Chapter 192
Joshua never expected that Ella would actually invite him to stay for dinner at the Lewis family's place that evening.
This caught him by surprise. He skipped his afternoon shift and immediately drove to pick up the kids from school himself.
When Aurora and Dorian got in the car, they both exclaimed, "Dad, it's not even dismissal time yet!"
"You're going to interfere with our studies doing this."
"Exactly. If you don't have time to come, we can call a car ourselves. Why did you pick us up early?"
Joshua glanced at the two kids in the back seat and said casually, "You two are so smart, missing a couple of classes won't hurt."
"Besides, even if your grades aren't great, you'll inherit a huge fortune anyway. Don't worry, skipping one or two classes won't set you back."
Aurora's eyes lit up as she lunged forward, hugging the back of the seat and asking, "Really? Are you going to give us all your money, Dad? If you're saying that, then I don't need to go to school anymore. I couldn't spend all that money in a lifetime anyway."
Joshua nodded, "Yeah, you can start spending now. However much you want, Dad will give you."
"Yay! Then I don't have to go to school starting tomorrow." Aurora clapped her hands in delight.
Sitting beside her, Dorian's face fell, and he couldn't help scolding, "If you don't know how to raise kids, then don't. Is this how you teach children?"
Joshua was stumped and looked at Dorian through the rearview mirror.
"I'm just telling the truth."
"Even if you two don't do anything, Dad can still support you."
"You want to raise us as good-for-nothings, but I don't want to be one," Dorian shot back without mercy.
Joshua fell silent. He knew these two kids had their own opinions and lived very disciplined lives every day, which is why he occasionally tried to help them relax.
See, hardworking kids will find a way to climb out even if you push them into the mud.
"Sorry, that's Dad's fault. Let's go buy groceries now, and after we buy them, we'll go home and cook, waiting for Mom to get off work, okay?" Joshua tried to coax the two children.
Joshua took them to the supermarket to buy things they liked, and also bought groceries himself.
After returning to the Lewis family's place, he immediately put on an apron and got busy.
Rhea didn't understand what had gotten into him and couldn't help coming to the kitchen to check.
"Joshua, you don't need to go this far. Ella hasn't gotten off work yet, and she won't even see what you're doing."
Everyone had witnessed Joshua's recent behavior.
Maybe Ella had softened too, as her attitude toward Joshua had improved a lot.
Rhea felt that the possibility of them getting back together was quite high.
Joshua smiled and said, "Mom, it's fine. I'll go pick up Ella from work after I finish cooking."
That one word "Mom" made Rhea quite uncomfortable, but she didn't refuse.
Someone who's determined to change really is different—able to set aside pride, without any airs. The family clearly didn't lack chefs or housekeepers.
But he was doing many things himself.
He even picked up the kids early, and they were becoming more and more satisfied with him.
Rhea couldn't say much more and just let him be.
Joshua personally prepared several dishes that Ella loved. He didn't have extra clothes at the Lewis family's place, so he went to the closet to borrow Mason's.
After putting on a clean, presentable casual suit, he drove to a flower shop.
He filled the car with flowers, and figuring Ella should be getting off work soon, he drove straight to the entrance of the Lewis Group building to wait.
When Ella walked out of the company entrance with Vida, Mason, and Heath, she saw Joshua leaning against his car by the door.
He seemed to have dressed up deliberately, looking particularly young and handsome.
Looking at him, Mason couldn't help muttering to himself, "This peacock is probably showing off again."
Vida retorted, "Still better than you."
Vida knew Joshua was there to pick up Ella, so she tactfully walked away.
Heath also jabbed at Mason, "Learn something. You're the same age, so how do you compare to him?"
Then he followed Vida toward a car not far away.
Mason was helpless.
Vida looked down on him, and Heath did too.
He glared at Joshua, then hurried after them to be their driver.
In the end, only Ella was left standing there, watching Joshua walk toward her, looking suspicious.
"Didn't I tell you to pick up Aurora and Dorian? What are you doing here now?"
The school and the office weren't even on the same direction.
She'd been busy all day and wanted to rest.
Now this guy came over, and she'd have to make another trip to the school.
"How do you know I didn't pick them up?" Joshua stepped forward to take her bag. "Get in the car, we're going home."
He walked to the passenger side first but didn't open the door right away.
When Ella followed over, he pulled the door open.
The passenger seat was covered with fresh flowers.
All kinds of them, looking especially dreamy and beautiful.
Ella was stunned.
She never expected that this man, almost forty years old, would still know how to create romance.
Although she was long past the age of needing romance, having such a little surprise occasionally—Ella didn't deny that she felt quite happy inside.
At least it made her feel that Joshua had been thinking of her throughout the drive over.
She calmly got in the car.
She didn't expect that after Joshua got in the driver's seat, he handed her a small box.
Ella reached out to take it. "What's this?"
"Open it and see."
Ella opened it to find a pair of matching couple rings inside, particularly exquisite.
Joshua took out the rings and picked up one, making a gesture to put it on Ella's finger.
But Ella hesitated, thinking this was a proposal, and quickly pulled her hand back. "What are you trying to do?"
At that moment, she clearly felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest.
She was actually nervous.
Joshua looked at her but seemed calm and composed. "It's a gift for you. This is just an ordinary ring, not a proposal. Don't be nervous."
Then he took Ella's hand and put it directly on her middle finger.
Looking at Ella's reddened face, he couldn't help laughing. "What's wrong? Did you think this was a proposal?"
Ella quickly pulled her hand back, staring at the ring on her finger, not understanding how she'd let him put it on.
Did this mean she was accepting him?
Were they dating now?
Ella couldn't figure out what she meant by this.
Joshua knew Ella wouldn't put the ring on him, so he put on the other one himself, then drove away.
He told Ella, "Something as important as a proposal naturally requires thorough preparation."
This was just a test.
He wanted to see if Ella would still refuse.
If she didn't refuse, then he could arrange the proposal.
Otherwise, if he arranged it directly and Ella refused, that would be so awkward.
Ella still hadn't processed how Joshua had managed to put a ring on her finger.
She turned to stare at Joshua and asked him, "So what does this mean? Why are you giving me a ring out of nowhere?"
Seeing that Ella didn't refuse and didn't take off the ring, Joshua couldn't have been happier.
As he spoke, the corners of his lips couldn't help curving upward. "Doesn't it say online that confessions should start with a bouquet of flowers?"
"You got into my car, surrounded by my flowers, and accepted my ring. That proves you're willing to be my girlfriend. This ring is for us to wear as a couple, no problem, right?"
Ella fell silent.
She hadn't agreed to be his girlfriend though.
Was this guy being a bit narcissistic?
Ella raised her hand to take off the ring, but when she touched it, she suddenly hesitated.
It was just dating—she wasn't losing anything, so why refuse?
Besides, Joshua's behavior during this time hadn't been bad.
She was also thinking that having Joshua spend more time with the kids would let her focus on work with peace of mind.
Otherwise, the school was always having parent-teacher meetings, sports days, which really interfered with her work.
Also, Aurora and Dorian had clearly been much happier lately.
In her eyes, nothing was more important than the children's happiness.
Since everything was developing in a good direction, she shouldn't be difficult and push him away.
If someday Joshua made a mistake and made her uncomfortable, it wouldn't be too late to push him away then.
After thinking it through, Ella smiled. "Since you're so sincere, I'll give you a chance!"
Hearing this, Joshua's heart felt like it skipped a beat.
He immediately pulled the car over to the side.
Before Ella could react, he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over, grabbing Ella and kissing her urgently.
Ella was shocked and pushed him away forcefully, her cheeks flushed.
"Joshua, don't push your luck!"
Joshua smiled at her, shameless. "I'm kissing my girlfriend. What's the problem?"
Ella was furious and raised her hand to hit him.
Joshua caught it smoothly and pulled her closer to him. This time when he kissed her, it was much gentler.
At first, Ella still resisted.
But when she realized she actually craved this intimacy, she hesitated.
Finally, she couldn't help cooperating with him in the kiss.
Sometimes, the body's desires can't lie.
She could only follow her heart and leave the rest to fate.
Getting Ella's response, Joshua's heart bloomed with joy.
He had never been this happy, joyful, and blissful before.
It felt like the clouds had parted to reveal the moon, the rain had cleared to show the sky, finally crossing mountains and rivers, breaking through countless obstacles, and reaching his goal—that kind of excitement.
But he also knew restraint.
Seeing Ella's flushed face and labored breathing.
He let her go, tidying the hair on her forehead, touching her round, bashful face, his eyes full of affection.
"Let's go home for dinner first. After dinner, I'll take you out for a walk."
Then he drove away.
At that moment, Ella felt particularly uncomfortable.
She shyly avoided Joshua's gaze, and when she turned to look out the window, she deeply felt like there was a little deer running wild in her chest.
She was actually falling for him again.
Ella didn't know if this version of herself would be cherished.
But it seemed she had no way to push Joshua away anymore.
When they got home, Joshua got out of the car and opened the door for Ella, reaching out to hold her hand.
In the back seat of the car, there was still a bouquet of flowers. He picked it up and handed it to Ella.
Ella reached out to take it.
She wasn't used to being treated this way by him, especially with so many people at home.
She carried the flowers and entered first.
Joshua followed behind, instructing the housekeeper to take all the flowers out of the car.
Then he followed her inside.
In the Lewis family's living room, Heath and Rhea, Mason's family of three, plus Aurora and Dorian—several people sat together in a warm atmosphere.
Seeing Ella return with flowers, Aurora immediately ran over to her, asking like a little adult, "How do you feel, Mom? Are you happy?"
Ella's face was still a bit red. Facing her family, she tried to act as normal as possible.
"I'm happy. I'm very happy to see you all."
"Isn't it because Dad picked you up and gave you pretty flowers that you're happy?"
Aurora saw that Joshua had also come back and helped him out.
"Mom, you don't know—Dad went to buy groceries and cook early. He made lots of dishes you love. We just need to heat them up and we can eat."
Ella knew Joshua had pretty strong survival skills outdoors.
But she didn't know he could make good food.
She followed Aurora to the dining room to take a look.
The housekeeper smiled and told her, "Ms. Garcia, Mr. Thomas made all of these. He really put his heart into it."
Ella really couldn't imagine that Joshua's cooking skills had gotten this good.
She looked back at Joshua and saw him looking smug and quite proud, as if waiting for her to praise him.
She pretended not to care and carried the flowers upstairs to change clothes.
But when she pushed open the door and walked into the room.
The various fresh flowers placed around the room gave her a bit of a shock.
Aurora followed beside her saying, "Mom, isn't it beautiful? Dad had people arrange all these. He said having such beautiful flowers at home would put you in a good mood."
She pulled out a flower from a vase, smelled it, her face beaming. "Mom, it really smells so good and looks so beautiful, just as beautiful as you. Do you like it?"
Ella surveyed the entire room—there were flowers in every corner.
Didn't Joshua have to work? How did he have time to arrange all this?
Ella actually quite liked it, but pretended not to care, putting down the flowers in her hand and going to the closet to get clothes to change.
After that, she went to the bathroom.
Maybe from looking at too many flowers, she suddenly felt a bit nauseous and almost threw up while washing her face at the sink.
After a while, there was a knock on the door.
Ella quickly washed her face and opened the door.
Seeing it was Joshua, she looked at him showing off like a peacock and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What is it?"
Joshua smiled and asked her, "Do you like it?"
He was referring to the flowers in the room.
He had spent a long time picking them out at the flower shop.
These flowers weren't very hardy and would last three days at most.
Fortunately, in the new home he was building for the kids and Ella, he had planted many.
In the future, the garden would have blooming flowers all year round. Ella should like that.
Ella avoided him and left the bathroom without answering.
Joshua followed and held her hand, asking coquettishly, "Say something—do you like it or not? If you like it, I'll change them to different ones for you every day from now on."
Ella stopped and looked at him, asking without hiding anything, "You can change them every day?"
Joshua nodded affirmatively, "Of course. As long as you like it, I can prepare them for you every day."
Ella didn't hold back anymore and told him, "How about this—I'll date you, and however long you can keep this up, we'll date that long. If you can't keep it up, we'll break up. How's that?"
She didn't believe a man could keep creating surprises for his girlfriend every day.
Besides, he was a big boss—he didn't have that kind of time, right?
This way, it would make him back down from the difficulty.
But Joshua agreed without hesitation, "Okay. I'll make sure you have no reason and no excuse to get to the point of breaking up with me."