Chapter 7
Joshua could hardly believe what he was hearing.
He slammed on the brakes and asked into the phone, "Are you sure there's no mistake?"
Brian was certain. "No mistake. Those two kids were born by Mrs. Thomas."
Joshua turned to look at the passenger seat, at Ella who had lurched forward from the sudden stop.
Rage instantly burned in his chest.
But he held back his anger, maintaining his composure and gentlemanly manner.
After hanging up, Joshua didn't say a word and still drove Ella to the mall.
Ella felt something was off about Joshua beside her.
His expression was as unpredictable as the weather outside.
She stayed quiet the whole way, until they reached the mall and the car pulled over to the side.
As Ella got out, she still said to Joshua, "Thanks for the ride."
Joshua's eyes looked coldly at Ella.
He really wanted to grab her and demand answers about the children.
But he held back again, hitting the gas and driving toward the company.
In the CEO's office.
Joshua snatched the test results Brian handed him.
When he saw the black and white text showing the cumulative paternity index (CPI) between the children and Ella was greater than 10,000, and the probability of paternity (RCP) was greater than or equal to 99.99%.
When it confirmed the two parties had a biological mother-child relationship, he was so angry his chest tightened, nearly unable to catch his breath.
Joshua braced his hands on the desk, taking several deep breaths to regulate his breathing.
But he still couldn't accept that the woman he'd been married to for a year had already given birth to two children whose father was unknown.
He was devastated, asking Brian, "Still no leads on who the children's father is?"
Brian said, "Because Mrs. Thomas had the children abroad, and it seems like Mrs. Thomas planned it all along—there's absolutely no information about the two children overseas."
"So regarding the children's father, I still have no leads."
Joshua waved him off, telling him to stop investigating.
Since Ella gave birth to the children, he'd ask Ella himself.
That damn woman.
How dare she hide something this big from him.
Did she think that as long as they divorced and she left him, she could keep the children a secret forever?
This time, he definitely wouldn't let her off easy.
Joshua still couldn't accept this feeling of being deceived and humiliated.
For the first time, he lost his composure in anger, sweeping everything off his desk.
The heart in his chest felt like something had pierced it, the waves of pain making him feel terrible.
Ella took a cab back to Galaxy Bay Community from the mall.
She arrived at nine in the morning.
The nanny was taking the two children to play in the garden downstairs.
When Ella saw them, she called out loudly, "Aurora, Dorian."
Aurora and Dorian were playing on the slide. Hearing her voice, they ran joyfully toward Ella.
"Mommy."
Ella crouched down to greet them.
Holding them in her arms, she felt pretty bad inside.
She had thought Joshua would divorce her quickly and give her freedom.
That way she could come back and be with the children without any concerns.
But Joshua wouldn't divorce, so she still had to return to Tranquil Villa every day.
So she didn't have much time with the children.
Fortunately, her two children were well-behaved.
Ella took them home by the hand.
The nanny went to prepare lunch.
As she walked into the kitchen, she couldn't help but glance at Ella again.
She didn't dare say that someone had come asking about the children.
After all, that person had given her quite a bit of money.
She just hoped the person asking about the children was their father, so Ella wouldn't have to work so hard alone.
Ella spent time with the children until the afternoon. As she was preparing to return to Tranquil Villa, she received a call from Joshua.
His voice was extremely cold. "I'm at the mall entrance. Come out. Grandpa wants us to return to the Thomas Manor."
Hearing this, Ella hurried toward the mall.
As she rushed, she lied, "But I'm not off work yet. Can you wait a bit longer?"
"No need to wait until you're off. The mall is mine, you can leave anytime. I'm giving you three minutes."
Joshua didn't let her say more and hung up.
Ella panicked.
She quickly hailed a cab to the mall.
But no matter how much she hurried, because of rush hour traffic and congestion, it still took her half an hour to arrive.
Seeing Joshua's car still parked by the road, Ella quickly got in.
Looking at Joshua in his suit in the driver's seat, cold and distant, he inexplicably gave off a strong sense of oppressive authority.
Realizing she'd made him wait too long, Ella took the initiative to apologize.
"Sorry, after work I had to change clothes, and I used the restroom, so it took some time."
Joshua put away his phone that had been tracking her location, said nothing with a dark expression, and drove away.
He almost admired himself—learning that his wife had given birth to someone else's children and had been hiding it from him, lying to him.
Yet he could still remain so calm and composed.
Or perhaps it was because he was older, well-mannered, and wanted to convince himself to be tolerant of his younger wife.
That's why he kept enduring it.
Ella still noticed Joshua's unhappiness.
She softened her voice and said gently, "Next time you come to pick me up, you can tell me in advance, so you won't have to wait for me."
"Since we're going to see Grandpa, if you keep looking so grim, he'll think there's a problem with our relationship."
Aiden was the only family she had left in this world, and she didn't want him to worry about her.
She had never planned to tell Aiden about having two children.
Joshua snorted, eyes fixed ahead.
His handsome face remained cold as ice, lips pressed tight, his hands gripping the steering wheel with such force his knuckles turned white.
In his eyes, which Ella couldn't see, they had turned bloodshot.
Even his voice became somewhat hoarse. "Ella, I've treated you well this past year, haven't I?"
Ella looked at Joshua, not quite understanding why he was asking this.
She didn't deny that their married life this past year had been quite harmonious.
Except for not being as affectionate as normal couples, Joshua had given her everything he should.
Ella lowered her head, inexplicably feeling panicked.
"What are you trying to say?"
Joshua angrily ground his back teeth, really wanting to confront her about those bastard children.
But thinking about seeing Aiden soon.
Afraid that Aiden's condition might worsen because of their issues, he had to swallow the words at the tip of his tongue.
Joshua replied, "Nothing. Just an ungrateful wretch."
How could Ella not be ungrateful?
The Thomas family had raised her for five years and sent her abroad to study.
And Ella? She secretly gave birth to two bastards abroad.
When she came back, she hid it from him and lived as his wife for a year without a care.
Joshua laughed at his own stupidity.
A whole year, and only now did he discover Ella's two bastards.
If she hadn't asked for a divorce, if he hadn't had someone investigate.
Ella would probably have kept it from him for life.
Thinking about how calculating Ella was, playing him for a fool.
Joshua wanted to kill her, wanted to kill those two children.
Ella felt an inexplicable sharp pain in her chest. Staring at Joshua, she realized he was probably talking about the divorce.
She frowned stubbornly. "I know I've received a lot from the Thomas family. If you think I'm asking for too much in the divorce settlement, then I'll leave with nothing."