Aubree frowned but quickly covered it up with a smile, hurriedly changing the subject. “Maybe she’s not feeling too well today. After all, her fever has only just gone down. Please keep an eye on her. If anything happens, please contact me.”The teacher agreed with a smile, not looking too much into it.Aubree handed Estella over to the teacher and pretended to give her a couple of words of advice before turning to leave.She had only just gotten into her car when she spotted a familiar Mercedes-Benz parked in front of the kindergarten.Roxanne brought her two children out of the car soon after.Estella’s expression cleared up, and she began to look as right as rain once the three of them showed up.Aubree’s expression darkened rapidly.She watched bitterly as Roxanne chatted casually with the teacher before handing the kids over, and her expression remained gloomy until Roxanne got into her car and left.She only stopped watching once the Mercedes-Benz disappeared at the end of the r
Roxanne didn’t really know what was going on, but she still went upstairs and knocked on his door.The head of kindergarten’s expression also seemed strangely suspicious.“Pippa told me you wanted to talk to me about something. What’s wrong?” Roxanne asked.The head of kindergarten smiled in an extremely business-like way as he said slowly, “This is the problem. I’ve been observing your children for the last two days, and I feel like they are simply not suitable for our kindergarten. Maybe you should consider giving them a change of environment.”So he just wants to expel Archie and Benny!Roxanne frowned but remained polite. “Did they do something wrong today at school? If that’s the case, I will definitely tell them off at home. Please don’t worry. I can promise that they won’t do it—”She wasn’t done with her promises when the head of kindergarten cut her off abruptly, “The two of them have done fine. However, I wouldn’t like them to stay in this kindergarten any longer. Of course,
Roxanne didn’t even let him finish his sentence before she bellowed angrily, “Don’t you think you’re going a little bit overboard? No matter what happened in the past, it should stay between us. Just come at me instead! I won’t say no to that, but the kids are innocent. They don’t know anything. Why are you doing this to them?”She dug her fingernails into her palm in an attempt to calm herself down. Trying her best to stop her voice from wavering, she continued, “Yes, I shouldn’t have done that in the past. That was my fault, so feel free to get revenge on me for that. But please, can’t you find it in your generous, generous heart to forgive my kids?”She looked down after that, feeling her eyes start to water from frustration.The head of kindergarten had been right. It wasn’t hard for her to find another kindergarten for the kids, but that was only if Lucian didn’t interfere.If he wasn’t willing to let either of them go, then she couldn’t do anything no matter how much power she h
Roxanne hesitated for a few seconds before telling Madilyn about everything that had happened today.When she heard about Lucian being petty enough to take it out on the two kids, Madilyn was extremely pissed off. “What kind of man is he? How can he do that to kids? I won’t let this happen to my godsons! I’m going to tell him off.”She was about to storm out of the house, but Roxanne quickly pulled her back.They sat down on the couch and Roxanne chuckled. “It’s fine. I’ve already gone to talk to him. On the way back, I thought it through. You know what? This is a good chance to really cut things off with him. I don’t have to worry about him stealing the boys away from me anymore.”However, Madilyn still couldn’t let it go. “What about Archie and Benny? How are you going to explain to them?”Roxanne was still stressing out about that. She hesitated before replying, “I’ll come up with something.”The two of them continued chatting about the matter for a little while until it got late a
Roxanne’s expression became even more scornful at his explanation. “Aubree? So basically it was your idea too, right? Who in Horington still doesn’t know about the marriage between the Pearson family and the Farwell family? Aren’t you afraid she’ll feel bad after hearing how desperately you’re trying to clear boundaries with her right now?”She pulled her wrist out of the man’s grasp and said coldly, “Don’t worry, Mr. Farwell. I’m not shameless, and I won’t annoy you anymore, so you don’t have to explain anything to me.”After that, she walked off without looking back.A dark cloud formed over Lucian’s expression as he watched her leave.Estella began crying uncontrollably after standing in shock for a few seconds. She tossed her father’s hand aside and started to run after Roxanne’s car.She had a feeling that she might not see Roxanne again after this.Estella felt immense panic at the thought and she didn’t know what to do.In her panic, she tripped over a rock on the ground and fe
Close to an hour later, James stepped out of the room, looking quite exhausted.Nothing had worked to the effect that he was hoping for, in spite of him having doled out every trick in the book that he knew of just to coax some manner of response from Estella.“How did it go?” Lucian inquired anxiously.James shook his head. “Essie has completely shut herself in. She has refused to communicate with anyone and is resistant even to me. My guess is that she must have been triggered by something. The only way to resolve this is by identifying the source of her trauma.”Lucian’s expression dimmed when he heard that.Seemingly unaware of the change in his friend’s mood, James continued to ask of the latter in earnest, “Has Essie encountered any situation recently that might have brought about this change in her emotional state?”Memories of the kid breaking her silence because of Roxanne came flowing back to Lucian. The answer thus became obvious to him.After a moment’s pause, Lucian recou
Hearing that, Cayden hurriedly drove to the theme park.After getting the tickets and entering the place, both of them realized that they did not know where Roxanne was.“Let’s split up. Call me the moment you find her,” Lucian ordered coldly.Cayden nodded in response, and the both of them headed in different directions to look for the woman.Soon, the assistant called, “Mr. Farwell, I think I see Ms. Jarvis.”Lucian asked for his whereabouts and instantly headed that way.Since it was a weekday, there weren’t a lot of people visiting Universe Park. Both of them instantly saw the four figures standing outside the haunted house.It seemed as if the four of them were in a stalemate. Though, to be exact, Roxanne was at a standstill with Archie and Benny.The children were holding on to each of her arms, and she was standing rooted to the ground.“Mommy! Come on in with us. We’ll protect you,” Benny whined while tugging at her arm.Apprehension was written all over Roxanne’s face.Right
Lucian’s eyes darkened at her words. He originally planned to get straight to the point and tell her what he was after, but it felt as though her question had pierced right through his heart.If he were to tell her that he needed her help, the woman would have come up with something sarcastic to ridicule him.Staying silent for a few seconds, Lucian approached her in another way. “I just think that I haven’t given you a proper explanation regarding Archie and Benny getting kicked out of school. I hope that you’ll calm down and hear me out.”Roxanne was already determined that he was the one behind this incident. All she felt was irony when she heard what was just said.Explain? What’s there to explain? Did he not have enough of his fun over the past few days?At the thought of this, a cold glint flashed through her eyes. Her tone was distant as she said, “Mr. Farwell, you hold great power, so do whatever you want. You don’t have to deliberately explain after doing what you did. I don’
Estella was confused, but she still smiled innocently, for she knew Roxanne was praising her. The former then retracted her hand obediently. Subsequently, Roxanne took out the tools she had prepared and carefully scooped out the yellow flower along with its roots.Estella cocked her head to one side, confused by what she saw.“For medicinal herbs like this, we need to preserve their roots as well,” Roxanne explained patiently.Hearing that, the girl nodded even though she did not understand Roxanne’s words completely.Now that Estella knew Roxanne was looking for that kind of flower, the former quickly got up and scoured the area.It did not take long for Estella to find a huge area of it, so Roxanne collected a few more to be preserved.Soon, noon arrived. The children were clearly hungry because their pace had slowed.Noting that, Roxanne brought them back to the tent to prepare food for them.She had woken up early that morning to prepare a various selection of food for the childr
“What is…” Estella carefully placed the wreath in her hand and shot Roxanne a delighted look. Smiling, Roxanne patted Estella’s head and said, “It looks a little funny because I haven’t made one in a long time.”In response, Estella shook her head fervently. “I love it!”As if to prove how much she loved it, Estella placed it gently in front of her and began drawing it.Seeing that, Roxanne and the boys scooted over curiously, only to be shocked by Estella’s drawing, which was slowly becoming complete.Her previous drawing of the plants was rather decent, though her brushstrokes were a little childish.However, her drawing of the wreath was unbelievable. In fact, it almost looked real.“Essie, you’re amazing!” Benny breathed.Roxanne, too, smiled and nodded in agreement.By the time Estella was done with the drawing, Benny could not help but ask, “Essie, have you taken art cla*ses before?”However, Estella shook her head in confusion.The look of surprise in Benny’s eyes only intensi
The camping location Roxanne had picked was in the suburbs near a mountain. It was a two-hour drive from the city, so they only arrived when it was close to noon. When Roxanne got out of the car, she could not help but sigh in awe while scanning the surroundings. The two-hour drive was worth it.Their camping location was on a lush field with tiny flowers growing all over the place.Roxanne had purposely chosen a wider area to set up their tent. There was also a little forest not far from their spot.The vegetation in the forest was denser, and rabbits would hop out and encircle their visitors from time to time.On the other side was a tiny waterfall, and thanks to the moving water, the surrounding air was quite refreshing and cool.The gurgling sound of water also created a serene vibe. It could not be a more suitable camping site.Happiness was written all over the children’s faces.“It’s so beautiful!” Estella gazed at the scenery, forgetting all the unhappy events that happened t
The next day, Estella got out of bed and waited outside Lucian’s room. She still wanted to convince him to go camping with them. When Lucian opened the door and was about to leave the room, he noticed the girl was standing right before him.Needless to say, Lucian knew her motive.Instead of giving her a chance to speak, he said, “Come. Let’s go and have breakfast. Ms. Jarvis should be arriving shortly.”The girl shook her head, but before she could say something, Lucian interrupted again. “I need to go to the office now. You must obey Ms. Jarvis, okay? Call me if you need anything.”Before Estella could open her mouth and speak, he immediately walked past her and went downstairs.Meanwhile, Catalina was preparing breakfast for them in the dining area.When she saw him walking to the door, she asked in concern, “Breakfast’s ready, Mr. Farwell. Would you like to eat some before leaving?”Lucian continued walking. “I have to leave now. Remember to open the door for Ms. Jarvis later. Sh
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