Chapter 112
Ella hesitated.
She thought about how she had hit Rhea with her car, and now the other woman needed her. She should go check on her first.
As for the test report, she could pick it up later, or call to ask about the results first.
She pulled over to the side of the road, sent Mason her location, then called the testing center to ask about the results.
On the other end of the line, the doctor said, "The first test result shows that the two people are blood relatives."
Ella felt dazed. The first one—that would be her and Rhea's test report?
She and Rhea were blood relatives?
So Rhea was her biological mother?
Gripping her phone, Ella sat there stunned, unable to process it for a long time.
Until she heard a knocking sound at her car window.
When she came back to her senses and rolled down the window, she saw Mason.
Mason gestured to her, "Open the door, get out. I'll drive your car over there."
Ella felt her mind was in a fog. Thinking about what the doctor had said, the Mason standing before her was very likely her biological brother.
Without much hesitation, she got out and moved to the passenger seat.
Mason got in her car and quickly drove off.
Scarlett had given him an ultimatum—if he didn't make Ella disappear, she would marry Joshua.
There wasn't much time left before her wedding to Joshua.
For Scarlett to come back to him and call off the wedding, he had to get rid of Ella today.
To avoid leaving any traces or being threatened by anyone, he had to do it himself.
Ella turned to stare at Mason.
No wonder from the first moment she saw him, she felt he was familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before.
Turns out some connections are destined.
She was originally the Lewis family's daughter, and after going in circles, she'd come back to the Lewis family.
Even heaven was helping her.
Ella felt her eyes getting wet without realizing it, tears welling up.
She opened her mouth to call out to Mason, to ask him about the origin of that key.
But then she noticed the route they were taking wasn't the way to the hospital.
Ella snapped back to attention and asked Mason, "Where are you taking me? Has your mother been discharged?"
Mason made a sound of acknowledgment. The car was speeding along, heading straight for the outskirts.
"She's at a nursing home. It's a bit far from the city center, but we'll be there soon."
Ella didn't think much of it.
Just then her phone rang. It was Zachary calling.
She didn't hesitate to answer.
Zachary asked her, "Ella, are you okay? Where are you going right now?"
He had people secretly protecting Ella.
His men told him Ella had left with Mason, and the car was going very fast. Worried something might happen to her, he quickly called to check.
Ella thought about how she and Mason were siblings.
He probably wouldn't do anything to her.
Maybe the car really was heading to a nursing home in the countryside.
Without overthinking it, she told Zachary, "I'm going to the countryside to see a patient. I'm fine, don't worry."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Then who's the person going with you?"
Ella glanced at Mason and told the truth, "Mason."
Hearing his own name, Mason turned to look at her.
Realizing she had exposed his name, he thought that if he got rid of Ella now, wouldn't people suspect him?
After Ella hung up, Mason asked her, "Whose call was that?"
Ella put away her phone, "Zachary."
Mason hadn't expected Zachary to still be around.
With Zachary here, if they couldn't reach Ella in a bit, the first suspect would be him.
He had to come up with a foolproof plan.
The car drove onto a mountain road, far from the city, beyond any surveillance cameras.
Mason stopped the car at the edge of a cliff.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at Ella, "Let's make a deal."
Ella didn't know why he'd stopped in this deserted place, and suddenly felt a bit panicked.
"What kind of deal?"
"You go home in a bit, take your child and leave. I'll give you money—ten million dollars, even a hundred million dollars if you want—but you have to disappear from Emerald City."
Asking him to kill someone—Mason really couldn't bring himself to do it.
He had originally planned to stage a car accident, but Zachary knew Ella had come out with him.
If something really happened to Ella, he couldn't escape suspicion.
Mason wasn't stupid. He really didn't want to throw away his whole life for one woman's love.
"Why?"
Ella was a bit confused.
Thinking of Scarlett, she seemed to understand, and asked him, "Did Scarlett tell you to do this?"
Probably afraid she'd go after Joshua again, afraid she'd make a scene at their wedding.
Just to be safe, that's why Scarlett had Mason send her away?
Mason didn't deny it. He got out of the car, pulled out a cigarette and lit it, his face dark as he told Ella, "I'll give you a hundred million dollars. You take the money and leave with your child, the farther the better."
Mason had known for a while that Ava was having people watch Ella.
If Ella kept getting involved with Joshua, Ava would definitely cause trouble for her.
He just couldn't wait that long.
Scarlett had told him to handle it in the next couple of days.
That's why he'd rushed to bring her out here.
Ella stared at him through the car window, "What if I don't leave?"
Mason turned to look at her, his eyes taking on a ruthless edge.
"I'm trying to negotiate with you, Ella. You may not know what I'm capable of, but you should know that for Scarlett, I'm willing to do anything."
Ella wasn't fazed and asked directly, "So when Aurora was kidnapped, did Scarlett arrange for you to do it?"
Even if he didn't do it himself, did he at least know about it?
Thinking that Mason was very likely her child's uncle, she desperately wanted to know whether he had any part in her Aurora's kidnapping.
Mason denied it outright, "Your daughter's situation has nothing to do with me, and nothing to do with Scarlett. Right now I just want you to take the money and leave. Are you leaving or not?"
He was running out of patience.
If he couldn't get her to leave now, he'd have to use other methods.
Seeing Mason trying to pay her off for Scarlett's sake, Ella was filled with righteous anger and couldn't help raising her voice, "I'm not leaving. No matter how much money you give me, I'm not leaving. Not only am I not leaving, I'm going to send Scarlett to hell and avenge my grandfather and my daughter."
However, her words deeply provoked Mason.
He walked around the car, yanked open the passenger door, easily grabbed Ella by the throat, and warned coldly, "I'll tell you one more time—your daughter's death and Aiden's death have nothing to do with Scarlett."
Ella confronted him defiantly, "Do you really know Scarlett? To be with Joshua, there's nothing she wouldn't do. She admitted it to me herself back then. How could I be wrongly accusing her?"
"Scarlett isn't stupid enough to admit to doing bad things. So you really won't take the money and leave, is that it?"
Mason was furious.
He had originally wanted to let Ella go.
But she didn't know what was good for her and insisted on provoking him.
Did she believe he could strangle her right here and now?
Ella's neck arched back uncomfortably as he choked her, her face flushing red.
Looking at Mason's cruelty toward her, her eyes reddened with heartache. She pulled the key pendant from her pocket and managed to say with difficulty, "Don't all the Lewis family children have this thing?"