes Joshua so much either."
Zachary pretended not to care. "It's fine. Kids say silly things. She'll grow out of it."
When they arrived at the hospital, they came to the door of Joshua's ICU.
Brian was keeping watch nearby. Ella went over and asked, "How is Joshua?"
Brian got up from his chair, his face grave. "Dr. Harris said the injuries are too severe. Although he still has a breath of life, the chance of him waking up is less than one percent."
And Joshua's legs were ruined.
Even if he miraculously survived, he would never be able to stand like a normal person again.
Thinking of someone as proud as Joshua having to spend the rest of his life bedridden - his future would be too tragic.
Ella's heart ached as she stepped forward to look through the glass window at the man in the ICU.
He was covered in tubes on the hospital bed, surrounded by various medical equipment running, the heart monitor beeping steadily.
But his face was frighteningly pale, without a trace of color.
With less than a one percent chance of waking up, didn't that make him a vegetable?
Seeing Joshua like that, Ella felt indescribably awful.
If Joshua really couldn't wake up and spent his whole life lying in bed, what difference was there from being dead?
Thinking that Aurora had come back, for some reason, she suddenly didn't want anything to happen to Joshua at all.
She wanted to fulfill Aurora's wish, to let her have a father to love her, care for her, and accompany her as she grew up.
She wanted to tell Joshua herself that she was willing to forgive him.
But could he still hear her forgiveness?
Involuntarily, tears welled up in Ella's eyes.
Watching her heartbroken and crying over Joshua, Zachary felt terrible too.
Yet he had to pretend not to care and comfort her, "He's back, and he's not dead, so there's still hope. Try not to worry!"
The more Ella cared about Joshua like this, the more uneasy he felt.
He kept feeling that Ella, who had finally married him, would still leave him.
Ella knew worrying was useless now.
All she could do was pray and hope that Joshua would be blessed by heaven and miraculously wake up.
When Jasper and Ava learned Joshua was injured and hospitalized, and that it happened because he went to rescue Aurora, they didn't blame Ella or the child.
The elderly couple was really worried about Joshua and took turns keeping watch every day.
Ella also came to the hospital every day to check on him.
Sometimes she would personally wipe Joshua's body and give him massages.
At first, Zachary could understand this behavior.
But as time went on, and Ella still hadn't consummated their marriage, he felt uncomfortable and was no longer willing to foolishly believe that his marriage to Ella would be happy.
Especially since Aurora kept talking about Joshua every day.
She refused to call him daddy.
Zachary knew that for Aurora's sake, Ella would definitely go back to Joshua.
Even though Joshua was now a vegetable.
He didn't want to drag this out anymore.
That evening, Zachary personally drafted divorce papers and came to Ella's side, seeing her getting ready as if to go to the hospital again.
He asked in a low voice, "Ella, are you going to the hospital again to watch over Joshua, to bathe him, and give him massages?"
Ella knew very well that her behavior wasn't right, but Aurora wanted her father.
Aurora had finally come back to her alive - she didn't want to deny her daughter even this small wish.
She was taking care of Joshua, only hoping he would wake up soon.
"Zachary, I'm sorry!" Ella was filled with guilt and didn't dare look directly at Zachary.
Zachary took a deep breath and smiled. "It's okay, I understand you. But before you go, could you sign this agreement for me? Let's go get divorced tomorrow!"
God knows how much it hurt to say those words.
But now, Ella didn't have him in her heart, and Aurora didn't want him as her father either.
Rather than staying and making Ella not know how to choose, it was better for him to make the decision.
"Zachary." Ella was shocked, meeting Zachary's gaze, somewhat surprised by what he was proposing.
Zachary seemed so calm about it. "I know you tried your best in this marriage, but maybe you still have Joshua in your heart. Especially after Aurora came back, you can't hide your concern for him anymore."
"I'm letting you go to follow your heart. Don't feel sorry for me. I don't regret it, and I don't blame you. We just weren't meant to be together."
He handed her the divorce agreement.
Seeing that Zachary had even printed out the agreement and signed it, it would be a lie to say Ella didn't feel guilty.
She didn't know how she'd become so indecisive, how she couldn't let go when it came to Joshua.
Joshua becoming a vegetable for Aurora's sake was just what he should do as a father.
But in her heart, she really did seem to worry about Joshua every day.
How could someone like her deserve to be Zachary's wife?
Ella lowered her head and said sincerely, "I'm sorry!"
Zachary pulled her into his arms, patting her comfortingly, "Don't say sorry. You haven't wronged me. When I married you, I knew you didn't have me in your heart. I thought feelings could grow over time. I guess I was just too naive."
"Let's get divorced. You go do what you want to do. I also feel very guilty about my mother's death. I need to go back to Eldoria. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
Ella didn't know what else to say.
In all the time they'd been married, they'd never once consummated their marriage.
She had wronged Zachary.
Perhaps letting him go was the best choice.
After all, Zachary was still young. He could still remarry and have children, live a normal married life.
And she couldn't have children anymore, and her heart was always thinking of someone else.
How could someone like her have the right to tie Zachary down?
Ella agreed to the divorce.
The next morning, they went to court and got divorced.
Walking out of the courthouse with the divorce certificate, Zachary smiled brightly and cheerfully.
"Ella, I won't go back to the Lewis family with you. I booked a ten o'clock flight. I need to go back to Eldoria. Tell your parents, and Aurora and Dorian, that I'll come visit them when I have time."