Jack didn’t mind. Instead, he flashed a meaningful grin. “Don’t thank me first. I’m giving you these presents because I have a favor to ask.” Hearing that, the kids immediately put up their guard.Roxanne was similarly baffled. This is only his second time meeting the children. What favor does he have to ask from them?Just as she was wondering, she noticed Jack looking at her, causing her to be startled.The next second, he looked at the kids again and said, “I need to borrow your mommy for a while. Is that all right?”The kids exchanged glances, having already expected that to happen. We knew it. He’s here to take Mommy away again. If Daddy knows about this, I wonder how long Mommy and Daddy’s next fight will last before they reconcile.At that thought, the kids shook their heads without hesitation and uttered matter-of-factly, “Mommy promised to bring us out to have fun today. Adults shouldn’t lie to children!”Hearing that, Jack shot Roxanne a surprised look.Roxanne was instantl
“Mommy…” Benny’s voice trembled slightly as he attempted to conceal his fear. “Do I have to go for the surgery?” Roxanne nodded fervently. “Your acute appendicitis will only worsen if you don’t, and you’ll be in even more pain. I’m worried about you.”Benny hesitated for several seconds and gradually removed his hand from his stomach. “Mommy, I’m feeling much better. I’m perfectly fine now. Let’s not go for the surgery, please?”Roxanne shook her head at once.Archie and Benny eyed one another. Their eyes were full of fear and regret.Archie tugged at the hem of Roxanne’s shirt gingerly and said obediently, “Mommy, we’re both sorry for lying to you just now. I was the one who asked Benny to pretend to be sick. Please don’t bring him for surgery.”Benny got down from the bed and stood before Roxanne guiltily as well.Roxanne looked down at Archie and Benny and sighed internally before ruffling their hair. “Have you learned from your mistake?”They hurriedly nodded.Roxanne crouched do
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
On the way to the Farwell residence, Estella puffed up her cheeks as she sat in the backseat. She stared at her father through the rearview mirror. “Daddy, did you make Ms. Jarvis angry again?”Lucian frowned slightly when he heard Estella’s soft and adorable voice.Estella caught on to the change in Lucian’s expression and knew that she had guessed correctly. She snorted angrily.She had thought that Lucian wanted to bring her to meet Roxanne.However, it turned out he had gone to create trouble for Roxanne instead.“I won’t listen to you anymore, Daddy!” Estella said gloomily.Lucian’s frown deepened. He patiently explained, “It’s because of work.”It’s this excuse again!Estella looked at the rearview mirror unhappily and said, “You only know how to lie to little kids, Daddy.”Lucian’s eye twitched in anger when he heard that.Estella continued listing out her grievances. “You also said that to me the previous time! Earlier tonight, you tricked me into bringing you to Ms. Jarvis t
Lucian stared at Roxanne with a grim expression. Even if she did not say it out explicitly, he could tell that she was still being suspicious of him.Realizing that, Lucian’s expression darkened terribly, while the tone of his voice became colder.“Since you are refusing my offer, Ms. Jarvis, I won’t insist upon it anymore.”With that, he turned around and left the study.As she watched his retreating figure, Roxanne’s eyes glinted with an unfathomable emotion. Confusion filled her heart at that moment.Lucian’s words still left her wondering why he had decided to come all the way to see her in the first place.She wouldn’t believe his claim that he was merely here to provide the medicinal herbs.However, Lucian did not mention anything else besides that.Roxanne mulled over it in the study alone, but she could not find an answer to her doubts.After quite some time, she finally decided to leave the room.Meanwhile, the children had finished their dinner and were playing in the livin
Roxanne could feel Lucian’s heavy gaze on her back. Although her back was facing him, she still could not ignore the fact he was staring at her.Due to Lucian’s presence, she was no longer in the mood to eat anything.“You kids go ahead. I have something to discuss with Mr. Farwell,” said Roxanne softly after taking several quick bites and placing away her cutleries.She could not stand having Lucian staring at her all the time, and she wanted to know why he came to her place.The kids did not think too much about that and nodded obediently in response.Seeing that the kids had agreed to let her go, Roxanne stood up and walked over to Lucian. “Let’s talk in the study.”Lucian nodded casually and stood up, following her to the study.“Mr. Farwell, to what do I owe this pleasure of having you over at my place? Do you have something important to tell me?” Roxanne stood in the center of the study, looking at him warily. “If you’re here to offer me the technical advisor’s position for Her
That night, Lucian went to the kindergarten to pick Estella up. It was already late by the time he arrived, so Estella was the only kid left at the kindergarten.“Daddy,” Estella greeted him aggrievedly after noticing his arrival.He patted her head apologetically. “I’m sorry that I’m late.”Then, he looked up and nodded at Pippa.Pippa had waited with Estella the whole night. Now that Lucian had finally shown up, she could rest a*sured and let him take the little girl home.After bringing Estella into the car, Lucian sat idly for some time instead of starting the vehicle.Estella urged him in puzzlement, “Daddy?” Her voice pulled him back to reality.He glanced at the little girl through the rearview mirror and saw a bewildered expression spread across her face.“Have you seen Ms. Jarvis in the past few days?” he asked.Estella became crestfallen upon listening to his question and shook her head dejectedly.However, she quickly turned delighted. “Archie and Benny said I’ll be able t
Jonathan cleared his throat at Lucian’s lack of response.“I heard a fire broke out in Dr. Jarvis’ research institute two days ago.”Hearing that, Lucian snapped his brows together.Jonathan was satisfied to see his response. “What’s the matter? Did you not know about this?”Lucian nodded, his expression somber.He had not seen Roxanne since the kiss the other night.Therefore, he knew nothing of what happened to her.Although Estella would try to get news about Roxanne from Archie and Benny before telling her father what she learned, Lucian knew that Roxanne would not let the boys know that she had been in danger.Jonathan fell silent when he saw his friend’s grim expression, and he waited for Lucian to speak instead.“Was the fire a bad one? Was she hurt?” Lucian could not help but ask.Jonathan lifted a brow. “Won’t you know if you go and take a look at her?”At that, Lucian’s expression turned dark again.Jonathan was bewildered by that.What does this mean? Did they have a fight
When the a*sistant thought about how Jack had invested twelve billion in Herbscape Group, he found himself unable to continue speaking. Despite everything, twelve billion was a hefty sum.Even if Herbscape Group was a hot potato, keeping it around meant that they would be able to see where the twelve billion was going.If they threw the hot potato away, it would mean throwing the twelve billion into the gutters.“Do tell me how you’re planning to deal with this,” Jack urged with a frown.Jack’s voice snapped the a*sistant back to his senses, and he had no choice but to steel himself and continue.“If we keep Herbscape Group around, I’m afraid it’ll affect Damaris Group’s reputation, so…”Jack arched a brow.The a*sistant squeezed out, “So, the best way to deal with this is to cut ties with Herbscape Group as quickly as we can.”It’s even better if we do it before the news of Herbscape Group’s executives landing in jail spreads.That was what Jack thought as well, though his heart ach
Only after hearing Colby’s response did Roxanne relax slightly. “I see. I’ll leave it to you, then. Feel free to come to me if you need anything,” she said.Colby agreed.Roxanne couldn’t help adding emotionally, “If you can find those medicinal herbs again, you’ll solve a huge problem for me.”Finally, Colby felt chirpy upon hearing Roxanne’s tone.Ever since Roxanne went to the research institute, she had been solving all kinds of problems on her own.She would only let him, the person in charge of the research institute, help her with trivial matters.Therefore, Colby knew that despite her praises, she had always only regarded him as an ordinary researcher at the research institute.After all, he was nothing compared to the men she had by her side.This time around, he was rather surprised at the fact that it didn’t take much to trick Roxanne into holding him in high regard.No one would’ve expected him to do so much just to create a distance between Roxanne and other men. It’ll b
Jason was regretting what he did dearly. In fact, he regretted it the moment he did it the day before. However, Colby had already locked the research institute up, so he couldn’t salvage the situation, even if he wanted to.That morning, he made the effort to arrive at the research institute to see if there was anything he could do to fix it.However, he was wrong when he thought he had arrived early enough. By the time he arrived at the entrance, the firefighters were already at the scene.Jason couldn’t help but slap himself twice across the face when he recalled the burnt storage and what Roxanne had said.“This is my fault, Dr. Jarvis. I’m so stupid!” Utterly embarra*sed, he asked, “Since I’ve come forward on my own, c-could you please let the matter slide? My son is still in the hospital…”Roxanne dug her fingers into her palms to force herself to stay calm. “That’s not up to me, Dr. Coleman.”“This matter is being investigated by the police. Jason, how could you be so foolish?”
In the research area, the researchers had just regained their composure from the fire incident earlier and got back to work. When they saw two people walking in, they stopped what they were doing in unison.With a grim expression, Roxanne swept a glance at everyone and asked, “Did anyone come to the research institute yesterday afternoon?”Coincidentally, the surveillance cameras were down, so Roxanne could only a*sume that someone had gone over at that time.As soon as those words fell, everyone exchanged glances with each other silently. Yesterday was a Sunday. It was such a good opportunity to rest at home. So why would anyone come to the research institute without a reason? Besides, she’s asking questions that has something to do with the fire. Even if someone was here, why would they admit it?Suddenly, Roxanne was exuding a fearsome aura as she threw a cold glance at everyone. “I have no desire to suspect anyone here, nor can I think of a reason why an employee at the research