Chapter 156: What Do Those Count For

He threatened her harshly, trying to re-establish his authority as a father.

Ella curled her lip, turned her head away, and let out a soft snort.

She thought to herself that if it weren't for Joshua threatening her with Jessica's safety, she wouldn't have come here at all.

However,

Ella turned to look at the huge and luxurious living room, feeling a bit regretful.

If she had known Joshua was this rich, why did she go through all that trouble stealing from Aiden before? Stealing from Joshua would have been so much easier!

"Did you hear me? I will hit you, and if you don't behave, I'll have someone beat up your mom too!" Joshua thought Ella was scared and waved his fist at her.

"Hitting people is wrong, it's rude and unreasonable!" Ella looked up at Joshua with a glare, showing no fear, but rather a look of contempt that said, "You don't even know this?"

Joshua snorted coldly and bent down to get closer to her,

"Hitting people is wrong? Last time at the restaurant, you deliberately spilled juice all over me. What do you have to say about that?"

Ella froze for a moment, then innocently denied it,

"I'm the best behaved, I would never do something bad like that!"

Her expression was so sincere that it was impossible to doubt.

Joshua was so angry that he was fuming, about to explode, when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and saw "Jessica" flashing on the screen.

A flash of irritation crossed his face, but he still answered.

"Joshua, you bastard, where did you take Ella? Give her back to me now!"

As soon as the call connected, Jessica's tearful scream came through.

Joshua sneered and slowly sat down on the sofa, crossing his legs,

"What are you yelling about? Ella is fine here with me; she's perfectly fine.

Don't worry, she's my child after all, I won't treat her badly."

"Give Ella back to me, you bastard!" Jessica wished she could crawl through the phone line.

"Sure." Joshua drew out his tone, glancing mockingly at Ella, who was listening with perked ears,

"Since you gave birth to my daughter, I can give you some money as compensation. As for the price, within reason, you can name it. But,"

His tone suddenly turned cold, "Don't even think about custody of Ella. From today on, she belongs to me, to the Wilson family!"

"In your dreams!"

"That's all I have to say. When you've thought it through, call me back to discuss the price." Joshua said coldly and hung up, immediately blocking Jessica's number.

Meanwhile, on Jessica's end.

The call was disconnected, and when she tried calling again, it was busy.

All her strength seemed to drain away as she slumped onto the cold curb, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

She had just been kicked out by Caleb, penniless, with almost nothing left in her account.

Now, Ella had been taken by that bastard Joshua. Why was she so unlucky!

With trembling hands, she dialed Keira's number.

The call was answered almost instantly.

"Jessica?" Keira's concerned voice came through.

The moment she heard Keira's voice, Jessica completely broke down, sobbing into the phone,

"Keira, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Keira. That bastard Joshua took Ella away.

My dad kicked me out, and my card has been stopped."

"What?"

Keira's expression instantly became extremely serious.

"Jessica, don't cry, calm down. Tell me where you are? I'll come get you right away!"

"Keira, I'm so sorry." Jessica continued to sob, apologizing.

"Now is not the time for that!"

Keira hung up, her eyes flashing with cold light.

She quickly found Jessica curled up by a phone booth, crying so hard she was almost exhausted.

She helped Jessica into the car,

"Jessica, don't be afraid. Joshua may be a bastard, but since he's decided Ella is his daughter, he definitely won't hurt her. We can't panic."

After Jessica's emotions had settled a bit, Keira took out her phone, dialed Joshua's number, and put it on speaker.

The call was answered quickly.

Joshua's voice was impatient, "Who is this?"

"It's me, Keira." Keira's voice was cool and calm, without any emotion,

"Jessica asked me to tell you that Ella is not your daughter. If you don't believe it, you can do a paternity test."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

Then came Joshua's scornful laugh,

"Paternity test? Fine, let's do it, but it has to be arranged my way.

Until the results come out, Ella stays with me. None of you can take her away!"

"I hope you keep your word," Keira said no more and hung up.

She looked at Jessica, "Don't worry. He may be a playboy, but he's not evil. Once he knows Ella isn't his child, he'll return her."

Jessica pressed her lips together and nodded, tears sliding down again.

Seeing Jessica's devastated state, Keira felt heavy-hearted. After comforting her for a while longer, she took her to a hotel to settle temporarily.

Jessica wiped away her tears, a stubborn light rekindling in her eyes.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll look for a job! I don't believe that without the Rogers family, I, Jessica, can't survive."

She murmured to herself, "At least, at least Joshua took Ella away. Although that bastard has bad intentions.

But at least Ella doesn't have to wander around with me and suffer in temporary places like this."

She looked around the luxurious yet cold hotel room, her voice self-mocking.

That evening, Keira returned home.

Worried about Jessica, she chatted with her on the phone for a while.

Aiden appeared at the door at some point.

"Who are you talking to? For so long?"

He walked in slowly, his tone casual but with an underlying sense of pressure.

Keira's heart jumped, but she quickly regained her composure, placing her phone face down on the table,

"It's Jessica. She's having some trouble and is in a bad mood. I was comforting her."

"Jessica?" Aiden frowned slightly, his eyes deep, "Shouldn't she be at her own apartment?"

He locked his gaze on Keira's face.

Keira's heart skipped a beat, but her face remained calm, "Yes."

Aiden was close with Joshua; she couldn't reveal Jessica's real location.

Aiden walked closer, looking down at her.

Suddenly changing the subject, "Have you been short on money lately?"

Keira looked up, meeting his unfathomable eyes, "What do you mean? I don't understand."

Aiden stared at her for a few seconds, as if trying to find guilt or flaws in her eyes.

After a few seconds, he looked away, his tone returning to its usual indifference,

"Nothing, just asking."

Justin had just said that the IP address of the hacker who transferred his money was at Jessica's residence.

He thought Jessica and Keira had conspired together, so he told Justin to stop investigating.

He paused, then added, "Pack your bags. We're taking a flight tonight. I'm taking you to Elyndor for a few days."

Keira was completely stunned!

Elyndor?

Tonight, so suddenly?