Roxanne’s heart ached for Estella, but she could only smile and console the boys. “Oh, that’s unlikely. Why would she treat Essie badly? She’s going to be Essie’s mom in the future. Come on now. Stop thinking too much and eat your food.”Benny lowered his head reluctantly, complaining about Lucian in his heart.Just exactly how is Ms. Pearson better than Mommy? Why does Daddy want to marry that woman?After lunch, Pippa invited everyone to take a walk around the area.When Roxanne took the boys out of the cafeteria, she realized they were still feeling low. Hence, she decided to take them out for a stroll. She suggested, “Why don’t you take me to the place you hid last night? I have no idea how you boys find that place.”The boys finally cheered up at the mention of the hide-and-seek game. Just as they were about to take Roxanne to the location, they heard Estella’s sweet voice.“Ms. Jarvis…”The fact that Aubree had replaced. Roxanne’s spot during mealtime put Estella in low spirits.
Lucian knitted his brows. “Essie‘s just a little tired. If you have no other matters, you should go home as soon as possible.”Aubree‘s expression froze, and she racked her brains in search of an excuse to stay back.As she was thinking about it, she suddenly spotted the pink luggage at the bedside.It did not look like it belonged to Lucian no matter how hard she stared at it.“This is…” Aubree asked in puzzlement, eyeing the luggage suspiciously.Lucian followed her line of sight and said plainly, “That belongs to a parent of Essie‘s classmate. There weren‘t enough rooms, so I had to squeeze into someone else‘s.”Upon hearing that, Aubree shot him a look of surprise. “You‘re sharing a room with a woman?”Lucian‘s gaze darkened.If it were another woman, he, naturally, would not agree to it.However, that woman was Roxanne.They were once husband and wife and had intimate moments back then. Thus, there was nothing to be shy about.Moreover, they were very cautious by making sure they
Roxanne didn‘t know why, but she had a bad feeling. “No, I haven‘t seen her. What happened?”Lucian scanned his surroundings. He didn‘t dare to blink because he was worried that he would miss his daughter. “Essie is missing.”Roxanne‘s heart trembled when she heard that. Panic was written all over her face. “Isn‘t she with you? How did she get lost?”Thinking about the events that led to Estella going missing made Lucian frown. “It‘s a long story. Let‘s look for her for now. She should be somewhere around the botanical garden.”Roxanne dared not dawdle. She immediately agreed to his plan. “Okay, I‘ll search around the place with the kids.”After hanging up, she turned to Archie and Benny, wanting to bring them along to search for Estella.“Mommy, what‘s wrong?” asked the kids in confusion when they saw the panicked look on Roxanne‘s face.Roxanne, who was worried, took a deep breath to force herself to sound calm as she said, “Essie is missing. We have to look around for her.”Archie
Roxanne went all the way back to the hotel. When she reached the lobby, she saw Aubree sitting on the couch with her back to the door.In the past, Roxanne would have politely kept her distance from Aubree.That day, however, Roxanne didn‘t hesitate to make her way to Aubree because the matter involved Estella. “Has Essie returned?”Aubree was still in a daze because of what had happened earlier. She didn‘t realize that Roxanne was right in front of her until she heard the latter‘s voice.Their eyes met, and at that moment, Aubree‘s anxiety was replaced by anger.It‘s her! Roxanne Jarvis. She‘s the reason Essie is missing!Roxanne slightly knitted her brows when she noticed the hostility in Aubree‘s gaze. She was confused and was about to ask about it when Aubree suddenly sprang up from the couch.Aubree pointed at Roxanne‘s nose, yelling, “I can‘t believe you have the audacity to ask that! Essie wouldn‘t have run away if it weren‘t for you. This is all your fault, you b*tch!”Roxanne
Pippa sent a message to the parents’ group chat to get an update.Yet every response she received was of no good news.Everyone knew how precious Estella was to Lucian, so they had gone all out to look for her. Unfortunately, the botanical garden was located near the forest, and no one was dumb enough to go there.Lucian read everybody’s reply, and he looked even more upset knowing that no one found Estella.He did not get in touch with Roxanne after the two of them parted ways at the botanical garden, so he did not know how she was doing.It was getting late, and he didn’t feel right to have her, a physically weak woman, continue searching.Thus, he gave her a call.However, the automated responses told him that she was not in the service area after he made several calls.Lucian’s gaze became even darker.Cayden arrived with his team at that moment. “Mr. Farwell, we’ve sent our men to spread out in the forest and commenced the search.”Lucian nodded and sternly informed, “Search over
The forest was dark. Roxanne could only rely on her torchlight because the faint moonlight was insufficient to illuminate the path ahead of her.She walked carefully inside the forest, not knowing where she was.Roxanne only knew Estella was nowhere in sight thus far in her venture into the woods.After sending Archie and Benny back to the hotel, she checked the messages in the WhatsApp group and noticed none of the other parents had seen Estella.No one has yet to search the forest. This is the only place left. If Essie is really in here…Roxanne felt more frightened the more she dwelled on that thought.Even she was scared of being alone in that environment, not to mention Estella, who was just a little girl.Essie would not have come inside here if it weren’t for me.At that thought, Roxanne gritted her teeth and hastened her steps. She must locate Estella as soon as possible.“Essie! Where are you?”Roxanne shouted Estella’s name as she moved deeper into the forest, hoping to rece
Roxanne patted Estella, trying her best to comfort the latter. Still, the sobs of the little girl in her arms sounded weaker and weaker.“Essie?” Roxanne gazed down concernedly.Estella had pa*sed out after crying for so long, but tears continued to roll down her cheeks from the corner of her eyes.Roxanne struggled to catch her breath, as she could hardly stand the pain in her chest when she took in Estella’s wretched state.The weather is so cold, and Essie’s wearing such thin clothes. She won’t last if this situation drags on. I need to think of a way to get out of here!At that thought, Roxanne took off her jacket and wrapped Estella with her outerwear before racking her brain to figure out a solution.However, no matter her methods, she could not climb out of the pit.Instead, she ended up exhausting all her energy.After several attempts, she stopped her futile struggles in slight desperation. She held Estella in her arms to provide the little girl with warmth.The night breeze
Roxanne was only able to heave a sigh of relief after the doctor confirmed that Estella was fine.However, as Lucian was still worried, he decided to admit the little girl to the hospital for one night just to be safe.As it was getting late, Roxanne said, “Since Essie is all right, I’ll take the kids back to rest first. Call me if you need me.”She turned to leave after she finished speaking.However, when she walked past Lucian, the man grabbed her wrist, causing her to draw a sharp breath.“Please examine her too,” Lucian said to the doctor.When Roxanne heard that, she rejected it at once. “There’s no need for that. I know my condition best. I’m not injured and I just want to go home and rest.”Lucian refused to let go of her.Having no choice, the woman walked toward the doctor and rolled up her sleeves, revealing an abrasion on her wrist which Lucian was grabbing a moment ago.She had sustained a scrape from pulling Estella back earlier on but did not want the little ones to wor