Lucian’s hand hung in the air, and his voice stopped abruptly as he turned around helplessly to watch his daughter reach the car.He watched her climb into the car before retracting his gaze and scanning the remaining children.Even so, there were no signs of the twins.“Mr. Farwell…” One teacher noticed he seemed to be looking for someone. Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurried over cautiously.Lucian shifted his gaze and stared at the person in front of him expressionlessly. “Where are the twins? Have they been expelled?”The teacher lowered her head guiltily. “Not yet. I wanted to tell them about the news when they came to school. But Ms. Jarvis called me this morning, saying the boys were feeling unwell, so I didn’t get to tell—”“Okay,” Lucian said curtly and strode to the car without waiting for the teacher to react.In the car, Estella hugged her schoolbag and rested her head on it, her eyes downcast. She looked as if she was pondering something.Seeing Lucian entering the c
Estella blinked, and her sobs reduced. Still in disbelief, she pursed her lips.She had heard Lucian talking to her teacher with her own cars, and the two boys were absent from kindergarten that day.How could there be such a coincidence?Lucian sensed her doubt, which made him feel even more helpless. “There’s no need for me to lie to you. They didn’t go to school today because they were unwell. You’ll see them tomorrow.”Estella continued to purse her lips aggrievedly. Suspicion was written all over her face.Lucian was at a loss for what to do. “How should I make you believe me?”Never did he expect Archie and Benny to have such an important place in Estella’s heart. They were so important to the point that she did not believe his words.Estella hesitated for a moment and let Catalina put her down. She then picked up a small notebook from the pile of mess and scribbled something while sobbing. Her squiggly writing read: Confirm!She wanted to hear the boys tell her that they were n
Archie and Benny exchanged gazes when they saw Estella in such a state. They found her cute yet pitiful at the same time.“We weren’t feeling well this morning. We’re much better now. Don’t worry,” Archie reassured earnestly.Benny turned to Essie and made a face. “Look at you, all scared like that. We’re just taking a day off. Can’t you be away from us for just a day? You little minion.”A sense of relief washed over Estella when she heard their words, and she broke into a smile.Lucian, who was standing at the entrance of the dining room, looked conflicted when he saw Estella finally smiling,It took me so long to coax hcr, yet it was nothing compared to the trio’s words. Not only did she stop crying. she even smiled.After standing there for some time and watching the boys making Estella grin from ear to car, he stepped into the room, wanting to take her home.They had only come over because Estella wanted to confirm things with her own eyes. Now that it was done, it was time for t
Estella hesitated momentarily before nodding gently.Seeing her admitting to it, Lucian frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”Estella shuddered and inched closer to Roxanne, feeling frightened.Roxanne cast Lucian another displeased glance when she saw Estella’s reaction.The kid’s injured. How could he still speak to her in such a tone?“Does it hurt a lot?” Retracting her gaze, Roxanne held Estella’s hand and massaged it gently.Estella pursed her lips and nodded.“You’ll be fine. I’ll help you to apply medicine. It won’t hurt in a while.” Roxanne gently released Estella’s hand and instructed her boys, “Keep her company. I’ll get the medical kit.”The boys nodded immediately and started taking turns telling Estella some interesting things..Soon. Roxanne returned with the medical kit, and she carefully applied some medicinal creamonto Estella’s hand.Estella was well-behaved throughout the entire process. When it hurt, she would only shrink away a little and would quickly place her ha
Estella was working with the boys on the final stages of a Lego project they had been working on together.Having already assembled a section, the children were struggling with the height of where it was supposed to be attached. Roxanne was usually close by to lend a hand after the preliminary assembly was completed on the ground.As she was busy with the dishes at that moment, the children stood around, figuring out how to circumvent that obstacle.After a glance around, Archie decided to bring a chair from the dining table.“Here, let me.” Taking pity on the children, Lucian softened his expression to the best of his ability and offered Archie a hand.Archie hesitated for several seconds before handing the assembled part in his hands to the man. Following Archie’s instructions, Lucian took it and snapped it in place.“Thank you,” Archie said gruffly.Lucian nodded noncommittally. With one hand in his pocket, he mostly watched the three children amuse themselves with the toy bricks
Roxanne sighed in secret relief when he finally let go of her hand. She leaped up as soon as she could place some distance between them. “Thank you, and sorry again for troubling you.”The man frowned slightly at her words but did not respond.Roxanne glanced at the mess on the kitchen floor and made to get up.“What are you doing?” The sullen voice sounded again.Roxanne froze. “The floor needs cleaning up,” she said. “The children might step on the shards.”Lucian’s scowl deepened.Despite this woman’s stellar credentials, she can’t even take care of herself!Roxanne grew anxious at the man’s gloomy expression, not knowing what she had done wrong this time.Could it be because of the trouble she had caused him earlier?After careful consideration, Roxanne was about to apologize when he spoke again.“You can’t get your bandage wet. Let me find you a housekeeper.”Without giving her a chance to respond, Lucian gave his assistant a call.After his dinner, Cayden was about to wash up an
Aubree, seated on the couch, leaped to her feet when she saw them crossing the threshold. She bent down and tried to touch Estella’s head, which the latter did her best to avoid.Aubree’s eyes flashed with displeasure, which she quickly hid by straightening up with a smile.“What’s the matter?” Lucian studied her intently. His tone remained indifferent.Aubree gave him a casual smile. “I want to thank you again for lending us someone today. You helped us out of a jam there, and Dad had me come over to offer our gratitude personally.”She was going to add something else after a brief pause, but Lucian cut her off, “Is the matter resolved?”Aubree was momentarily dumbfounded by his bluntness. She nodded with a smile that now seemed rather forced. “Well, the little trouble we had kept us busy until the afternoon. I hope it didn’t interfere with your business.”Lucian nodded. “There are plenty of employees in Farwell Group, and the absence of one wouldn’t make a difference. There’s no nee
Thankfully, Lucian wasn’t insistent and put his daughter down on the ground as she wanted. However, just as he was about to reach for Estella’s hand, he realized she had already scampered away.For a moment, Lucian was stunned as he subconsciously turned to look behind him.To his surprise, he saw Roxanne and the rest smiling fondly at Estella, with the former even walking toward the little girl.It was a rare sight as Estella ran toward the school’s entrance while waving wordlessly at Roxanne and the boys.Seeing that the little girl was too caught up in the excitement to care about road safety, Roxanne quickly rushed over to hold her hand. When she saw Lucian walking calmly toward them, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness.Estella grinned from ear to ear as she held Roxanne’s hand. Once they stopped walking, she even hugged the latter’s leg affectionately.Archie and Benny weren’t jealous either and greeted Estella with big, friendly smiles.When Lucian finally came t
Originally, Sonya did not intend to cause trouble for Roxanne at such an hour.Yet she did not expect her son to release such a shocking announcement on the internet, and she only found out while she was having dinner.Sonya was so incensed that she didn’t even finish dinner. After throwing her cutleries in a rage, she set off and drove to Roxanne’s house.She was determined to make Lucian and Estella cut ties with Roxanne as soon as possible.Now that Sonya saw how dependent Estella was on Roxanne, her anger was further fueled.“Roxanne Jarvis, give me back my granddaughter,” she uttered frostily as if Roxanne had snatched Estella away from her.Sensing Estella’s nervousness, Roxanne gripped the former’s hand to soothe her anxiety. Next, Roxanne lifted her head to face the woman opposite her.If this had happened in the past, Roxanne might not know how to respond to a demand like this.However, things were different now. She was Estella’s mother, so she had the right to keep Estella
The boys were exhilarated for nearly the whole day after seeing the announcement in the morning.When night fell, Roxanne had just stepped into the house when Archie and Benny flung themselves at her in excitement. “Mommy!”She was slightly perplexed by their gleeful demeanor. “What’s going on? Did something nice happen in the kindergarten?”As soon as she ended her sentence, she glanced at Estella and was puzzled. If something did happen in the kindergarten, why isn’t Essie acting the same way as them?Upon detecting his mother’s confusion, Archie said, “Didn’t you see the news on the internet?”That confounded Roxanne even further. What news on the internet?Excitedly, Benny added, “Mr. Farwell claimed that we’re his children, just like Essie!”Did I hear that right? Lucian said Archie and Benny are his children? How’s that possible? Roxanne was stunned.He could tell his mother was befuddled, so he grabbed the laptop, clicked on a public forum, and showed it to her.Farwell Group’s
Jonathan’s jaw dropped open in disbelief. If they aren’t his, why does he look so calm in comparison to me, who is freaking out?“What are you thinking?” He shot Lucian an incredulous look. “If you want to help Roxanne by stopping the haters online, then you can just publicize your relationship with her and issue warning letters through your lawyer. Why would you do this?”If it was revealed that the CEO of Farwell Group had claimed to be the biological father of his ex-wife’s children even though they were not his, no one would believe it. It sounded pretty ridiculous, but that was exactly what Lucian did.“If I only did that, the netizens will still a*sume the worst about the boys’ father.” Displeasure flashed across Lucian’s eyes as he explained, “The kids are innocent. If she’s willing to marry me, it will only be a matter of time before the boys become mine, too.”Lucian knew very well that the last thing Roxanne wanted was to drag the kids into her mess, so he was more than wil
Soon, some recalled Roxanne’s previous scandal after reading the statement. One comment read: So what happened between Mr. Farwell and Aubree Pearson?Another read: Isn’t that obvious? Aubree is the homewrecker. She was the one who faked the rumors so Roxanne would give up on Mr. Farwell!One netizen replied: But what about Roxanne and Jack? They had been involved in two scandals. Besides, they seem to be on good terms.Another comment read: Isn’t that obvious? They are both capable doctors. Besides, the recent medical consultations were all initiated by the Damaris family. It’s normal for them to be on good terms!Many online users expressed their disapproval of Aubree, while the rest offered their support and blessing to Roxanne and Lucian.Now that Roxanne and Jack’s relationship was clarified, everyone thought Roxanne and Lucian were the perfect couple.One comment read: I heard that Roxanne had participated in various medical consultations recently. A while ago, someone ran into
The medicinal herb company owned by the Damaris family was mainly run by their own people, leaving outsiders nothing but envy. Lucian went silent after hearing that.However, that piqued Jonathan’s interest. “Why? Is Roxanne working with the Damaris family again? Do you need my help with anything?”Lucian managed to detect the hint of derision in his voice and snickered. “Go on and acquire the Damaris family’s medicinal herbs company if you’d really like to help.”Jonathan rubbed his nose sheepishly and said, “Well, anything but that.”“Then there’s nothing you can do. Bye.”Lucian hung up the call right after that.Jonathan’s face was full of reproach as he watched his phone screen go dark.That was the second time Lucian had woken him up in the middle of the night and hung up after dropping a bomb on him.It had taken him considerable effort to finally drift off to sleep.Great. It looks like I won’t be able to sleep at all tonight, either!Jonathan lay back down in bed, scrolling
It was already past nine at night when Roxanne reached home. As she got out of the car, she felt anxious and guilty for leaving the children alone at home.Hence, she hurried into the mansion, but as soon as she entered, she was greeted with the lively sounds of the children playing with each other and running around.Roxanne stopped in her tracks and looked inside the living room, surprised.Initially, she thought Madilyn had come over, but Lucian was sitting on the couch instead.As if sensing her presence, the man turned around to look.When their gazes met, Roxanne’s shock intensified. “What are you doing here?”Didn’t we agree on meeting some other day?Upon noticing her return, the children stopped playing and gathered around her, yearning for affection.“Mommy, you came home so late! Daddy’s been waiting for a long time!”Roxanne ruffled the children’s hair, but her gaze was still locked on Lucian.Lucian sat on the couch, crossing his legs. The button on his collar was undone
Lucian had mentioned visiting Roxanne in the past few days, but she rejected him by saying she had work to do. When he heard Estella mention that Roxanne was rarely home, he finally realized how hard she had been working recently.“Are you free tomorrow at noon? Let’s have lunch together,” Lucian suggested.He was determined to let Roxanne get some rest.Roxanne fell silent for a few moments when she heard the time he mentioned before replying apologetically, “Sorry, I’m not free.”Lucian frowned. “Why? Is there work that you have to complete?”Roxanne scratched her nose sheepishly. “I’ve promised to meet up with Mr. Damaris for lunch tomorrow to discuss a project.”Jack Damaris?Lucian’s expression instantly darkened.We’ve hardly been in contact these few days, and yet she’s been contacting him?What the elderlies from the nursing home said echoed in Lucian’s mind once again.After all, he and Roxanne did not work in the same industry. Plus, the woman was a workaholic, causing thei
I can’t believe the Queen family is the culprit! I… I a*sume that with our friendship of years, even if they refuse to help us, at the very least, they won’t hit us when we’re down. Yet, they are the reason we ended up in such a state! If that’s the case, why did Frieda come to our house yesterday? Did she come to shed crocodile tears? Gina glared at her daughter resentfully. “You knew about it, didn’t you?”Aubree’s involvement in the company’s affairs meant that she must have known who the culprit was, yet she still permitted Frieda to visit her, much to Gina’s bafflement.If I knew the Queen family was behind this, I wouldn’t have allowed Frieda to enter our house!Aubree’s eyes had also turned red. “So what if I did know? It was the Farwells’ order! Lucian drove us into a corner all because of that b*tch!”I refuse to give up just yet! Even if I end up in hell, I’ll drag that b*tch down with me!Her words made Gina feel as though the world was crumbling around her.She could not
At noon the next day, Jonathan brought Frieda shopping. They bought a bunch of gifts before driving to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet Roxanne. The restaurant was near the research institute. Due to the closeness of both locations, Roxanne thought she could head back to do some more work if their meeting ended early.Something in the research institute held her up, so Jonathan and Frieda were already waiting in the private room by the time she arrived.“I’m sorry, Dr. Jarvis. Did I interrupt your work?”Despite addressing Roxanne by her name in front of Lucian, Jonathan was mindful of his behavior and addressed her politely when she was present.Roxanne offered him a polite smile. Her gaze then landed on Frieda, and confusion crossed her eyes.If I’m not mistaken, Frieda never liked me. So why is she here today?Considering how busy she was handling various projects at the research institute, Roxanne did not want to be involved in any trouble.Jonathan rose to his fee