Chapter 154
The Lewis Villa.
Ella was packing her things, getting ready to go back to Eldoria with Zachary early the next morning.
She reminded her mother, "Mom, you get along well with Ava. After I leave, could you occasionally check on Dorian at the Thomas family for me?"
"By the time we come back, the custody hearing should be starting."
Ella was still quite confident about winning the case.
Once Dorian came back, they would never be separated again.
Rhea agreed, and thinking this was Ella's first time meeting her mother-in-law, she went back to her room to pack some things for Ella to give to the Baker family.
When Zachary came over and saw all the things Ella had prepared, he sincerely advised, "Actually, you don't need to bring so much. I don't even know if my mom will make it through. She might not even get to use any of this."
On the phone, his father Rhett Baker's voice had been hoarse.
It seemed his mother Lavinia Baker's injuries must be very serious.
He had wanted to rush over that night, but worried it was too hasty and Ella wouldn't be prepared, so he decided to stay one more night.
Ella said it was nothing, but she still needed to prepare what should be prepared when meeting elders.
Seeing it was getting late, she told Zachary to go rest.
For some reason, she still felt uneasy. She sat alone on the living room sofa with her phone, waiting to see if Dorian would find a way to call her.
At ten o'clock at night, the phone rang.
It was Joshua's number.
Ella knew it must be Dorian calling. She hurriedly answered, her voice gentle as she called out, "Dorian, do you miss Mommy?"
But Dorian's childish voice didn't come through the phone.
After a moment, Joshua's deep voice came through, "Ella, has Dorian contacted you since this afternoon?"
He had personally gone to the cemetery to look, checked all the surrounding surveillance footage.
He had even called the police and fire department to search the mountains around the cemetery, but still hadn't seen any sign of Dorian.
Joshua thought that Dorian, being so smart, would definitely find a phone to call Ella the first chance he got after running away and hiding.
Now it was ten o'clock at night with still no news of Dorian, so he could only swallow his pride and call Ella to ask.
While waiting for Ella's response, Joshua's heart was in his throat.
He prayed, hoping Dorian had gone to Ella.
Hoping mother and son were together.
But the next second, Ella's concerned voice came through.
"Dorian hasn't contacted me since this afternoon. What's wrong? Did you hit him?"
Joshua's hope was shattered.
He knew this couldn't be kept hidden.
He had to be honest with Ella.
Maybe with Ella's help, they could find Dorian faster.
Trying to calm the rising and falling in his chest from worrying about Dorian, Joshua told the truth, "Dorian went with my mom to the cemetery this afternoon to visit Aurora. When my mom wasn't paying attention, he ran into the woods. My people have been looking for him from this afternoon until now and still haven't found him."
Ella felt dazed, holding the phone to her ear, unable to react for a long time.
"What did you say?"
Joshua patiently repeated, "I said Dorian is missing. He deliberately had my mom bring him to the cemetery, then ran off by himself."
This time, Ella heard clearly.
Her Dorian had run away.
A three-year-old child had run away by himself?
Where could Dorian have gone?
He had no money, no phone, no food, and it was already ten o'clock.
Ella was frantic with worry, both angry and anxious, "Joshua, he's only three years old. If something happens to him like it did to Aurora, I won't let you off."
She hung up the phone and immediately wanted to go out to look for him.
Zachary came over and stopped her, "Ella, what's wrong? Dorian is missing?"
Ella nodded, "Yes, Joshua said Dorian deliberately had someone take him to the cemetery, then ran off by himself. It's already ten o'clock and Joshua's people still haven't found him. I need to go out and look."
Maybe Dorian was hiding in some corner waiting for her.
She had to go find Dorian.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Zachary was about to change clothes, but Ella stopped him.
"Zachary, you have an early flight tomorrow. Maybe you shouldn't go. You should go home to see your mom first. I'll come over after I find Dorian."
If they couldn't find Dorian tonight, she definitely wouldn't leave. Otherwise, even if she left, she would be anxious the whole time, always worried about Dorian.
Although Lavinia was very important, she couldn't let go of Dorian.
"It's fine. I'll go out with you to look first. I can sleep on the plane tomorrow."
Zachary was also worried about Dorian and hurried to get clothes to change.
If they could find Dorian before Joshua did, they could take Dorian abroad with them.
That way Joshua wouldn't have the ability to separate them.
Unable to dissuade Zachary, Ella let him come along.
The two went out in the middle of the night.
Late at night, they rushed to the cemetery and saw Joshua using thermal imaging equipment to search for Dorian in the mountains. When Ella walked toward him, she angrily slapped him.
Joshua accepted it without resistance, seeing that Zachary had come too.
No matter how uncomfortable he felt inside, he had no mind to deal with Zachary. He had Brian hand the megaphone to Ella.
"Dorian is smart. He probably wouldn't run around randomly or go with strangers. Most likely he's hiding somewhere by himself. Take the megaphone and call out to him, see if he'll come out on his own."
Although they had searched all the surrounding mountains, Joshua still felt that Dorian should be in the mountains.
In these few hours, Dorian was so small, he probably couldn't have gone far.
"You better pray that nothing happens to Dorian."
Ella hated Joshua to death. Thinking of what Dorian had told her before—that he would run away by himself—she was really afraid Dorian was hiding somewhere, unwilling to come out. She took the megaphone and called out everywhere into the mountains.
But no matter how she called, how long she called, there was never any response.
From midnight to morning, from deep night to daybreak.
Ella searched the mountains until she was exhausted, her voice hoarse from shouting, but still hadn't found Dorian.
She collapsed on the ground in despair, her tears all dried up.
Zachary came over to help her up, comforting her, "Ella, don't worry. Dorian must have already left this area. Maybe he caught a ride and went home."
Their Dorian was so smart and sensible, he definitely wouldn't encounter any danger.
Ella also wanted to go home and check.
As she was about to get in the car with Zachary, he received a call from Eldoria saying that Lavinia had passed away and he needed to come back immediately.
At that moment, Zachary's world collapsed.
He couldn't take Ella home anymore. He helped her into the car, his eyes red, "Ella, I'll have them take you home. I need to get to the airport. Mom has passed away."
Hearing this, Ella's heart seized up.
She really wanted to leave with Zachary, but her Dorian still hadn't been found.
She got out of the car and took the initiative to hug Zachary, holding back her already grief-stricken emotions to comfort him, "My condolences. Once we find Dorian, I'll come be with you."
Zachary also hugged her, his voice choked with emotion, "It's okay. You stay here and wait for Dorian. I'll come back after I take care of my mom's affairs."
The two seemed to empathize with each other and understand each other. Hugging together, they couldn't help but cry.
Not far away, Joshua, looking equally exhausted after searching all night without finding the child, was just about to leave when he suddenly saw Ella and Zachary hugging each other.
He didn't know why the two of them were hugging in front of so many people.
But Joshua deeply felt his heart ache.
He found the sight of them together very piercing.
That Ella had once clearly been his.
Now she had become someone else's wife, hugging someone else.
Joshua knew very clearly that he still cared deeply.
But he had no relationship with Ella anymore.
He couldn't even watch a child properly—what right did he have to care about who Ella hugged?
He endured that suffocating discomfort and got in the car.
Zachary didn't delay any longer either, hurrying off to the airport alone.
Leaving Ella standing there, watching the direction his car disappeared in, feeling especially miserable inside.
She didn't know why heaven had to be so cruel to them.
Dorian was missing, Lavinia had passed away.
Why did all the bad things have to happen to them as a couple?
Ella stood there in a daze, wanting to find a car to go home first.
But there were no available cars around.
Just as she was about to call for the family driver to come pick her up, Brian came to her side and spoke softly, "Ms. Garcia, take our car. We'll take you home first."
Ella turned around.
She immediately saw Joshua in the car not far away.
Seeing him so ready to go back, not looking for Dorian anymore, she was furious.
She walked over, pulled open the car door, and yanked Joshua out of the car.
"You're just going back like this? You're not looking anymore?"
After spending the whole night searching for Dorian in the mountains, Ella's eyes were already red and swollen, her face haggard, her voice hoarse.
She really hated him—hated that when she had stabbed Joshua with the knife, she hadn't stabbed him a few more times, hadn't been able to kill him.
If he had died, Dorian wouldn't be lost.
Joshua acknowledged it was his fault. He didn't argue.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he said guiltily, "I'll go to the media to put out the news. We'll find him eventually."
"What if we can't find him? What if something happens to him like Aurora?"
Ella glared at Joshua, hating him to the extreme.
Dorian was the one he had insisted on taking away. After taking him back, he didn't watch him properly.
Such a small child, lost just like that. If something happened and he couldn't come back, she didn't dare think about it.
Knowing Ella was suffering too, Joshua looked at her and made a promise, "If we can't find Dorian, if Dorian doesn't come back, I'll pay with my life."
This time, if something really happened to Dorian, he would definitely die with Dorian, without hesitation.
After all, without Dorian, Ella would definitely hate him. Living in this world being hated by the woman he loved—what would be the point?
Ella didn't want to see him looking like he was admitting his mistake but never changing.
She got in the car, "Hurry up and take me home. If we can't find Dorian, you really should die."
Joshua got in the car and had Brian drive.
They took Ella back to the Lewis family first.
After arriving at the Lewis Villa, Ella was the first to rush into the house looking for Dorian.
Heath and Rhea had also learned that Dorian was lost. Seeing Ella rushing back, they came forward first.
"Ella, did you find Dorian?"
However, hearing these words, Ella knew Dorian hadn't come back.
She was so angry, she turned around and slapped Joshua.
"This is all your fault. Hurry up and go find him for me."