Chapter 47
Joshua leaned back on the sofa, dazed and out of it.
The whole night, he either had nightmares or woke up startled. When he opened his eyes to the empty room, his heart felt hollow—lonely and grief-stricken.
He heard a child crying from the next room.
He got up and went over.
Coming to Dorian's bedside, he saw him crying even in his sleep.
Crying and calling out for Aurora and Ella the whole time. Joshua's heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles. He bent down and held him in his arms.
Dorian was half asleep, half awake, his face covered in tears.
His weak, sobbing voice was choked with emotion, "Mommy, please don't leave me, okay?"
"I'm sorry, it's my fault I didn't take good care of Aurora. That's why Aurora got lost."
"Mommy, I miss you and Aurora so much."
"Where are you? Please come back, okay?"
"Mommy, Aurora..."
Dorian kept crying, kept calling out.
His cries made Joshua's heart ache along with him.
Seeing that dawn was approaching and afraid of what would happen when Dorian woke up—how he wouldn't be able to explain things to him—Joshua had no choice but to put Dorian back in bed first.
He got up to leave and called Patricia over to sleep with Dorian.
Back in his own room, Joshua changed his clothes and went to the police station early in the morning to ask about the situation.
But the police still had no leads.
Not only had they not found Ella and Aurora, they hadn't even found the real culprit.
Even though they had the person's voice and phone number, there was still no progress at all.
Joshua returned disappointed.
When he got to Tranquil Villa, he happened to run into Dorian sneaking out the door alone, trying to run out again.
Joshua immediately grabbed him and held him in his arms, pretending to be stern, "Dorian, where are you going?"
Dorian's eyes were red and swollen like he'd been stung by bees.
Looking at Joshua, he couldn't hold back his tears.
"I want to find Mommy and Aurora. I haven't seen them for two days, and I can't reach them either. Can you take me to find them?"
Even though Samuel had told him he was too young and going out wouldn't help,
Dorian couldn't stay home.
He was afraid something had happened to Mommy and Aurora.
Afraid he'd be all alone in this world.
He couldn't be without Ella and Aurora. Not seeing them, he had no way to feel at peace.
Joshua held Dorian tight in his arms, his own eyes reddening too, his voice hoarse beyond measure.
"The police have already gone out to look. When they find them, they'll bring Mommy and Aurora back. Can you be good and wait at home?"
"No."
Dorian struggled in his arms, shouting, "Let me go! I want Mommy and Aurora. I want to go find them myself."
"I can't even find them—where would you go to look?"
How could Joshua let a two-year-old child go out searching? He picked up Dorian and went inside.
Dorian didn't want to, struggling in his arms the whole time.
"Don't try to stop me, let me go."
Hearing the shouting, Karen and Patricia hurried downstairs.
Seeing the sir holding Dorian, they both came over and bowed apologetically. "We're sorry, we didn't notice him. We've caused you trouble again."
Joshua's expression was terrible. He handed Dorian to them and scolded coldly, "If I hadn't just come back from outside, he would have run out. Do you know how serious the consequences could be if such a young child runs out?"
"If this happens again, you're both fired."
"Yes, yes, we're sorry. It was our oversight."
Patricia quickly took Dorian and coaxed him, taking him back upstairs to wash up.
Joshua went to the living room.
He couldn't calm down, couldn't work, and couldn't eat anything either.
Joshua sat alone on the sofa, bent over with his fingers buried in his hair, in pain and suffocating.
Especially since the whole day had passed without any news about Ella. He was distracted and mentally exhausted.
When Samuel and Brian came over, they didn't bring any good news either.
Dorian was still crying badly, so Samuel went to stay with him first.
In the living room, Brian watched Joshua's dejected, lifeless appearance, his heart aching.
"Mr. Joshua Thomas, why don't you eat something first, then go back to the Thomas Manor and explain things clearly to Mr. Aiden Thomas. Mrs. Thomas probably won't be coming back."
They couldn't keep waiting like this.
It had been three days.
Ella and Aurora probably weren't coming back.
They needed to be laid to rest.
Even though they hadn't found the bodies, they still needed to hold a funeral for them.
Joshua was in a daze. After three days of barely eating, he looked completely haggard.
His beard had grown quite long.
He lowered his eyelids and said firmly, "If we haven't found the bodies, that proves they're still alive."
"It's only been three days. Send more people to keep looking. We'll find them eventually."
"But..."
Brian wanted to say something, but seeing Joshua look at him coldly,
he stopped himself and swallowed his words.
These three days, Brian had not only had the police searching, but had also sent many bodyguards to look.
But there were no leads at all.
Even if they kept searching, it didn't seem to mean much.
But since Joshua wouldn't give up, he could only follow orders and have them continue searching.
Brian was about to turn and leave when Joshua's hoarse voice spoke up, "Take me to the cliff."
He wanted to go search with them.
What if those people weren't being thorough and missed the best time to rescue Ella?
He really couldn't rest easy. He had to go there himself.
Brian understood and helped Joshua out the door and into the car.
When the car reached the cliff, seeing that Joshua barely had the strength to get out and was swaying unsteadily, Brian was afraid he might accidentally fall off the cliff.
Brian supported him and reminded him, "Mr. Thomas, let's not stand too close to the edge. Let's stay over here!"
Joshua pushed him away and walked alone to the cliff's edge, looking at the marks where the car had fallen, thinking that Ella had fallen from there.
Facing the howling sea wind, his whole body stood there stiffly, completely cold all over.
He wanted to shout.
Wanted to tell Ella to come back quickly.
As long as she could come back, he would do anything she wanted.
He wouldn't get tangled up with Scarlett anymore either.
From now on, he would help her raise those two children, and the four of them would live well together.
But Joshua's voice was so hoarse that even speaking two sentences was difficult—how could he shout?
Joshua was afraid that his marriage would truly be without Ella's presence.
Standing there, before he knew it, tears had wet his eyes again.
Just then, Brian received a phone call.
It was from the police, like they had some leads.
He was overjoyed and looked at Joshua ahead, "Mr. Thomas, the police have news."
Hearing this, Joshua suddenly perked up, turned around and walked toward Brian, excitedly grabbing him.
"Really? There's news about Ella?"
"Yes, at the beach. Let's go over there and see."
Joshua didn't want to wait a single moment longer. He immediately got in the car and rushed to the beach with Brian.
From the cliff to the beach, they just had to wind around a few miles of mountain road.
In just over ten minutes, the two arrived at their destination.
After getting out of the car, Joshua hurried toward the police.
When the police saw them arrive, they held up a tray with both hands and asked, "Can you identify if these are the victims' belongings?"