Jonathan could see that Roxanne was worried, and he could decipher what she was worried about, so he rephrased his words. “Queen Group won’t have a falling out with Farwell Group because of something trivial as this, and I won’t risk Queen Group either. Naturally, I’ve made all the preparations before coming here to talk about this with you.” The hesitance on Roxanne’s face slowly faded away as she stared at his confident expression. However, she still could not stop herself from asking, “But why are you helping me out? Is it just because I cured Old Mr. Queen’s illness?”When Jonathan thought about his conversation with Lucian the night before, the thoughts he had whilst he looked into Roxanne’s eyes changed.However, Roxanne only felt strange as she stared back at him.Half a beat later, Jonathan slowly stated, “My grandpa had been bedbound for years, and it’s all thanks to you, Dr. Jarvis, that he can recover to this point. Moreover, you’ve said before that my grandpa was already
Ignoring their responses, Roxanne proceeded to sit down in front of Jonathan.When Jonathan saw that Lucian was still standing there, he stated quickly, “Lucian, since Dr. Jarvis doesn’t mind, join us. Recently, Dr. Jarvis’ research institute has encountered some problems. You may be able to help her!”Lucian merely frowned before sitting down.Since Roxanne did not run away upon seeing him, he decided to stay on as well.However, Roxanne acted as if Lucian was not there after inviting him to join them. When the dishes were served, she raised her gla*s and remarked, “Thank you for helping me out with the herb suppliers, Mr. Queen.”Jonathan did not make a big deal out of it. Clinking gla*ses with her, he responded, “You’re most welcome, Dr. Jarvis. I’m not the only one who has helped you with regard to this issue.”Upon hearing that, Roxanne frowned, as she did not understand what he meant.Jonathan was about to say more when someone glared at him.Sensing Lucian’s stare, Jonathan act
At the mention of Estella’s condition, Roxanne’s heart clenched. Yet, she couldn’t show it in front of Lucian.Just when she was determined to feign indifference, Jonathan abruptly turned the subject to her. “I remember Essie liked you a lot back when you came to treat my grandfather, Dr. Jarvis. I wonder if her condition will improve if she spends more time with you.”After saying that, he nonchalantly added, “It was the first time I have ever seen her showing such favor for someone else that I was shocked then.”Roxanne’s hand tightened around the fork in her hand. She didn’t know how to tell him that she was the reason for Estella’s aggravated condition.At the side, Lucian agreed with Jonathan and stared at her with a grim look in his eyes.In the past, she’d relent as long as I brought up Essie before her. But this time, it’s painfully clear that she has already hardened her heart to it all.Silence reigned at the dining table, and Roxanne could distinctly sense the two men’s gaz
“Mr. Farwell?”When Cayden saw his employer walking over with Roxanne, he subconsciously presumed that the latter would be getting into their car. Unexpectedly, he saw her getting into the car with Jonathan while Lucian stood outside.After a moment, he decided to call out to the man cautiously.His brows furrowing slightly, Lucian bent down and climbed into the car.Cayden slowly started the car and drove out of the parking lot.Meanwhile, in the adjacent car, Jonathan asked Roxanne for her address and ordered the driver to drop her home first.In response, the driver murmured an acknowledgment.He moved to start the car, but it simply wouldn’t start.It still didn’t work after multiple tries. “The car seems to have broken down, Mr. Queen,” the driver reported helplessly.Upon hearing that, Jonathan imperceptibly swept his gaze over Roxanne beside him. He wore a grim expression. “It was just fine when we came over. Why did it suddenly break down?”A conflicted expression manifested o
Dead silence reigned in the car. One could sense that the atmosphere was entirely different from when Jonathan was present earlier, giving off a sense of an impending storm.Roxanne was sitting straight, her gaze trained right ahead. She tried her best to ignore the man beside her.She wasn’t sure whether she was imagining things, but his piercing gaze seemingly locked on her since Jonathan alighted from the car. It had her tensing up subconsciously.All of a sudden, Lucian’s voice rang out beside her.“Have I offended you in any way, Ms. Jarvis?”Relief suffused Roxanne when she heard his voice. She flashed him a detached smile. “Why would you say that, Mr. Farwell?”Lucian eyed her with a dark look, his voice threaded with displeasure. “If that’s not the case, why are you avoiding me thus, Ms. Jarvis?”Frowning slightly, Roxanne feigned ignorance. “When have I avoided you, Mr. Farwell? Precisely speaking, I don’t have much of a chance to meet you since our work doesn’t intersect.”I
Roxanne made every effort to calm herself down. She met Lucian’s gaze calmly and stated gently, “With you acting in such a manner now, Lucian, I’ll only find you even more of a stranger.”As far as she remembered, he had always been calm and unruffled. In fact, he was rather apathetic.At least, that was his personality six years ago.At present, he had become unfathomable to her.Perhaps that comment of hers worked, for she sensed the grip on her chin seemingly relaxing gradually.She held her breath.A while later, Lucian withdrew his hand and sat back in his seat. He gazed at her with a complex look in his eyes. “What exactly do you want?”That question rang out before Roxanne could breathe a sigh of relief. At once, bewilderment swamped her.It should be me asking him that. I’ve already made my stance clear as day. What exactly does he want?“Never mind that you’re avoiding me, but you’re not even visiting Essie anymore. Are you really this callous, Roxanne?” Lucian pinned a sharp
It was already late in the night when Lucian returned to the Farwell residence.Estella had already fallen asleep a long while ago.Lucian’s heart ached when he was reminded of how Roxanne had completely avoided mentioning Estella just now. He went upstairs to Estella’s room.The little girl had a serene sleeping posture. She lay on her side with half her face covered with blanket, seemingly sound asleep.Lucian’s gaze softened at the sight of his daughter. He lifted his arm and patted her head. Then, he tucked her in before getting up and left.Just when he reached the door, he suddenly heard a sound behind him as if Estella was sobbing.He stopped abruptly in his tracks, turned on his heels, and returned to her bedside. Lucian gently pulled away the blanket covering Estella’s face and saw her brows furrowed, eyes shut, and beads of tears staining her long eyelashes.He wondered what kind of nightmare she was experiencing.Lucian felt sorrowful when he saw her daughter in that state.
After hanging up the phone, Jonathan rang Roxanne right away.Roxanne picked up the phone very quickly and asked, “Mr. Queen, did the medicinal herb suppliers set up a time to meet already?”Jonathan smiled and answered, “Yes. They’re hoping to meet up and discuss the details in two days’ time. However, it depends on whether you’ll be free by then.”The biggest issue the research institute had was the supply of medicinal herbs. Naturally, Roxanne prioritized the meeting and agreed to meet them without any hesitation. “I’ll be free. Please let them know I’ll show up on time.”“You don’t have to prepare anything. Once you’ve arrived, there’ll be someone there to fetch you,” Jonathan answered.In response, Roxanne said, “Thank you, Mr. Queen. Thank you for your help.”Jonathan smiled and replied, “No worries. You’ve done a lot in curing my grandpa back then.”After all, considering the relationship between Roxanne and Lucian, he felt as though it was his duty to help out.At the same tim
Jack froze for a few seconds before coming to some kind of realization and agreeing to it. The two of them then went out of the research institute.A look of delight danced across Colby’s face when he saw them leave.Ever since Jack came for Roxanne, Colby had been keeping his focus on the two.Therefore, he saw the look of struggle on Roxanne’s face.Evidently, what he had said in the morning was effective.Meanwhile, Roxanne came to a stop in her tracks at the entrance of the institute with mixed feelings still surging in her heart. In the meantime, Jack stopped behind her.“Sorry.” Roxanne had calmed herself down on their way out and realized that she had been a little too carried away earlier.Jack raised a brow and teased, “What’s the matter? Why are you apologizing to me all of a sudden? You couldn’t have secretly done something terrible to the project, could you, Ms. Jarvis?”Roxanne shook her head immediately. “Of course not.”I’ve done so much for this project. Why would I d
Estella looked at her father, who was already at the door and turned to look at Aubree, who was still standing by the couch. A few moments pa*sed, and the little girl finally begrudgingly got out of her chair and jogged to keep up with Lucian.Aubree let out a relieved sigh and caught up to them as well.“Daddy,” Estella mumbled. She gave her father a puppy-eyed look and tugged at the corner of his shirt in a bid to curry favor with her father.Lucian lowered his gaze to meet Estella’s. He lifted his hand and patted her head. “I’m really busy lately. Please don’t throw a tantrum at me.”Estella pursed her lips in disapproval, refusing to believe what he said.She knew as a matter of fact that Lucian was in a bad mood because he had quarreled with Roxanne.Estella was flabbergasted that Lucian was still trying to lie to her, despite the fact that even she knew the real reason her father was upset.Why are adults so weird? Why doesn’t Daddy just make up with Ms. Jarvis?Of course, Luci
Cory was in a good mood, knowing he had once again made a fortune. He then said, “Of course. Ms. Pearson, I’m sure you’ve come to me again because you believe in my capabilities. Now, tell me. What is it that you want me to investigate?” Narrowing her eyes, Aubree said, “Investigate what happened between Roxanne and Lucian!”Cory let out a meaningful chuckle when he heard what she said.Aubree questioned coldly, “Why are you laughing?”As if unaware of her anger, Cory muttered, “Since you’ve agreed to the price I proposed so readily, I have to show you something.”With that, he took out a phone from the bag beside him and typed away on the screen.Soon, Aubree received a few messages on her phone.“I believe what you’re about to see won’t disappoint you, Ms. Pearson.” Cory sounded confident.Aubree furrowed her brows and swiped open her phone, checking the messages he sent.The chat interface showed that Cory had sent her more than ten pictures.Each picture was attached with the tim
Aubree followed Estella closely into the room. Hesitantly, she muttered, “Lucian…” She felt somewhat guilty when she noticed the young girl fuming at Lucian.At the same time, she was relieved that Estella had not said a word to her father.Lucian nodded at Aubree and said, “Sorry for troubling you to look after Essie.”Aubree was delighted by his words. She sputtered, “Not at all. I’m happy to do this. Essie’s a lovely girl.”As for how she upset Estella in the car earlier, Aubree decided to sweep things under the rug if the young girl kept things to herself.“Dinner’s ready. Why don’t you eat with us?” Lucian offered.Aubree was over the moon. “Sure.”They entered the dining room one after another.Catalina had already set the table for three.Aubree said, “I’ll go get Essie.”Despite her suggestion, she was not confident about coaxing Estella downstairs.After all, the young girl was put out because of Aubree, and she might not listen to her instructions.If she throws a tantrum i
Archie and Benny stayed in the bathroom for a little while longer before heading out. Roxanne was still chatting with Jack at the time.She had wanted to get him to leave as soon as possible, but Jack started talking about the ancient medicine books halfway through the conversation.Due to Roxanne’s incredible pa*sion for medicine, she couldn’t help but get carried away talking about it again.It wasn’t until Lysa told them dinner was ready that she snapped out of it.“Would you like to stay for dinner, Mr. Damaris?” Roxanne asked out of courtesy.Jack arched an eyebrow when he saw Archie and Benny standing next to the kitchen.They were both glaring daggers at him and looked like they would tear him to pieces if he accepted her invitation.Because they were still kids, they just looked adorable no matter how fierce their expressions were.Jack couldn’t help but smile in amusement as he drawled suspensefully, “Thank you for the invitation, Ms. Jarvis. I—”He was halfway through his s
In the kindergarten, Archie and Benny sat in their seats quietly while the other children were playing games with Pippa. They could sense something was off when Roxanne said she would send them to school that morning.It wasn’t until Roxanne handed them over to Pippa that they noticed Roxanne glancing at the crowd from time to time as if she was looking for someone.When Pippa led them into the school, they looked back and saw Roxanne still looking around.Although Archie and Benny said nothing, they knew Roxanne was looking for Lucian and Estella.Mommy must feel terrible after the fight with Daddy that day.At the thought of Roxanne’s sadness and disappointment, Archie and Benny’s moods were gloomy, too.“Archie, Benny, what’s wrong?”Seeing the listless look on the boys’ faces, Pippa walked over to comfort them, “Are you missing Estella?”At the mention of Estella, Archie and Benny’s faces immediately fell. I wonder how Essie is doing…“Don’t worry. Mr. Farwell will take good care
Frowning, Lucian fell silent for several seconds. Within several short seconds, the smile slid off Aubree’s face.Until Lucian’s voice sounded once more.“Judging by Essie’s demeanor this morning, the relationship between you seemed to have improved by a lot.”Aubree froze for several seconds at his words before she registered what he said.It was true that the child had been receptive toward her that morning.Aside from rejecting her touch, Estella had responded to almost everything she had said.It was a big improvement compared to before.“I was the one at fault back then,” Aubree replied with a laugh. “I wasn’t patient enough with Essie. Now that I’m a little more patient, Essie can sense it and responds accordingly.”“That’s good,” Lucian answered solemnly. “Enjoy each other’s company.”Smiling, Aubree a*sured him she would.Without discussing it any further, Lucian ended the call on the pretext of work.Though he had already decided to proceed with the engagement, he did not ha
Estella’s resolve wavered at the mention of Lucian. She had seen how drunk Lucian was the night before and surmised he must have drunk a lot.I wonder what Daddy was up to.Aubree delighted at the indecision in Estella’s eyes and continued, “If you don’t want to attend school, I can help put in a word or two when your daddy’s feeling better.”It was only then that Estella relented and allowed her entry into the room.Aubree got to her feet to let Estella get dressed while she picked out the clothes she would wear to school.Once the clothes were selected, she a*sisted Estella to brush her teeth.Estella gradually began to let her guard down.Aubree used to threaten her whenever they spent time together.Estella supposed Aubree wouldn’t try anything since she didn’t seem inclined to do so this time.Moreover, Aubree brought up Lucian in their conversation.Estella was docile and compliant to her demands as she did not want to trouble Lucian. Nonetheless, her expression was still sulle
Aubree spent the night in the same guest room she stayed in during her previous visit. As she entered the room, she could not help but recall what she had done last time.For a moment, I even thought of using the same method to teach that little b*tch another lesson to see if she dares to be disobedient again!However, it was only a fleeting thought because, ultimately, she was still afraid Lucian would find out about it.Now that she had hope, she would never be able to forgive herself if she lost it due to another mistake she made.As Aubree lay in bed, the scene from earlier in Lucian’s bedroom kept playing through her head.I was so close to becoming Mrs. Farwell! If only Cayden hadn’t appeared!Aubree stayed up all night, waiting for Cayden to come over and inform her that Lucian had woken up.She never expected to wait until the sun was high in the sky, and he still had not come over.The memory of Cayden’s attitude toward her the night before made Aubree grit her teeth. She go