Chapter 185
Joshua cleaned up the cave floor, used his clothes to cushion the rocks, and gestured for Ella to come sit and rest.
He then took out bread and water from his bag and handed them to Ella.
"We might have to stay here for a few days. Conditions will be tough, sorry about that."
Ella reached out to take the food, feeling somewhat moved by Joshua's actions.
Ella thought that if Zachary had drugged her and they’d ended up sleeping together, she might not even have the courage to live with it afterward.
And if she'd fallen into Michael's hands, the consequences would have been even worse.
But none of that happened.
All because Joshua showed up and saved her in time.
Ella couldn't deny that what Joshua had done for her really touched her heart.
Looking at him now, she asked, "I treated you so badly before, why did you still help me?"
"Shouldn't you have let me learn my lesson the hard way?"
Before coming here, Joshua had warned her that Zachary might have changed, that he was no longer the man she once knew.
He was worried about danger and told her not to come.
But she didn't listen.
Even now, she still found it hard to believe that Zachary would scheme against her.
But the recording in Joshua's hand proved it was all true.
Sometimes, Ella felt that if anything ever happened to her, it would have been her own fault for always misjudging people.
Joshua looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "You're the mother of my children, how could I not help you?"
"More importantly, I love you. Even if you don't love me back and keep pushing me away, I’ll always stand by your side whenever you’re in danger—no matter when or where. Even if it costs me my life, I'll protect you."
He meant every word.
He used to be blind, never seeing Ella's good qualities.
Always believing what others said, always misunderstanding Ella.
Later, he got what he deserved.
He had told himself that if given the chance, he would make it up to Ella and the two children.
Now that he had the chance, he naturally had to keep his word.
Ella felt warmth in her chest, a wave of emotion rising up.
She buried her head and ate, her feelings suddenly becoming very complicated.
Joshua rose to his feet and said, “Stay here and don’t move. I’m going outside to check the surroundings."
Ella saw that this place was completely deserted, and they were in a foreign country.
Fearing Michael and Zachary's people were outside looking for them, she instinctively reached out and grabbed Joshua's hand.
"Can you not go?" She was quite scared.
She was afraid Joshua would get caught again, nearly dying like last time.
She couldn't owe him anything more.
Joshua looked down at Ella, holding his hand, warmth flowing through his heart.
He simply sat back down and nodded. "Okay, I won't go. Don't be scared, I'm here."
Ella felt a bit embarrassed and lowered her head again.
After taking two bites of the bread, she handed it to Joshua. "You eat some too. I'm not that hungry."
Joshua pushed it back. "I'm not hungry, you eat."
"Then let's split it." Ella tore the bread in half and also handed him the water bottle she'd drunk from.
Joshua didn't refuse.
He was more than happy to eat what Ella had eaten.
He took it, and even though it was just ordinary bread and water, somehow it felt sweet.
Seeing that Ella's attitude toward him had clearly changed, he felt everything he'd done was worth it.
Outside, dark clouds gathered, and strong winds blew—it looked like heavy rain was coming.
Ella couldn't help but shrink back, clearly feeling cold.
Joshua noticed this carefully. Thinking that the bag was full of food with no extra clothes.
They couldn't start a fire at this time either, or they'd be easily discovered.
He tentatively invited Ella, "If you're cold, I could hold you."
Hearing this, Ella quickly shook her head. "I'm fine."
But she was still worried. "If we stay here overnight, what will we do when it gets pitch dark? And if it starts raining, it'll be even colder."
Joshua had thought of that too.
He stood up and took Ella’s hand. “Then let’s go outside and gather some firewood. If it rains, the fire won’t be seen."
Worried that Ella would be scared staying in the cave alone, he could only take her with him.
Ella didn't refuse.
But she didn't take his hand either, getting up on her own and walking toward the cave entrance.
Joshua smiled and followed her.
The two of them collected quite a bit of dry wood before the rain started.
They also picked some wild bananas.
Once it started raining, Joshua began making a fire.
Ella sat nearby watching.
She hadn't expected Joshua—a rich kid born with a silver spoon— to have such survival skills in the wild.
He wasn't afraid of getting dirty or working hard, kneeling on the ground as he carefully blew on a small spark. His posture looked clumsy, almost a little pathetic.
Ella wanted to use her phone to take a picture, but realized her phone wasn't with her.
But Joshua's was right there.
She picked it up, but didn't know the password.
Just as she was about to put it back, Joshua saw what she was doing and told her, "The password is your birthday."
Ella paused, somewhat disbelieving.
But when she entered her birthday, the screen actually unlocked.
She didn't understand. "Why would you use my birthday? Don't you have your own birthday, or any other numbers?"
What was Joshua thinking?
She'd treated him so badly before.
Why would even something as private as his phone password be related to her?
Did he really love her that much?
Joshua continued tending the fire, not looking at her, and said sincerely.
"From the moment I learned the two children were mine, I wanted to give you everything and do anything for you."
"Something like a phone password is just a way to remind myself every day to love you a little more."
This guy was getting more and more sappy.
Love her? After hurting her so much before, not trusting her at all.
With some resentment, she opened the camera and took an embarrassing photo of Joshua.
She was going to send it to Aurora.
But there was no internet, and no signal either.
Right, this was a foreign country.
How could Joshua's domestic SIM card work here?
She was about to put the phone back when she accidentally saw a photo of herself in the album.
The more she scrolled, the more there were.
Joshua's phone album was full of photos of her and the children.
Some photos were clearly taken secretly.
Like her picking up the kids at the kindergarten gate, walking through crowds, and talking to people at parties.
All kinds of angles.
Ella got even more annoyed, holding up those photos to question him. "When did you take these? Are you some kind of stalker?"
Joshua looked at her. "I missed you, but you wouldn't let me appear in front of you, so I could only watch you from afar."
Ella checked the dates on the photos - they were all taken during the year he disappeared.
She found it unbelievable and asked him, "You didn't leave Emerald City that year, you were there the whole time?"
Joshua didn't deny it. "How could I bear to leave you all? After training every day, I'd come to see you—just seeing you gave me so much motivation."
Back then he just didn't want Ella and the kids to see him in such a sorry state.
That's why he had to avoid them.
Fortunately, all his efforts weren't in vain - he succeeded in the end.
Ella kept staring at the photos.
The more she looked, the more she felt like crying.
Joshua loved her so much in his heart, and he'd traveled all this way to save her.
All of this—how could she still have the heart to push him away?
Ella felt upset and couldn't help kicking Joshua. "You're really annoying, why did you have to come save me?"
Joshua saw she looked aggrieved, almost crying.
The fire was going now, so he wiped his hands clean, stood up, and tried to pull Ella into his arms.
"If I don't save you, who will? You're the only woman I've ever loved, and the mother of my children. If you're safe, I'm fine. If anything happened to you, I don’t think I’d want to live either."