Lucian strode over through the crowd without Roxanne realizing it.Standing in front of her, Lucian gazed down at her with an unfathomable look on his face.“Essie, Ms.Jarvis has to take care of Archie and Benny.Let’s not bother her,” Lucian uttered in a hoarse voice after a few moments and bent down to hold Estella’s hand.Feeling reluctant to leave, Estella turned sideways to avoid her father’s hand.Then, she inched closer to Roxanne and said stubbornly, “I want to stay with Ms.Jarvis.” Lucian and Roxanne’s expressions froze after seeing Estella’s reaction.Many people around them had been keeping an eye on Lucian’s every movement.As a result, they were all staring in Roxanne’s direction.Panic surged within her like vomit.When she made the decision to join the activity with Archie and Benny, Roxanne had actually anticipated something like that would happen.Still, she did not know how to react when she was stuck in that awkward situation.According to her plan, she should have
After taking Estella, Roxanne now had to carry two children on her lap.Hence, her seat was getting a little cramped.Furrowing his brows, Lucian said softly, “Let me take Archie.” Roxanne was taken aback upon hearing that.Thinking of Archie’s relationship with Lucian, she felt conflicted.Moreover, she had noted how her son resented Lucian and didn’t think Archie would agree, especially since Archie was usually cold and indifferent.But to her surprise, the boy in her arms actually stretched his arms toward Lucian.Roxanne’s and Lucian’s expressions shifted as soon as they saw Archie’s response.S A hint of surprise flashed across Lucian’s eyes as he had not expected Archie to agree to his offer.Then, he reached out and carried the boy over.As for Roxanne, she lowered her gaze as an inexplicable sense of fear rose within her.Archie only did that because he did not want Roxanne to tire herself out.Although he had stretched his arms toward Lucian, his expression was tense.And onc
By the time they settled in their room, it was already nighttime. Pippa led the parents to the restaurant the botanical garden had arranged for them.Roxanne took Archie and Benny to get their food.There were far more employees of the botanical garden at the restaurant than when they first got off the bus, and Estella did not like that.She followed closely behind Roxanne, never taking her eyes off the latter.Roxanne turned around when she sensed Estella’s gaze, and a pained look appeared in her eyes upon noticing the girl’s timid expression.She immediately let Archie and Benny hold hands, thus allowing her to free one hand to take Estella’s.Seeing Roxanne reach her hand out toward her, Estella took it without hesitation, her eyes crinkling as she beamed.All signs of timidness had vanished from her face without a trace.Lucian was still worried about Estella, so he followed her.Then, he saw Roxanne and Estella holding hands, and mixed feelings surged within him as he walked behi
Mr.Farwell only interacts with you for the sake of his child.Don’t have any ideas about weaseling your way into the Farwell family.”Roxanne’s head pounded inadvertently at the woman’s words.knew running into Lucian here was catnip for unsavory comments.I just didn’t think it would come so soon.“You must be mistaken about the situation…” Roxanne tried to explain.Alas, the woman cut her off disgustedly and retorted, “Mistaken? Everyone knows how much time you’re spending with Mr.Farwell these days.Know your place, Ms. Jarvis! Mr. Farwell’s fiancée is Ms.Pearson, and their relationship is stronger than ever.I hope you don’t humiliate yourself in this hopeless scheme to win Mr.The mention of Lucian and Aubree’s impending wedding caused Roxanne to lower her gaze. She swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue and replied to the nasty woman, “Thank you for your advice.I’ll be more mindful in the future.” The woman took Roxanne’s meekness as a sign of her victory.She made a ment
Suddenly, Estella tugged on Roxanne’s hand and said, “Over here!” Roxanne followed Estella through a complicated route and was surprised to see the boys hiding behind a man made hill.“How did you know Archie and Benny were hiding here, Essie?” asked a surprised Roxanne.The boys always hid in the most creative places, and Roxanne had always struggled to find them during their hide-and seek sessions.She never imagined Estella would find them so easily.Estella tilted her head and replied, “I don’t know.It was a guess.” Roxanne did not think much of Estella’s response and promptly believed her.By the time Lucian, Roxanne, and the children returned to their rooms, it was already nine at night. Archie and Benny were dripping in sweat from playing hide-and-seek earlier.Roxanne quickly ushered the boys into the bathroom to shower them once they got back.Their playful chatter drifted out of the bathroom from time to time.From where she sat on the bed, Estella stared at the bathroom do
The tree-planting activity started very early the next morning.After waiting for the parents and children to finish breakfast, Pippa led them to the venue of the event.The kindergarten had collaborated with a botanical garden to provide the kids with an empty spot to plant some trees.There was quite a lot of staff standing by when they arrived.As the kids were all born with silver spoons in their mouths, the staff made sure they were extra friendly with them.Pippa then introduced the parents to the staff, split them into groups, and had them follow the staff to collect their saplings.Estella stared reluctantly at Roxanne when she heard they would be split into groups.She refused to budge even when the teacher called her name.Lucian frowned when he saw that and shifted his gaze toward Roxanne, who was standing nearby.After hearing the conversation between Lucian and Aubree last night, Roxanne instinctively tried to keep her distance from them.She then took Archie and Benny by
Lucian frowned in frustration as he found the shovel extremely unwieldy.While struggling with it, he felt Roxanne’s gentle gaze on him and looked up in response.As their eyes met, Roxanne quickly retracted her gaze and put on a neutral expression.Lucian frowned when he saw her response, but whatever frustration he had earlier seemed to have vanished completely. He then turned toward a staff and said, “Excuse me, I’m having some difficulty using this. Could you please show me how to use it?”The staff had been observing him from the side for quite some time. He had wanted to tell Lucian that he was doing it wrong but held himself back when he saw how intimidating Lucian looked.Seeing as Lucian had asked him for assistance, he quickly stepped forward to perform a quick demonstration.Even Lucian chuckled in amusement when he saw the staff’s technique and realized how funny he looked earlier.Having learned the proper way to use a shovel, they were able to speed up the process of fil
Aubree’s motive for coming was to prevent Lucian and Roxanne from spending time with each other. Now that Roxanne had suggested the idea herself, Aubree could not be happier.Lucian’s gaze turned grim when he heard Roxanne’s words. He looked at her with a frown and said, “Ms. Jarvis, you helped me and Essie to plant the tree just now. I can’t just leave like that. Besides, there’s one more tree left. Let’s plant it together.”Roxanne furrowed her brows. When she was about to turn down his suggestion, Estella called out timidly, “Ms. Jarvis…”Roxanne’s heart softened. She turned around, only to notice the look of aversion on Estella’s face.Clearly, Estella was traumatized by what Aubree had done to her previously. She was still afraid of her.I’d love to keep Essie with me if possible, but we’re not even related. I can’t do anything about it even if I want to protect her.After pondering for a moment, Roxanne lowered her eyes and agreed, “Since you’ve said that, Mr. Farwell, I’m afrai
Quiet settled in the car again. Lucian had thought Roxanne would offer him an explanation or words of rea*surance after he had shown understanding, but she remained silent for a long time.That ticked him off, but he couldn’t go back on his words and could only keep his emotions in check.Thankfully, Benny had notified him of this earlier, or he would have flipped his lid thinking about Roxanne and her indulgent demeanor working together with Jack.“You could take a break on this trip, too,” Lucian continued, not meaning a word he said. “The stories circulating online these few days must have affected you. I should have handled it better. I wanted to take you away for an excursion after my trip, but it seems that the medical consultation came at the right time.”Roxanne came back to her senses and seemed to remember something. “Sorry for troubling you with the comments online.”Lucian frowned. “I was the one who put you in this situation. I should be the one apologizing to you.”Roxa
I have never needed to inform Lucian about impending business trips, but things are different now. Knowing how much he dislikes Jack, I should inform him it is with Jack I’m making this trip. I have gotten so used to leaving whenever work crops up for the past six years that I would have forgotten if not for Benny’s reminder. Benny watched his mother’s expression soften and knew his timely words worked. Although his face glistened with anticipation, he was also silently urging his father to hurry up.Roxanne fell silent for a long while before grabbing her phone to give Lucian a call.Just when she found his number, a horn sounded outside the mansion.Somehow knowing exactly who it was, Roxanne put her phone away and walked to the entrance with her suitcase in tow.She saw Lucian’s Bentley at the door. Clad in a smoky gray vest with sleeves rolled up halfway, he emerged from the car and strode toward her.“What are you doing here?”Roxanne had a funny feeling as she watched him appro
Estella nodded innocently in response to their explanation. It is true that I know nothing about the stock market, and hearing about it would mean nothing to me, anyway.“Then finish up your discussion and come play with me!” Estella whined.Benny gave Estella a guilty nod.As he watched her climb up the bed, he produced his watch to send his father a message.Meanwhile, Lucian was displeased after learning from Benny’s message that Roxanne was going to the medical consultation again with Jack.Though I can’t bear to say anything to her, I’m even more unwilling to keep this to myself.After mulling the matter over, Lucian called Jonathan and blamed him for telling Roxanne about the medical consultation run by the Damaris family and for introducing Jack to her.Jonathan was deeply amused by his friend’s accusations. “Are you kidding me? I did that to help you appease your wife! She would have left the country if not for the Damaris family’s project!”Since learning about the Farwell f
Roxanne was totally unaware of the children’s involvement in Aubree’s predicament. Upon waking up the following morning, she wasted no time browsing the discussion online.Lucian’s announcement from the night before topped the trending topics, above the other popular topics from the day before that lay below, forgotten. The search phrases of the posts were also almost completely deleted.Roxanne deemed the matter resolved and was finally appeased.She was getting out of bed to prepare breakfast for the children when Jack suddenly called.Roxanne picked up at once, thinking it pertained to the project. “What happened, Mr. Damaris?”She sounded apologetic, as she feared her being the subject of tabloid gossip would affect the project.Jack sounded concerned on the other end. “Are you all right? I saw the comments online yesterday and considered dropping by, but I was swamped. Now that I have some time to spare, I’m calling to check if the comments have brought you down.”Roxanne froze
Coming down the stairs, Aubree spotted her father surrounded by the other relatives pointing their fingers at him and questioning him. “What are you guys doing?” Aubree asked after seeing the scene.In the entire Pearson family, their family was the superior one; they had never received such treatment.Hearing her voice, everyone turned to look at her.“You still have the guts to question us, huh? You know, had you not offended Lucian, our family would not have been like this right now. Old Mr. Pearson established Pearson Group all by himself. It’s not something you can toy with! You’re the one who messed up, but why do we have to bear the consequences as well?”Aubree appeared in a wretched state as her cheek was still swollen, and Samuel’s handprint did not fade.Aubree was so infuriated that her hand started trembling. “Oh, we’re talking about that now, are we? Didn’t all of you also bask in the glory when Pearson Group was at its peak?”If not for the marriage contract between Lu
Her face contorted with anger when she saw Farwell Group’s new announcement trending. On top of that, the announcement clearly stated it was Aubree’s personality that caused the annulment of the engagement.How could Lucian do this to me?A netizen commented: I’ve met Aubree before. Sure enough, she’s not all that great. She always looks down on others as if we’re inferior to her.Another comment read: I heard Aubree even scolded the daughter of the Farwell family and called her Little Mute. Back then, I thought I’d gotten the wrong person because they hadn’t called off their engagement yet. Now that I see it, it’s definitely Aubree. No wonder Mr. Farwell wants to renounce the engagement.The more Aubree read, the darker her expression grew.Everyone, no matter their identity, was stepping out to criticize her.Hmph! What do they know? It’s all Roxanne’s doing! Who knows what she said to Lucian? It’s clearly that b*tch’s fault. What right do they have to criticize me?Aubree was seei
Aubree’s joy did not last long, for the tables had turned that evening. Farwell Group made an announcement again, clearly stating the reason for the annulment of the engagement between the Farwell and the Pearson family. At the same time, it also contained a warning for the people who contributed to the discussions on the internet.One specific line in the announcement caused an uproar on the internet. It read: The Farwell and the Pearson family have annulled their engagement due to Aubree’s personality that is unfit for the role of Mr. Lucian Farwell’s wife.Someone wrote: The Farwell family must’ve toned down their words. They’re a big family, after all. I bet Aubree has done something disgusting behind their backs. Farwell Group is already sparing her dignity by saying it’s a personality problem.Another wrote: So, who’s the problem now? Aubree or Roxanne?Someone replied: Do you still need to ask that? Didn’t Farwell Group explain everything clearly in the announcement? It’s Aubr
Lucian narrowed his eyes dangerously as he scanned the inside of the restaurant. When the others saw Lucian had gone looking for the man to settle the scores, they retracted their gazes guiltily.Meanwhile, the man was so scared he did not dare breathe loudly in front of Lucian.Truth was, the man had no ill intentions.He had only read the discussion on the internet and gotten curious about their relationship.In fact, when the man saw Roxanne bringing along two sons of unknown origins, he figured Lucian would have some grudge against her.To the man’s astonishment, Lucian seemed to be truly in love with Roxanne.Moreover, Roxanne did not look like a crafty person as described in the rumors.Lucian suddenly thought of something and warned the man, “I don’t care what you think, but you’d better keep your eyes to yourself and not interrupt our meal.” After that, he instructed the waiter to move them to a different private room.“What happened?”Uneasiness swirled within Roxanne’s hear
It was her first photograph with the three children. More importantly, it was after learning that Estella was the baby whom she had thought died prematurely.“Thank you,” she said gratefully.Looking at her trembling hands, Lucian pulled her into his arms. “If you want to thank me, then reconsider my proposal. I was lying to you. I can’t wait much longer. Six years is long enough. I don’t want to keep waiting.”Roxanne lowered her head without answering. Her eyes brimmed with guilt.Having detected something in her silence, Lucian released her with a sigh and gave her a kind smile. “It’s all right. I can wait a little longer. Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t bear to keep me waiting too long.”Roxanne looked away, not knowing what to say.Meanwhile, having tired themselves out, the children came running over to the adults.“Mommy, what were you looking at earlier?”Benny could tell that something was wrong between their parents, so he hurriedly tried to change the subject. Clutching Rox