Chapter 183
Ella arrived in Eldoria two days early.
Zachary personally picked her up at the airport.
When they met at the airport, the reunion after four years apart stirred up complicated feelings in both of them.
Although their brief marriage had never involved any real intimacy, they had at least meant something to each other.
They embraced in the crowd. Zachary leaned close to Ella's ear, his voice a bit hoarse, "Ella, long time no see."
Ella felt her mood grow heavy and replied softly, "Long time no see."
Zachary disentangled from her hold and looked at her, she had become even more mature and charming than before. His heart still stirred.
He handed her a bouquet of flowers, glanced around, and asked casually, "Why didn't you bring the two of them with you?"
Ella explained, "They're still in school, second grade now.They can’t really take time off."
She reached out to take the flowers, looking at the man she hadn't seen in four years. He seemed much steadier now, though he wasstill young and handsome.
Zachary understood.
Knowing Ella must be exhausted from the journey, he led her to the car and headed straight to the hotel.
Megan stayed by Ella's side the whole time.
After learning that she was Ella's assistant, Zachary treated her politely as well.
He arranged for Ella and Megan to stay in the presidential suite at the best hotel. Worried they wouldbe tired, he had the staff bring food up to their room.
After Ella had eaten and rested, Zachary asked, " Do you want to go out for a walk with me?"
It was already evening.
Ella wanted some fresh air, so she agreed.
When asked, Megan tactfully said she'd rather not go, so Ella and Zachary went out together.
They didn't go far, just walking around the park near the hotel.
Walking under the streetlights by the river, Zachary asked in a low voice, "Did you remarry Joshua?"
Ella hadn't expected Zachary to bring up Joshua, though it wasn't strange that he would. After all, in Zachary's eyes, their divorce must have been because of Joshua.
Who could blame him for thinking that, when back then she had tocare for Joshua, who was in a coma and paralyzed?
She shook her head and told Zachary, "No."
"Why not? As far as I know, Joshua has recovered and gone back to the company. You took care of him for so long—you must still have feelings for him. Why aren't you two together?"
Back then, he hadn’t realized how jealous he was of Joshua's existence.
Even now, Joshua still bothered him.
Zachary thought that if he had the chance, he'd show Ella how much better he was than Joshua.
He wanted to ask if she'd ever regretted divorcing him, even for a moment.
But he couldn't ask that now.
It would be too obvious.
Ella told the truth, " I’venever thought about being with Joshua."
Sometimes her interactions with Joshua were just for Aurora's sake.
Aurora had come back to her from the dead—she treasured that, so any request Aurora made, as long as it wasn't too unreasonable, she tried to fulfill if possible.
That's what a mother should do.
Zachary was somewhat surprised. "You two aren't together? Has Joshua given up then?"
In his view, someone with Joshua's personality would never let go easily.
He was probably still shamelessly pestering Ella even now.
Ella didn't want to talk about Joshua. She walked ahead slowly, changing the subject.
"Zachary, why didn't you bring your wife and kids today so I could meet them?"
She turned around to face Zachary, who stood behind her in a gray suit, still looking distinguished, and said with a smile, "Anyone you'd agree to marry must be an exceptional woman. I'm really curious what she's like."
Zachary's expression darkened, his eyes like deep unfathomable pools.
He told the truth, "I don't have a wife."
Ella was shocked and stopped walking. "How is that possible? So what you told me before about getting married and having kids—was that all a lie?”
They'd been in touch before.
Zachary had told her his wife had given birth to two sons.
He was now the father of two sons.
How could he not have a wife?
Zachary told her, "I do have two children, but no wife. The woman only helped me have the children.She disappeared after they were born."
The meaning was clear enough—surrogacy.
He hadn't even touched that woman.
But he had to have children.
That was the only way to secure his current position.
Ella was deeplyshocked.
She wasn't stupid—she understood what Zachary meant.
She never imagined that the gentle, polite Zachary would do something illegal.
But thinking it over, this was Eldoria, where surrogacy was legal.
After all, the Baker family was complicated. To secure power, oneneeded to marry strategically.
Strategic marriages weren't that simple, so Zachary just chose to have kids and find some random woman to fill the role of his wife.
That way, the family elders had nothing to say.
Ella didn't know what to say.
But Zachary stared at her, his eyes full of affection, "Ella, what if I told you I still have feelings for you? That even though I have my own children now, these four years I haven’t forgotten you, never let you go—what would you think?"
It was precisely because he had feelings for Ella that he had children without ever touching another woman.
He knew very well that Ella couldn't have children anymore.
But to stay in the Baker family and secure his position, he had to have children to silence the family elders.
Now learning that Ella hadn't remarried Joshua and they weren't together, he suddenly feltthat he might still havea chance.
Ella felt a bit dazed.
She hadn't expected that Zachary,who had kept in touch with her as a friend these four years, would talk to her about feelings again.
She avoided Zachary's gaze and said tactfully, "I'm not in the mood to think about these things right now."
"Do you mind that I havechildrenwith another woman? The children were conceivedthrough IVF—I didn't touch any woman," Zachary explained.
Hearing it was IVF, Ella found it even more unbelievable.
But she still shook her headand said calmly,"Zachary, I think our current relationship is fine. I don't want to date anyone or let any man into my life."
Being busy with work and spending time with her two childrenwas enough for her.
She had no energy to get tangled up with men.
Whether it was Joshua orZachary, , she didn't want to talk about feelings with either of them.
After receiving Ella’s rejection, Zachary smiled bitterly.
Though he should have known this would be the result, he still felt unwilling to accept it.
In all of Eldoria, he had power and influence. He could have any woman he wanted.
There was nothing he couldn't do if he set his mind to it.
Yet with Ella, he couldn't get anything he wanted.
Zachary felt a sour ache in his heart and asked her, "Are you not interested in any man right now, or have you never been interested in me?"
Ella told the truth, "I'm like this with any man. It's not about you."
Zachary understood.
But he still felt unwilling to accept it.
Especially now, Ella was even more mature and confident than before, radiating a powerful charm.
In addition, she held a high position, above countless others, with immense wealth earned through her intelligence.
A woman like this—winning her would be like conquering the entire world. What a sense of achievement that would be.
There was no rush. He'd take his time.
"Are you tired, Ella? Let me take you back to the hotel to rest," Zachary suggested.
Seeing it was getting late, Ella agreed.
Zachary escorted her to the door of her hotel room before leaving.
Over the next two days, they had meals together and revisited places where theyhad once explored.
Two dayslater, TK Group’s annual gala took place.
It was held at the international six-star hotel where Ella was staying.
Only the wealthy and powerful could enter the venue—everyone there was worth billions or more.
Even Megan couldn't go in.
So Megan could only wait for Ella in theirroom.
Ella wore a wine-red strapless gown and high heels, entering the venue on the arm ofZachary, who wore a white suit.They quickly drew everyone's attention.
Board members came up to greet them one after another.
While talking with the board members, Ella was handed glass after glass of wine.
Although she hadlearned to drink and had built up immunity to her allergen, her alcohol tolerance was still poor.
She wasn't sure whethersomething had been put in the drinks.
Near the end of the banquet, as she sat listeningto a TK Group's board member give a thank-you speech, Ella really couldn't take it anymore. She tugged at Zachary beside her.
"Zachary, take me back to my room. I'm not feeling well."
Seeing her flushed face and unfocused eyes, Zachary quickly stood up and helped her leave.
Before they even reached her room,while they werestill in the hallway, Ella couldn't hold on anymore. She turned to face Zachary, cupped his face, and kissed him directly.
But Zachary stopped her.
Zachary forcefully pulled Ella away and stared at her, asking, "Ella, look carefully—who am I? You'll regret doing this."
Ella had definitely been drugged.
She felt as if she were in a desert, her whole body burning hot like it was on fire.
She had lost her reason, her mind was in chaos—she just wanted to find some coolness to ease the burning inside her.
She had no idea who was in front of her. Acting purely on instinct, she grabbed him again and kissed him passionately.
Zachary struggled a few more times, but in the end Ella pushed him into a nearby room.
Once inside, Zachary took control, pressing Ella against the wall and kissing her hard, his hands pulling off her dress.
Then he shoved her onto the bed. Watching her writhing urgently on the bed, he could no longer hold back.
He quickly undid his clothing and was about to pounce when the room door was suddenly kicked open.
Zachary jumped in shock and turned his head. Before he could see who it was, he took a hard punch to the eye.
Caught off guard, he fell to the floor. When he got up and looked,he saw that the person was actually Joshua.
Zachary was furious with embarrassment. Covering his bruised eye and wincing in pain, he was utterly humiliated.
"Joshua, are you tired of living?"
Joshua quickly wrapped Ella inhis jacketand picked her up to leave, but Zachary blocked them.
"Think you can just leave? You think this is some place where you can come and go as you please?"
He'd almost had Ella.
He had been so close.
Who knew Joshua would show up out of nowhere?
It was as if he had been watching them the whole time, appearing at the perfect moment.
Joshua held Ella, struggling to stay composed as he looked at Zachary.
"She trusted you so much, yet you conspired with others to set her up. Zachary, if you'd touched her tonight, do you think she wouldn't kill you when she woke up?"
He knew it—a man who could rule the entire Baker family couldn't be a good person.
Maybe the old Zachary was genuinely good, but times had changed.
The current Zachary's eyes held only profit and desire—when he wanted something, he'd stop at nothing to get it.
Ella was his first love, so naturally, he couldn't let her go.
He couldn’t let her go and couldn’t have her, so he could only resort to schemes.
Ella had been too foolish, actually trusting this man.
Zachary didn't know how Joshua had learned of his scheme.
He watched Ella in Joshua's arms, having already lost her reason, clutching his neck and kissing him wildly. He reached out to snatch her back. "This is none of your business. Give me Ella."
Joshua kicked him away, his eyes sharp as knives. "Zachary, don't make me call the police."
Zachary laughed. "Call the police? You think this is where? Emerald City?"
"Joshua, since you dared to come abroad, I'll make sure you never return. Believe it or not, I'll notify Michael right now—he's the one who'd love nothing more than to tear you to pieces."
Joshua was still being kissed passionately by Ella in his arms.
He couldn't stop her.
And he couldn't put Ella down either.
Otherwise, he'd have no way to take her away.
Looking at Zachary, he could hardly believe it.
"You actually joined forces with Michael."
Zachary didn't deny it. "What else? How do you think I got to where I am today?"
"I'll be honest with you—neither you nor Ella can leave this hotel today. Inside and out, my people have the place surrounded."
He was confident, certain of success.
But Joshua didn't take him seriously at all, and told him so.
"If I can be here, I'm not afraid of you joining forces with anyone."
With that, he stillcarried Ella away by force.
Ella had completely lost her reason, her mind in chaos, her body burning hotas if it would explode.
Finally, amid all the friction, she touched something cool, so she grabbed onto it and kept kissing it.
Little did she know she was kissing Joshua's lips.
Joshua could feel that Ella's body was burning hot, desperate for release.
He had to get her out of there quickly, or the consequences would be unthinkable.
Because Joshua had prepared everything before coming, he able to walkout openly.
Zachary was furious. He grabbed his phone to order his men to stop Joshua.
But his phone had no signal.
He couldn't even notify Michael right away.
He hurriedly got dressed and rushed out.
He went to find the bodyguards he had stationed in advance.
But in the emergency stairwell, he found his bodyguards already knocked out.
Zachary was livid. He had no choice but to leave the hotel first.
By the time he got outside, Joshua had already disappeared from the hotel area with Megan and Ella.