Chapter 156
It had been five whole days, and Joshua still hadn't heard anything about the child.
Those past few days, he had been showing up at Aurora's grave from time to time.
He kept blaming himself over and over for what he had done back then.
He even regretted what had happened with Dorian.
If he hadn't taken Dorian away, Dorian wouldn't have tried to escape. If he hadn't run, he wouldn't have gotten lost.
Dorian was only three years old.
No matter how smart he was, where could he possibly hide?
Five days had passed. So many police officers, firefighters, and their own people had searched everywhere around the cemetery, and still nothing.
Joshua knew that the hope of Dorian coming back was pretty slim now.
He felt like there was no point in him living anymore either.
He leaned against Aurora's tombstone and closed his eyes in pain and weakness.
In the end, Samuel and Brian had rushed over and taken him back home.
When dawn broke, Ella brought Dorian to the airport with Heath escorting them.
They were taking a private plane. Since they had been long-term residents of Eldoria, a lot of the paperwork hadn't been that complicated, and they got through customs smoothly.
After arriving in Eldoria, Ella didn't contact Zachary right away. Instead, she took Dorian to check into a hotel first.
Only after settling into the Eldoria hotel with Dorian did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Now she was finally not afraid that Joshua would snatch Dorian away.
If nothing unexpected happened, she wouldn't have to go back to Emerald City either.
"Mom, let's call Uncle Zachary quickly and have him come pick us up."
Dorian took his phone out of the bag and handed it to Ella.
Even though they were back in Eldoria now, it would be really hard to visit Aurora in the future.
But to stay with his mom all the time, he would rather stay abroad.
As for Joshua, he could go wherever he wanted. They'd better not see each other for the rest of their lives.
Ella patted Dorian's head and sat him on the bed, holding him.
"Dorian must be exhausted. You sleep for a bit first, I'll call Uncle Zachary right now."
Dorian agreed. He was pretty tired from the journey with Ella, so he obediently curled up on the big bed and fell asleep.
Ella took her phone out of the room and sat down in the suite's living room, pulling up Zachary's number to call him.
The reason she hadn't gone straight to the Baker family was that she was afraid it would be too forward and leave a bad impression on the elders.
Going with Zachary would at least not be so awkward.
After a long wait, the call finally connected.
Ella's voice was gentle. "Zachary, how were things going with your mom?"
On the phone, Zachary's voice sounded clearly tired. "The funeral is in two days. Once the funeral's done, everything will be fine."
Hearing this, Ella felt pretty bad.
She asked, "Can I come to the funeral?"
Even though they weren't like a normal married couple, they at least had a marriage certificate. With her mother-in-law's passing, she felt she should be there.
But as soon as she said this, Zachary refused.
"Ella, you don't need to come. I'll handle things here myself. Any news about Dorian?"
Ella explained, "I found Dorian, and I already brought him to Eldoria. We're at a hotel now. Why don't you come pick us up and take us to your place?"
She figured Zachary would be surprised to hear this news.
After all, she and Dorian had come here with no plans to go back to Emerald City.
However, Zachary sounded really shocked. "You and Dorian are in Sunrise City?"
Ella confirmed.
Zachary quickly grabbed his phone and ducked into a corner where no one was around, lowering his voice. "Ella, listen to me. You and Dorian stay at the hotel and don't go anywhere. Get Mason to take you back right away."
Zachary was happy that Ella found Dorian.
He was even touched that Ella brought Dorian here to find him.
But right now, Ella couldn't show up.
Otherwise, his family wouldn't let her go.
Somehow, his family had found out about Ella, and they were strongly against them being together.
Not only that, but he also overheard that Michael was targeting Ella too.
Michael even wanted him to lure Ella to Eldoria so he could make his move on her.
Zachary was really curious about Ella's relationship with Michael.
But right now, the most important thing was that he couldn't risk letting Ella appear.
Otherwise, the consequences would be terrible.
Ella was confused, and her heart sank a bit. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Zachary asked her directly, "Do you know Michael?"
Hearing Michael's name, Ella's nerves tightened, and her heart immediately jumped to her throat.
She didn't know why Zachary suddenly brought up this person.
She didn't hide it. "Yeah, I know him."
"What's your relationship?"
Ella didn't know quite how to put it, so she brushed it off with, "We knew each other as kids."
Zachary didn't want to ask more questions. His voice sounded a bit urgent.
"Ella, listen to me. I'm really happy and touched that you could bring Dorian here, but I can't come pick you guys up."
"Michael has teamed up with my family. They want me to trick you into coming here and hand you over to Michael. Michael is a complete psycho, his methods are brutal, he's a demon who kills without blinking."
"For your sake and Dorian's, you have to get back to Emerald City as soon as possible, okay?"
Once he finished handling his mother's funeral, he would go back to Emerald City and meet up with them.
Anyway, he couldn't keep Ella there.
Ella knew Michael all too well.
She really didn't expect Michael still wouldn't let her go.
After being deported by Joshua, he was now connected with the Baker family and wanted to catch her.
Michael really couldn't be messed with.
She agreed with Zachary. "Okay, I'll take Dorian back right away. You take care."
"I will. Ella, you go back first. Once I finish things here, I'll come find you guys. Wait for me."
When Zachary said this, he didn't have much confidence.
He didn't know if he would even be able to leave.
Everyone in his family was saying his mother's death was his fault.
They wanted him to stay home and atone for it.
They were also forcing him to divorce Ella.
He didn't know if he would ever see Ella again.
But right now, no matter how much he wanted to, no matter how desperately he wanted to go to the hotel to see them, to hug Ella, to kiss her.
When he thought about how this would draw his family's attention.
How it would let Michael's people find Ella, he had to hold back that longing and let Ella leave first.
Ella agreed and asked Zachary to keep quiet about finding Dorian.
Then she hung up and immediately pulled out her phone to book plane tickets.
But she didn't want to go back to Emerald City.
Instead, she was going to another city.
Sunrise City in Eldoria was kind of like a transit point. This way Joshua might not be able to find them either.
Once they got to their destination, she would change their names and start a new life with Dorian in a strange place. That might be the best choice.
An hour later, Ella woke Dorian up and took him back to the airport.
Dorian didn't understand at all. The little guy sat on the suitcase, wearing a hat and mask, asking glumly, "Mom, we didn't even see Uncle Zachary. Why are we leaving again?"
Ella smiled warmly and comforted Dorian. "Uncle Zachary wants us to wait for him in another place. It's not safe here, we need to leave quickly."