Chapter 150
The first time hearing Dorian call him daddy, crying and begging him so pitifully.
It would be a lie to say Joshua wasn't moved.
After all, this was his child. Hiw could he not feel heartache?
But...
Joshua looked at Dorian, heartbroken as he raised his hand to wipe the tears from the little face.
"What I want is for you and your mom to both stay by my side, so our family of three can live happily together."
Dorian was still sobbing, tears streaming down non-stop.
"But mom's not here now. She was taken away by the police."
Joshua patiently told him, "I know, so you need to convince your mom. If she's willing to come back to me, I'll definitely work hard to treat you and your mom well, okay?"
Ella loved Dorian so much.
If Dorian wanted to be with him, wanted a happy, complete family.
Ella would definitely agree.
Joshua seemed to see a glimmer of hope in Dorian.
But Dorian was a smart kid. He knew Ella and Zachary were already married—there was no way she'd come back to this bad guy.
He shook his head in refusal, "Mom doesn't like you. She likes Mr. Baker. They're already married. Why do you want to break them up?"
However, these words deeply hurt Joshua.
He hadn't expected such a young child to already understand liking, marriage, and breaking up.
Making him feel like some terrible villain.
But without Ella by his side, he'd go crazy.
He couldn't live without them, mother and son.
And Ella couldn't be with Zachary.
Joshua looked at Dorian, suppressing the pain in his heart, still insisting on his position.
"Your mom was my wife first. She only married Zachary to spite me. Go back and tell your grandparents—if your mom divorces Zachary, I'll have the police release her."
Once Ella was out, he wanted both Dorian and Ella.
In this world, no one could take away what belonged to him.
"You're completely terrible."
Seeing he couldn't reason with Joshua, Dorian angrily got up and slapped his wound.
"I hate you, I hate you so much. When I grow up, I won't let you get away with this."
Dorian ran off crying.
Not wanting to stay with Joshua for another second.
The people waiting at the door had also heard Joshua and Dorian's conversation.
Rhea quickly went after Dorian.
Ava hadn't expected Joshua to refuse Dorian but insist Ella get divorced.
Had he lost his mind?
With the child, the Thomas family would have hope.
Joshua could have any woman he wanted in the future.
Afraid Rhea would leave with Dorian, Ava hurried after them.
Samuel also thought Joshua was being too much. Walking into the room and seeing Joshua's wound bleeding again, he treated it unhurriedly.
"Dorian voluntarily came to stay with you. Why won't you agree? With Dorian by your side, aren't you afraid Ella will come on her own?"
Joshua knew full well that with Dorian by his side, Ella would come.
But if she kept refusing to divorce Zachary, what good would her coming do?
Watching her with Zachary would only make him feel worse.
Joshua wanted to gamble once more, to see if Dorian and the Lewis family could convince Ella.
"I heard Zachary's looking for lawyers, trying to get Ella out on his own."
Samuel reminded him, "If you don't want Ella to stab you twice more when she gets out, I think you should do as Dorian wishes!"
Joshua was being too greedy.
Wanting both wife and child—where do such good things exist?
Joshua said nothing.
With Zachary's limited abilities, how could he get Ella out?
He'd just wait patiently.
He didn't believe the Lewis family or Zachary would be willing to let Ella stay in prison forever.
Rhea still took Dorian back to the Lewis family.
Heath and Mason were angry to learn Joshua still wanted Ella to divorce, but had no other options.
They could only keep trying to convince Zachary to go to the police station and convince Ella.
But Ella's attitude was firm. Not only would she not divorce, she wouldn't let them send Dorian to Joshua either.
She'd rather go to prison than let Joshua have his way.
Heath and Rhea felt for Ella, but respected her wishes.
They stopped going to the Thomas family to beg Joshua.
Zachary continued looking for connections, hoping to get more probation when Ella's case went to court.
Joshua's health improved day by day.
Seeing no news of Ella, and the Lewis family no longer bringing Dorian to reconcile.
He started to panic.
As soon as he could walk, he had Samuel take him to the police station.
In the visiting room, Joshua saw Ella, who had stabbed him half a month ago.
She'd lost weight, her face pale and exhausted, completely drained of color.
She looked completely lifeless.
Even in this state, she still wouldn't compromise. Joshua picked up the phone and spoke, "I heard you'd rather go to prison than divorce Zachary?"
Ella hadn't expected Joshua to be the visitor.
She turned to leave.
But was curious what he came for.
Ella sat down, picked up the phone and held it to her ear, "Why aren't you dead yet?"
If she'd known, she should have stabbed him a few more times. If Joshua died, he wouldn't be here disgusting her now.
Being able to walk after just half a month—she'd clearly been too gentle.
Ella's cold, cruel words were sharper than the knife from half a month ago, stabbing more coldly and ruthlessly into Joshua's heart.
He suppressed the suffocating feeling in his chest, his throat choking, "Do you hate me that much?"
"Yes, I wish you were dead."
Ella looked into Joshua's eyes, emotionless.
Her face cold as if facing a mortal enemy.
Joshua once again felt Ella's hatred for him.
His broken heart tore with pain.
He couldn't understand how they'd come to this.
Joshua's eyes reddened, his lashes growing moist.
"You blame me for causing Aurora's death, blame me for being cold and heartless back then, blame me for calling you back to marry me. But Ella, don't you have any fault at all?"
Ella laughed coldly, thinking Joshua was trying to manipulate her again.
He just wanted her to compromise and come back to him.
Dream on!
"My biggest mistake was not calling the police when you touched me four years ago and having you thrown in prison."
She'd been stupid back then too.
Didn't even see his face clearly, just ran away when she woke up.
If that night hadn't happened, her life wouldn't have become so terrible.
Joshua laughed coldly too, "You keep blaming me for touching you four years ago, but you secretly had the child yourself, didn't tell anyone where the child came from, then blame me for not saving the child."
"Sometimes I really don't know what I did wrong. I just wanted you to stay by my side. I just hated that you hid everything from me. If you'd been honest with me about everything, would I have treated you that way?"
Joshua wanted to awaken some reason in Ella.
Make her understand that them reaching this point wasn't caused by him alone.
He didn't want to continue like this with her either.
His wish was simple—just to give Dorian a complete family.
Ella didn't want to hear his excuses. She hung up the phone to leave.
Joshua immediately stopped her, "Ella, if you really won't divorce Zachary, if you really love him, then I'll let you have your way and release you. But Dorian must stay with me."
At the mention of Dorian, Ella couldn't pretend to be calm.
She immediately shouted into the phone at the man outside the glass, "Dream on. I don't need you to release me, and don't you dare take my Dorian."
Joshua seemed much calmer and more composed.
"That's not up to you. Dorian came to beg me, said as long as I released you, he'd stay by my side forever."
Though he'd refused at the time.
But as long as he changed his mind, the Lewis family would still send Dorian to him.
After all, he was Dorian's father and wouldn't mistreat him.
"Joshua, he's only a three-year-old child. What does he know? I won't let you take him. If you take him, I still won't let you off when I get out."
Ella couldn't imagine that Dorian, at only three years old, would go beg Joshua.
He was so young—without his mom, he must be so sad!
At this moment, she urgently wanted to get out, wanted to be by Dorian's side.
"My mind is made up. You can go be with Zachary in peace. I'll raise my son properly myself."
Joshua knew saying more would be useless—Ella wouldn't agree to his conditions.
Following Ava's advice and keeping Dorian by his side wasn't a bad idea.
He hung up the phone and turned his wheelchair to leave.
"I won't allow it."
Ella pounded on the glass, shouting at Joshua's back, "Joshua, don't you dare take my Dorian. You're not worthy of being his father."
But the glass was soundproof. Joshua heard nothing and soon disappeared.
Ella put down the phone and slumped weakly in the chair.
If Dorian went back to Joshua, what was the point of all her struggle, of staying in the police station for half a month?
That was her child alone. She would never let Joshua take him.
For half a month, because the Thomas family hadn't pressed charges, Ella's case of stabbing Joshua hadn't gone to trial.
The defense materials Zachary prepared for Ella hadn't been used.
But the Lewis family received word from Joshua.
As long as they sent Dorian to the Thomas family, they could get a settlement letter.
With the settlement letter, Ella could be released from the police station.
To get Ella out safely, after consulting Dorian's wishes, Heath and Rhea sent Dorian to the Thomas family.
Because they knew that even if they and Zachary hired lawyers to fight the case, they couldn't reduce Ella's sentence for stabbing Joshua.
To keep Ella from suffering in prison, they had to compromise.
Zachary didn't know about this. The Lewis family sent him away, telling him to go see Ella at the police station.
When he got to the police station, Ella was being released.
Seeing Ella walk out of the police station, Zachary was very surprised. He hurried forward and took off his coat to wrap around her.
"Ella, how did you get out?"
Ella knew it must have been Joshua who released her.
Thinking of Dorian, she quickly grabbed Zachary and asked, "Where's Dorian? He didn't go with Joshua, did he?"