Lucian knew Roxanne was uneasy about his presence, so he went straight to the couch and quietly read his emails right after he entered the room. Roxanne was playing with the children when a few knocks on the door grabbed her attention. She got up and went to get the door.When she pulled the door open, she saw two waiters pushing a cart, and beside them stood a man who seemed to be the manager. The man was looking at her respectfully.Roxanne was puzzled about the crowd outside her door since they did not order any room service. She instinctively turned to glance at the man sitting quietly on the couch.“Good afternoon. I’m the manager of the hotel, and this is the lunch included in your vouchers. Enjoy your meal,” the manager said with a courteous smile.Comprehension dawned on Roxanne. She immediately thanked the manager and stood aside to let the waiters push the cart into the room.Roxanne called the children over to have lunch after the waiters had set up the table.Lucian, howe
At the side, Roxanne had also heard Benny’s screams, but by the time she turned, it was too late. The boy had already sought refuge behind Lucian. The sight of the smile on that man’s face while the two of them were together left Roxanne with mixed feelings.As much as she had done for the children, certain forms of security were something only a father could provide.Oblivious to her sentiments, the boy excitedly tugged at her as he wanted her to admire the fish alongside him.Out of nowhere, a mermaid dove from above and waved at them through the gla*s.Wide-eyed, the boys asked Roxanne, “Is this real, Mommy?”Amused by their innocence, Roxanne patted them on the head. “Of course not, but she does look pretty, though.”“Could you dress up like a mermaid too, Mommy?” Benny looked at Roxanne in anticipation.Taken by surprise at first, Roxanne then went on to explain smilingly, “Well, I could, but I think that’d be a paid program.”When the children heard her saying that she could, t
After dinner, the lot of them headed directly to the beach to await the commencement of the fireworks display. Illuminated by the light of the moon, the ripples upon the surface of the sea sparkled like glitter—a picture of perfect tranquility.Although the beach was quite packed, there was not much noise.Immersed in such a setting, the ma*ses sat around and indulged themselves in infrequent bits of quiet conversations.With one hand holding Estella and the other on Benny, Roxanne weaved her way through the crowd while Lucian followed behind them.Being surrounded by so many bodies, Roxanne could not help but worry about the little ones and was hoping to find a more secluded spot where they could stay.As the beach grew increasingly populated, it drew a frown from Lucian who called out to the quartet ahead of him. “Come to Daddy, Essie.”He was wary of Roxanne’s way of herding the children and was afraid that Benny, who was occupying the fringes, would get lost in the crowd.Estella
Meanwhile, Roxanne was getting impatient after waiting for a long time with Archie and Estella. However, she had no choice but to wait in distress because she was worried about Archie and Estella whenever she recalled Lucian’s words.Suddenly, her phone vibrated.Roxanne frowned and instantly picked up the call without hesitation.“We found Benny. He’s watching the band’s performance. I’ve already instructed someone to keep an eye on him. Come over.” Lucian’s deep voice sounded.Roxanne felt relieved after hearing that. She immediately expressed her gratitude. “Thank you. I’ll be there immediately.”On the other end of the line, Lucian grunted in response before hanging up the call and hurrying to Benny’s location first.“Have they found Benny?” Archie asked carefully after taking in his mother’s expression.Roxanne nodded slightly and flashed a rea*suring smile at him.Archie appeared more agitated than his mother. “Let’s hurry up and find Benny! He’s alone. He must be scared out of
Archie sensed Roxanne’s remorse. He grabbed her hand and comforted her, “We’ll come here again and watch the fireworks next time. I’m very happy that we can find Benny this time.”With that, he curved his lips and beamed at his mother as if to prove that he was truly fine.Roxanne’s feelings of guilt intensified.“Come here. I’ll carry you.” Lucian’s deep voice sounded from atop.Archie subconsciously gazed up and met Lucian’s eyes, which were brimming with tenderness.Seeing that, Archie hesitated and turned to look at Roxanne to ask for her opinion.Roxanne frowned and scrupled for a few moments before taking a step back to make way for Lucian. “Thank you, Mr. Farwell.”She had caused Archie and Benny to be left out from indulging in fatherly affection for so many years. Although they had yet to realize their relationship with Lucian, Roxanne could not bring herself to deprive Archie and Benny of the opportunity to enjoy paternal love anymore.Archie’s eyes gleamed when he saw his m
“I’m sorry, Benny,” Archie apologized to his brother when the crowd shifted their attention away from them. “It was my fault for not holding your hand tightly enough that you got lost in the crowd.” Benny gazed at his brother and said casually, “It wasn’t your fault, Archie; it’s too crowded here. Besides, I wasn’t lost, and it was fun playing the drums, anyway!”Archie frowned for several seconds before nodding slowly. “I will hold your hand tightly next time,” he promised, “and never allow something like this to happen again.”Benny nodded vigorously as he squeezed his brother’s hand.Estella came over to join the fun. “Me too! I’ll hold both your hands!”The little girl clutched Benny’s hand as she spoke.Touched to see the three children walking hand in hand with similarly solemn expressions, Roxanne smiled gratefully. “Come, Benny,” she said gently. “Thank Mr. Farwell.”Benny appeared to be surprised by her words.“Mr. Farwell was the one who found you,” Roxanne said.The boy gl
Roxanne was about to bring the two boys up upon arriving back at the hotel when she felt a pair of resentful eyes on her back. Frowning, Roxanne glanced behind her and saw Estella hesitantly shuffling after her three paces behind.The child stopped in her tracks when she noticed her quarry had turned her head. Her little face was alight with anticipation.Not far away, Lucian pretended not to see them as he busied himself with pouring a gla*s of water from the bar.Roxanne walked toward the child. “Do you want to sleep with me, Essie?”The child nodded vigorously before asking cautiously, “Is that okay?”Roxanne’s heart softened at the child’s tentativeness. “Go ask your Daddy,” she said softly as she gazed at the man in the vicinity. “If he says yes, I’ll take you upstairs.”The child’s eyes brightened. She strode to Lucian’s side with her stubby legs, but the man ignored the child’s approach.Knowing that her father would agree, Estella tugged the hem of his shirt fearlessly. “Can
Lucian’s face fell slightly. “I’ll leave you to your work, Mr. Farwell. I’m just here for a drink. Don’t feel the need to entertain me.”Roxanne inclined her head at him before turning to head to the bar.The bar was filled with expensive wine, as they were in a presidential suite worthy of the name. Some bottles were even vintage.Roxanne did not know much about wine other than red wine was a sleeping aid. After perusing the selection, she opened a bottle at random.When Lucian heard the sound of a bottle opening, he turned around to glance at Roxanne’s back. Although he could not see which bottle she had opened, he reminded her, “Red wine will cause a ma*sive hangover. Don’t drink too much.”Roxanne grunted nonchalantly in response.The sound of Roxanne pouring herself wine was the only thing audible in the ensuing silence of the suite.Lucian’s attention was so focused on her that the contents of his email did not register to him.Roxanne quickly finished a gla*s of wine, but she
Seemingly sensing Roxanne’s gaze, Lucian turned toward her. Roxanne was stupefied when their eyes met. It took her a few seconds to come back to her senses and signal Lucian to stop the head of the kindergarten.“I don’t have much time. Tell them to hurry up.” It was as if he did not understand the look she gave him.What the he*l!The head of the kindergarten was quick to agree to it and promptly went to call the parents.Once the other man was out, Roxanne turned to look at Lucian disapprovingly. “You don’t need to blow this out of proportion.”Those kids might take out their anger on Essie after getting scolded by their parents. The lesson I taught them was more than enough.Lucian’s eyes flitted toward the girl in Roxanne’s arms before anger seeped into those eyes. “Those parents could not educate their children well and let their kids bully Essie, so it is normal for them to have to pay the price for it. The consequences await them will only be more severe if they don’t apologiz
Pamela had not been paying attention to Estella, and she dared not tell any lies in the face of Lucian’s gaze. Thus, half-way through her speech, she turned to cast a pleading look at Roxanne.Roxanne had planned to talk to Lucian about it anyway, so when her eyes met with Pamela’s, she continued where Pamela trailed off.“The kids crowded around Essie and said something to her. They even stepped on Essie’s hand. Essie resisted, but they pushed her down again. I only intervened when I couldn’t bear to watch it anymore.”Roxanne could somewhat guess what the children had said to Estella, but she did not want to rub salt into the girl’s wound.As Roxanne gave Lucian the explanation, Lucian’s expression turned colder.At the same time, the more Roxanne said, the angrier she became. She questioned, “The intense way the kids bullied Essie means that this has been going on for more than a day or two. Do you really not know anything about this, Mr. Farwell?”Why did he put Essie in a school
“May I know your last name?” Pamela suddenly looked at her. “Jarvis,” Roxanne replied in a hoarse voice.Once Pamela heard the answer, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly notified Lucian.I’ve never heard of the Farwell family having any relationship with a family with the surname Jarvis. Thus, this woman will certainly not be any relative of Essie. Luckily, I call Mr. Farwell in time to confirm it.However, the person on the other end of the line fell silent after she told him Roxanne’s last name.It made her a little worried, and she wondered if she had done anything wrong.“Get her to wait. I’m heading over right now.”When Pamela was about to apologize, Lucian’s deep voice suddenly rang out.She looked at the woman before her in confusion and hastily agreed.Roxanne noticed Pamela’s gaze and felt her heart drop.After hanging up the phone, Pamela looked at Roxanne solemnly and said, “Mr. Farwell said he’ll be here soon. Please leave Estella to me.”Lucian’s tone on the ph
Now that Pamela had taken a good look at Roxanne, she realized there were indeed some similarities between Estella and her. Despite that, she still chose to be careful and confirm with Estella. “Essie, is she your aunt?”Estella only wrapped her arms around Roxanne’s neck with her back facing Pamela. Not a single word came from her mouth.Roxanne had no choice but to pat the girl’s head to attract her attention. “Essie, your teacher’s talking to you.”Only when Estella heard Roxanne’s voice did she slowly turn around.Flashing Estella a smile, Pamela repeated her question.To their horror, Estella pursed her lips and shook her head, clearly looking upset.Both Roxanne and Pamela were stunned by Estella’s response.Roxanne knew Estella was mad because she had denied being her mother. However, she could not explain the situation to Pamela either.Pamela thought that Roxanne, the woman who claimed to have a different identity, was extremely suspicious.She picked up her phone again with
The children got more fearful when they heard Estella calling Roxanne “mommy.” On top of that, the latter did not show any rejection. This lady must’ve seen how we bullied Essie just now.Roxanne patted Estella’s head before lowering her gaze to glance at the surrounding children.“Apologize to Essie!”Her fierce expression made them hang their heads low in guilt.However, the girl who attacked Essie summoned her courage and feigned innocence. “It’s not like that. It was Essie who pushed me first. That’s why—”Hearing the little girl lying straight in her face only brought Roxanne’s anger to a new height. “Why would Essie push you out of nowhere?”When she finished, she suddenly remembered something and reached out to hold Estella’s hand.The moment Roxanne saw the red mark on Estella’s hand, her anger spiked even more. “Did Essie do this to herself, too?”The children exchanged glances, for they never expected Roxanne to have witnessed them stepping on Estella’s hand.Now that her a
Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief. She could see that although Estella was a bit out of place, the other children approached her enthusiastically and played with her.Yet before she could feel totally at ease, she saw Estella letting out a yelp.The children who were skipping around also halted their actions one by one.Feeling her heart tighten, Roxanne instinctively looked in Pamela’s direction.Something was obviously wrong with Estella, and Pamela could probably see that from where she was standing.However, there was a child who wouldn’t stop crying next to Pamela. Although she did notice a small commotion over here, she was occupied with coaxing the child beside her.Left with no choice, Roxanne turned back to Estella and observed her worriedly.The girl hung her head low as she ma*saged her hand on her lap.Roxanne could only see Estella’s actions vaguely from her spot, but she could guess that the latter was hurt.Upon realizing that, Roxanne felt a little distressed. Neverthel
Roxanne was surprised by her son’s words. She knew they had always been very sensible and had always taken good care of Estella.However, what she didn’t expect was that they had been thinking about this even more than she did.Benny chimed in sweetly, “Mommy, please talk to Mr. Farwell about this. We’re worried that Essie might get bullied, and we won’t be there to protect her.”Roxanne felt her chest tighten at the mention of Estella being bullied.She recalled the incident when Estella had been bullied by her cla*smates when Archie and Benny first entered the cla*sroom.Back then, the boys had stepped forward to protect Estella and helped her to smoothen things over with her cla*smates.However, now that Estella was in a new kindergarten, she no longer had any playmates she was familiar with. Roxanne was worried that if Archie and Benny weren’t beside Estella, the past would repeat itself.There’s a possibility that it would be just like what the boys said. Estella would be ostrac
Meanwhile, Estella and Pamela were the only ones left at the kindergarten entrance. “Essie, who’s coming to pick you up today? Were you always picked up so late in your previous kindergarten?” Pamela patiently clarified the matter with Estella, for it was the first time she had encountered such a situation.Estella pursed her lips in silence as if she didn’t hear Pamela at all.It was never her desire to come to the new kindergarten, and now that she was left to wait for a long time, she couldn’t help but feel depressed.Just when Pamela was wondering whether to give Lucian a call, a car gradually rolled up beside them.Aubree alighted from it with an anxious expression on her face.“I’m sorry for being late, Ms. Yaxley. Traffic was really bad.” After speaking to Pamela, she gave Estella an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to have made you wait, Essie. I’ll definitely come earlier next time!”Estella continued to pout in silence.Seeing that, Pamela defused the situation with a smile. “It
Jack froze for a few seconds before coming to some kind of realization and agreeing to it. The two of them then went out of the research institute.A look of delight danced across Colby’s face when he saw them leave.Ever since Jack came for Roxanne, Colby had been keeping his focus on the two.Therefore, he saw the look of struggle on Roxanne’s face.Evidently, what he had said in the morning was effective.Meanwhile, Roxanne came to a stop in her tracks at the entrance of the institute with mixed feelings still surging in her heart. In the meantime, Jack stopped behind her.“Sorry.” Roxanne had calmed herself down on their way out and realized that she had been a little too carried away earlier.Jack raised a brow and teased, “What’s the matter? Why are you apologizing to me all of a sudden? You couldn’t have secretly done something terrible to the project, could you, Ms. Jarvis?”Roxanne shook her head immediately. “Of course not.”I’ve done so much for this project. Why would I d