Estella’s mood turned sullen when Catalina didn’t respond. A few minutes later, Catalina gave in and explained, “Mr. Farewell is very busy these days. He ordered me to make sure that you stay at home obediently. If you want to go anywhere, you’ll have to ask him when he’s back.”The thought of her father had Estella turn her head to the side in frustration.Catalina let out a sigh and called Lucian.Lucian was having a meeting at the office when his phone vibrated. Seeing Catalina’s name flashing across the screen, he hesitated briefly before leaving the room to take the call. “What is it?”Catalina shot a glance at the still-upset Estella before speaking into the phone. “Ms. Estella has been sulking since morning, Mr. Farwell, and she didn’t even touch her breakfast.”When Estella heard Catalina talking to her father on the phone, she slowly turned around and stared at the phone.She wanted to talk to her father too.Noticing Estella’s intention, Catalina pa*sed her the phone.Lucia
Lucian felt helpless upon seeing how unperturbed Estella was by what he said. Ever since the little girl got close to Roxanne, she had been practicing double standards and treating her better than him.What Roxanne did last night was too much, but Essie still decided to forgive her. Yet, Essie is mad at me for not paying attention to all the good things she said about that woman. She isn’t even listening to me anymore.Had Lucian not learned that Roxanne was Estella’s biological mother, he might have had difficulty accepting the double standards.After a short while, Lucian suppressed his grievance and comforted the little girl, “Didn’t you say you have something to tell me? I’m all ears now.”Estella lifted her head and glanced at him.Lucian’s eyes darkened, and his heart sank when he saw the expression on her face.He thought she did not give him any response because she was upset.However, when she lifted her head, he realized her cheeks were stained with tears.“Bad Daddy…” Este
While Roxanne was in two minds over whether or not to hurry to the Farwell residence, Jack strode out with a document in his hand and called out, “Ms. Jarvis.” She had no choice but to suppress the worry in her heart and quickly walked toward him. “What’s this?”“You didn’t come in after some time, so I thought I’d bring out the document you needed to go through. You can take a look and sign it if there are no issues.”Hearing that, she murmured her a*sent and checked the document carefully. A moment later, she looked up at Jack and nodded. “Everything looks fine.”“Excellent,” he said with a smile. “You look a little upset. Did something happen?”Recalling the sound of Estella’s cries, Roxanne fell into a slight daze.Jack was puzzled when he saw that she did not respond after a long time. “Ms. Jarvis?”Roxanne jolted to her senses and shot him an apologetic smile. “These are the medicinal herbs we need. Is there anything else you need my help with?”Jack shook his head.Seeing that
Soon, Lucian stopped his car in front of James’ psychiatric clinic. As Lucian had made the call while he was on the way, James was already waiting at the door.After getting out of the car, Lucian walked over to the other side to carry Estella, who was still crying.Upon seeing his outstretched hands, she dodged to the side.“Let me do it,” James offered as he stepped forward.He reached out to Estella and said gently, “Essie, good girl. Let me carry you.”Estella shook her head and choked out, “I want Ms. Jarvis…”James couldn’t help but frown in confusion and glance at Lucian.Lucian had mentioned that Estella wouldn’t stop crying on the phone earlier, but he did not get the chance to explain what had happened in detail.Meeting James’ eyes, Lucian furrowed his brows and said, “Let’s talk inside.”James gave him a nod before turning around to coax the girl again. “Ms. Jarvis will be here soon. Come with me first and let’s wait for her inside, all right?”Estella stared at James dou
Estella pursed her lips and fell silent for a long moment before slowly shaking her head. I still like Daddy, but…“Daddy lied. Daddy is a bad person.”A smile finally broke out on James’ face. “You’re angry with your daddy, but your daddy is angry with Ms. Jarvis.”Estella immediately shook her head. “Daddy cannot be angry with Ms. Jarvis.”James was astonished.He knew Estella was exceedingly fond of Roxanne, but he did not realize it was to this extent.Lucian must be exasperated.Seeing that Estella was going to lose her cool again, James uttered hastily, “I’ll punish him for you. He knows he’s in the wrong too.”Estella calmed down, but she remained sullen. “I want Ms. Jarvis as my mommy. I don’t want anyone else!”James glanced at the door. He could only agree on Lucian’s behalf. “Okay. Only Ms. Jarvis.”Estella finally quieted down and lay on James’ shoulder, sniffling occasionally.James glanced at Estella and gently touched her eyes. “Do you feel awful?”Estella nodded betwe
James was the driver, while Lucian sat at the back of the car with Estella. Suddenly, Estella scrunched up her face and muttered something under her breath.Lucian creased his brows and leaned closer to Estella to hear what she was saying.“Mommy…” Estella mumbled. As she spoke, she even grabbed onto Lucian’s clothes.Although she was still sleeping, Lucian could see that she had grown attached to Roxanne.His gaze darkened as he thought about the woman.James had also heard Estella, and he cast a complicated glance at the rearview mirror.Through the rearview mirror, he saw Lucian’s grim expression and sighed soundlessly.“Essie needs a mother. Until you meet a woman you like, you shouldn’t prevent Essie from seeing Ms. Jarvis regardless of your opinion of her.”After a long moment, Lucian replied in a deep voice, “I’ll take note of that.”James stopped talking because he knew it would be pointless to continue since he did not know what Lucian was thinking.Meanwhile, Roxanne had be
“Mommy, is it because of Essie?” Archie asked. The thought had suddenly occurred to him because the first thing Roxanne had asked when she arrived home earlier was whether Estella had been there.Roxanne’s expression changed immediately when she heard her son guess correctly.Archie is so perceptive! He guessed the reason in an instant!“What’s wrong with Essie?” Benny asked in a puzzled tone.The boys grew concerned about Estella when they saw the look on Roxanne’s face. However, they also knew that if they revealed how worried they were, Roxanne would only become sadder.So, the boys tried their best to hide away the worry and anxiety bubbling in their chests.Roxanne hesitated a little. In the end, she asked the question that had been bothering her, “Would you be angry with me if you wanted to see me, but I didn’t show up in time?”The boys exchanged looks and, without hesitation, shook their heads in unison. “No!”Roxanne looked at them doubtfully.After a while, the boys smiled
“Do you want me to keep this medicine for you?” Jack didn’t take those kids seriously. Instead, he turned around and threw the question at Roxanne.Roxanne frowned as she pondered it for a while. “It’s better to send it to the research institute. There’s no point in keeping this with me.”“Then I will need you to come with us,” Jack said.Hearing that, Archie and Benny tensed up. The grips on the hem of Roxanne’s dress tightened.Just when she was about to agree to his request, she noticed the boys’ unusual reaction. She glanced at them with concern.The boys looked at their mother. “Mommy, aren’t you unwell?”It was only after the boys contemplated for some time that they finally came up with those words.Roxanne’s expression changed slightly. Her eyes grew gloomy as she thought of Estella.“Forget it if you’re not feeling well. I’ll just tell the staff over there,” Jack said.Roxanne pulled herself together and shook her head with a smile on her face. “It’s better for me to go over
Naturally, Archie and Benny also knew Estella wouldn’t be thrilled to attend a new school.Nevertheless, they decided not to push that matter further when they saw Roxanne’s reddened eyes.“We got it, Mommy.”Roxanne forced a smile at her kids. “Let’s finish our meals and get rested earlier.”The boys nodded obediently.Subsequently, the trio had their dinner absentmindedly.They returned to their rooms after taking a few bites of their food.Roxanne lay on her bed, looking at the conch shell Estella gave her, with complicated emotions churning within her.She had just been listening to Archie and Benny giving her an account of their fun time hanging out with Estella the day before.Unexpectedly, Lucian had transferred Estella to another school that day.She could easily imagine how hard Estella would’ve cried when the latter was informed of that matter.Nonetheless, she wa
Archie and Benny told me that Essie took the day off yesterday afternoon. I a*sumed Lucian had something urgent to do, so I didn’t give it much thought. Who would’ve known Essie would be transferring away the next day… After taking a moment to recompose herself, Roxanne asked, “Did she cry?”Estella had cried a lot when Archie and Benny had been expelled, so she a*sumed Archie and Benny would also feel upset about her leaving.Benny shook his head. “We didn’t get to see Essie. It was Ms. Ward who told us about it.”They didn’t know if Estella had cried about her transfer.It wasn’t until they heard Roxanne’s question that they realized Estella was probably just as upset as they were, if not more.Archie and Benny tugged anxiously at Roxanne’s shirt. “Let’s go visit Essie, Mommy! She must be really sad right now!”Roxanne wanted to visit Estella too, but the mere thought of heading over to the Farwell residence reminded her of what she had seen that night.Lucian and Aubree were chatt
Meanwhile, Archie and Benny were standing next to Pippa at the kindergarten. “Where did Essie go, Ms. Ward?”Pippa had no idea where Estella went, but she tried to rea*sure the boys. “Essie took the day off. But I’m not too sure about the reason.”“Will we be able to see her tomorrow?” Archie asked.Pippa was hesitant to answer that question at first. Seeing how anxious the two of them were, however, she flashed them a smile. “Yes, you will.”Only then did Archie and Benny breathe sighs of relief.When cla*ses were almost over, Pippa received a call from the head of kindergarten.He summoned her to his office and handed her a document and a pen.“All that’s left to do is for you to sign this.”Pippa took the pen and quickly read through the document.“Essie is transferring to another kindergarten? But why? Is there something we’re not doing well enough?” she asked in confusion when she realized what it was.“Mr. Farwell said it was a personal reason. He also said he would continue fu
Jonathan had wanted to try persuading him further, but Lucian cut him off, “I have a meeting to attend. We’ll talk about this some other time.” Jonathan had no choice but to get up and leave the office.After stepping out of Farwell Group, Jonathan thought about the advice he had given Lucian earlier and regretted every single word he said.If I had known things were that bad between them, I would’ve changed the way I worded my sentences! Now, look what I’ve done! Not only did Roxanne show no interest in Lucian whatsoever, but he has also given up on winning her over! Honestly, I feel really bad for Essie. She really likes Roxanne and wants her to become her mother someday. The best part about this is the fact that Roxanne is her biological mother. However, she’s in for a huge disappointment, as Lucian has already given up on winning her over. There’s only so much a child like Essie can handle…Of course, Lucian had thought about the exact same thing.He showed up outside the kinderg
Meanwhile, in the CEO’s office of Farwell Group, Jonathan was sitting in front of Lucian with a teasing smile on his face. “I hear a portion of medicinal herbs from Herbscape Group’s overseas branch has been shipped back to Horington.”Lucian simply nodded without saying anything in response.“Back then, I suggested you lend a helping hand, but you refused to do so. Now, look what has happened!” Jonathan continued with a chuckle.I thought he was actually going to ignore Roxanne completely, but he ended up intervening anyway!“Well? How did Dr. Jarvis respond to you lending her a hand?” Jonathan asked.The look on Lucian’s face turned gloomy the moment he heard that.When Jonathan didn’t get a response from Lucian, he slowly came to realize that he had said something he shouldn’t have.From his expression, it’s obvious that their relationship has yet to improve. In fact, it might even have gotten worse. This doesn’t make any sense, though…Noticing the confused frown on Jonathan’s fa
“What is it?” Aubree asked with a scowl. Frieda retrieved her phone and showed her a few photos.There was a tent in the first photo. Not far away from the tent was a white skirt.Nothing else was shown, but Aubree’s face was already grim.I know the tent. It was the one Roxanne and the little b*stards set up that day. The white skirt is most probably the one I wore that day.The photo didn’t show anything else, so the person who took the photo was obviously targeting her.In the following photo, Aubree could be seen wearing that white skirt. She was holding a white medicine bottle with an unknown substance inside.The photos showed what Aubree had done that day.Finally, the series of photos ended when Aubree finished positioning the bacterium and made her exit.Aubree’s face was as dark as thunder by the time she scrolled to the last picture.“Where did you get these?” she demanded.Frieda quickly explained, “I don’t know. Someone sent them to me yesterday with a text.”She hurried
The next morning, words about Aubree’s injury became public knowledge. Sonya contacted Aubree to show her concern.“Aubree, I heard you were injured. Is that true?”Aubree sat on the edge of her bed and stared at her wounded ankle. Her expression was cold, but she replied nicely, “I accidentally fell down, but I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me, Mrs. Farwell.”Sonya furrowed her brows. “How did you fall? Didn’t you visit Lucian yesterday? Does he know that you’re hurt?”Aubree sounded conflicted as she responded, “Mrs. Farwell, you should stay out of this.”“He knows about it, doesn’t he?” Sonya immediately guessed.Every time Lucian mentioned his relationship with Aubree, he would tell me to stay out of it. Even Aubree is saying the same thing now!At that thought, Sonya grew breathless with anger. “Tell me how you got hurt.”A smug look flashed across Aubree’s eyes as Sonya was close to the truth.She pretended to be hesitant for a few seconds as if struggling with what to
Lucian’s phone rang when he arrived at the hospital entrance. It was the landline from home.“When are you coming back, Daddy?”Estella’s demure voice sounded from the other end as soon as he picked up.“I’m on the way,” Lucian replied softly. “Go to sleep first, I’ll be home to see you soon.”Estella promised and hung up quickly after that.It was already late at night when Lucian arrived back at his manor.Then, he made his way to Estella’s bedroom as soon as he got home just like how he had promised her.To his surprise, he found the child still awake. She watched him enter indignantly without saying a word.Lucian frowned. “What are you angry about this time?”“You’re back so late!” Estella complained.I would love it if Daddy spent all night with Ms. Jarvis, but he was with Ms. Pearson. I dislike her! Counting in the travel time, it would not take him more than an hour to make it back.Lucian’s brows twitched at the child’s complaint.The child had never complained when I was ou
“Daddy!” Estella urged a moment later when she did not receive an answer from her father. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Lucian nodded resignedly at his daughter.Only then did she let go and watch him go down the stairs.Aubree was beside herself with anxiousness as she waited downstairs and remained in doubt as she watched Lucian descend the stairs.That little b*tch’s private word with Lucian is obviously trying to get him not to send me to the hospital.Aubree was aware that Lucian spoiled Estella and was even delaying marrying her because of the girl.I wonder if I would have to go to the hospital alone because of her.Aubree could not quell her racing heart, even when Lucian stood firmly before her.Lucian turned to address the family doctor. “I must trouble you with Ms. Pearson, Dr. Elswick.”Aubree’s eyes widened at those words when she realized she was correct in her hunch that he did not intend to keep her company.“Do you hate me that much, Lucian?” Aubree hung her he