Chapter 195
Ella's words made Joshua's face darken instantly, and his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter without realizing it.
He pressed his lips together, his eyes staring ahead, suddenly becoming hard to read. "Do you believe him?"
Ella hesitated for a few seconds before answering honestly. "If the recording you played for me is real, then of course I to believe you."
Brian's death was real, and Megan's injury was real too.
Joshua couldn't possibly orchestrate harm against his own people just to win her over, could he?
She should trust him more.
"Zachary's desperate now,” Joshua said without looking at Ella, his eyes fixed on the road. “He’s trying to find a way out through you.”
"You should rely on your own judgment. I'll forward you the recording later, and you can get it verified yourself."
Some things he didn't need to explain so much.
Explaining would just seem like covering up.
If Ella couldn't even trust him on this, then he might as well let her uncover the truth on her own.
Ella looked at him, noticing his obvious displeasure and the cold aura around him, she chose not to say anything further.
When they got to the company, after Joshua left, Ella returned to her office and took out her phone to call Megan.
Although Megan couldn't get out of bed, she was in much better condition.
She could sit up to eat by herself, and answering calls was no problem.
She still had some respect for Ella, her tone the same as before. "Ms. Garcia, is something wrong?"
Ella went straight to the point. "Do you remember what happened in Eldoria? I want to know what really happened that night."
Megan thought for a moment and replied truthfully. "That night I was waiting for you in the hotel room, but you didn't come. Instead, Brian knocked on my door and told me to leave with him quickly, saying there was danger that night."
"I was worried about you and didn't want to leave, so he told me you were already in the car."
"He was one of us, so I trusted him and followed him. I didn't expect you and Mr. Thomas to actually be in the car."
"Right after we left, cars started chasing us. No matter what we did, we couldn’t shake them off. Mr. Thomas had Brian drop him and you off halfway and take me away."
"After that, we were surrounded by several cars. Brian had no choice but to try to break through, and the car ended up going off a cliff."
Even now, thinking back to what happened that night, Megan still felt scared.
Thankfully, both Mr. Thomas and Ms. Garcia were okay.
She didn't regret at all going with Brian to lead away those people chasing them.
After listening, Ella fell silent.
At that moment, she received the original recording Joshua had sent her.
She hung up and opened it. The recording was indeed a conversation between Joshua and Zachary.
From Zachary's tone, it was clear he had drugged her and tried to scheme against her.
So how did Zachary have the nerve to make excuses in that earlier phone call?
Ella decided to trust her instincts and believe in the person she should believe in.
No matter what, Joshua would never harm her.
Ella didn't want to dwell on this anymore. Thinking about how she was already carrying Joshua's baby, she should relax and be in a good state for work.
At the Thomas Group building.
Joshua personally contacted Zachary.
Wearing a well-tailored suit, he stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking most of Emerald City, his tone full of disdain.
"I heard you want to use Ella to make a comeback,” he said into the phone. “Zachary, if you knew it would come to this, why did you do it in the first place?"
On the other end, Zachary was shocked.
He never expected Joshua to contact him first.
Now the Baker Group was under constant investigation, and all kinds of problems were coming to light.
Even he couldn't escape involvement.
If they couldn't find a solution within three months, the company would collapse—and he’d be facing over twenty years in prison.
Zachary knew all of this was Joshua's doing.
What he hadn’t expected was just how capable Joshua truly was, reaching into his territory and dismantling everything.
Zachary had really underestimated Joshua.
“Joshua,” Zachary said through clenched teeth, “if you corner me like this, do you really think you’ll win?”
Zachary remembered what Michael had told him.
Perhaps if he contacted Ella, there was still some hope.
But Ella wouldn't listen to him.
Now that Joshua was calling him first, he might as well tell him the truth.
"Do you think you still have a chance to turn things around?"
Joshua scoffed, "Zachary, you'd better start preparing for your funeral. A company like the Baker Group doesn't need to exist in this world anymore."
He wanted revenge for Brian.
He wanted the entire Baker Group to pay for Brian's death.
And that Michael, too.
Someday, the mercenaries would deliver his head.
Anything Joshua wanted—he could make happen.
"Fine, you're good, I admit defeat."
Zachary didn't argue with him. Since he couldn't match his strength, he'd use dirty tricks instead.
Gripping his phone, he casually dropped a bombshell.
"If I go down, there's still Michael. Even though you've expelled Michael from the country and banned him from Emerald City forever, Aurora is only alive because of him."
"Without him, can Aurora live another four years?"
"Why don’t you take her for a full checkup? Compare her to other children. Right now, only I know where Michael is."
Joshua was stunned.
What was Zachary talking about?
Aurora's body was fine.
How could she not survive without Michael?
Not wanting to hear Zachary make more excuses, Joshua hung up.
But Zachary's words still left him uneasy.
At noon, he skipped work entirely and went straight to pick up Aurora from school.
When Aurora got in the car, she was a bit confused, blinking her big eyes and asking, "Daddy, why did you come pick me up so early? Why only pick me up and not Dorian too?"
Joshua held Aurora in his arms and asked her, "Does Aurora feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
He didn't really believe Zachary's words.
But without giving Aurora a comprehensive checkup, he felt uneasy.
Better safe than sorry.
Aurora shook her head, "No, I'm fine."
Joshua stroked her head and said gently, "Daddy's taking you to the hospital for a checkup. If there's really nothing wrong, we'll go back to school."
Aurora still didn't quite understand, "Then why not bring Dorian for a checkup too?"
She and Dorian were always together.
It seemed like Daddy always worried more about her.
Was this Daddy's special love for her?
Aurora felt a bit happy and leaned into his shoulder.
Joshua didn't know how to explain to Aurora.
So he just held her without saying anything.
At the hospital, he brought Aurora straight to Samuel for a full examination.
Aurora was obedient throughout, doing everything she was told without complaint.
Blood tests, lying still on the examination table.
After all the tests were done, Samuel had Joshua take Aurora away first.
Joshua was also worried about delaying the child's studies, so he had someone take Aurora back to school, then immediately returned to the office to ask Samuel.
"Is there a problem?" His heart had been clenched tight these past few hours.
His relationship with Ella had finally improved, and Ella was pregnant with his child.
Nothing could go wrong with Aurora now.
Aurora was Ella's life.
If something happened to her, Ella would definitely be upset, and being upset would affect the baby in her belly.
Joshua didn't know why he and Ella had so many obstacles between them.
After reviewing all the results, Samuel's face was still serious.
Samuel finally had to tell Joshua the truth. "The child seems fine on the surface, but over time, problems show up. She's clearly developing more slowly than children her age."
Especially her height—she was already half a head shorter than Dorian.
Before, they thought Dorian was just growing fast, and since Aurora had been sickly since childhood, it was normal for her to grow slowly.
But now Samuel had clearly found that Aurora's organs had stopped developing.
This was a fatal problem.
Without treatment, Aurora could only live a few more years at most.
Joshua's heart clenched. "What do you mean? Is it serious? Can treatment restore her to normal?"
Samuel told him, "I can only do my best. If there's no improvement within a year, there’s nothing more I can do.”
Joshua got anxious, his voice rising several decibels. "Tell me exactly what the situation is, what caused it, how to treat it, and what the final result will be if it can't be cured."
Not hearing Samuel get to the point, he was frantic.
Samuel could see that the man was truly anxious.
He honestly said, "Aurora's situation is very serious. Her organs have stopped developing. I'll do everything I can with medication intervention, but if it doesn't work, she can only live to about ten years old at most."
He had never encountered such a situation before.
He still hadn't figured out why Aurora had stopped developing.
Hearing that Aurora could only live to about ten years old, Joshua staggered back, almost unable to stand.
What Zachary said was actually true.
That devil Michael had actually done something to the child.
He tried to maintain his composure and asked Samuel, "Is it possible she stopped developing from taking some kind of drug, or needs some antidote for Aurora to grow normally?"
Samuel nodded, "Yes, it's possible it's drug-induced, and she may need some medication to help her grow, but I need some time to do tests first."
After all, there was only one child.
If they got the medication wrong, it would cause irreversible harm to Aurora.
"I understand." Joshua dropped those words and left the office.
There was an antidote, and it was in Michael's hands.
So he still had to ask Zachary.
After all, Zachary had said that only he knew where Michael was now.
Perhaps only Zachary could get the antidote.
Joshua was so angry that he almost cursed.
After returning to the company, he dutifully called Zachary again.
Zachary asked with a laugh, "Did you take Aurora for a checkup? I was thinking, even without a checkup, after all these years, you can see the difference between Aurora and Dorian just by looking, right?"
Joshua lost his temper, "Cut the crap. Tell me, what do you want?"