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
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
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
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
“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
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
Aubree quickly grew impatient as the group of four didn’t return to their tent even after a long while. She whipped out her phone and sent the private detective a message: Where are you?Logically, he should have arrived before her, but Aubree hadn’t noticed anyone else around when she scanned her surroundings earlier.Where on earth did he go? What a useless man!She furrowed her brows in dismay.Seconds later, her phone screen lit up with a response from the private detective: Look up.The puzzled woman lifted her head and noticed that the leaves of a nearby tree appeared to be rustling.In the next second, she caught sight of a camera flash.Aubree frowned in displeasure and lowered her head as she typed a reply: Keep a close eye on them! Take pictures if anything strange happens and send them to me.The private detective a*sented without hesitation.After that, Aubree cast one last glance in the direction of Roxanne and her kids before slowly driving away.If it was possible, she
“Mommy, did this cup get contaminated?” Archie inquired in puzzlement. Hearing her son’s voice, Roxanne snapped back to her senses and flashed him a rea*suring smile. “No, something must’ve fallen in it. I’ll get you another cup of water.”She caressed the boy’s head and got up to toss the water. After that, she refilled the cup.However, Archie refused to drink anything.Regardless if something fell in it or something was wrong with the water, the boy was traumatized.As such, Roxanne didn’t pressure him but pa*sed him a bottle of mineral water from her bag instead.Only then was Archie willing to gulp down the water.Meanwhile, Benny and Estella had already finished their water. Their eyes were fixed on the pebbles that the latter had laid out on the ground.Roxanne didn’t interrupt the two and only instructed her oldest son, “Archie, take care of Benny and Estella. I’ll go pick some medicinal herbs.”Since it was still early, she wanted to take advantage of the daylight to gather
Meanwhile, Lucian arrived downstairs and went into the car with Roxanne in his arms. She was so deep asleep that she did not stir at all. After putting a jacket over her and fastening her seatbelt, Lucian got into the driver’s seat and drove back to the hotel.Worried that he might wake Roxanne up, he drove very slowly.By the time they got back to the hotel, it was already past nine at night.“Roxanne?”Lucian parked the car and softly called out to Roxanne.In response, Roxanne scrunched her eyebrows slightly. She then pulled the jacket over her shoulder and covered her ears.Seeing that, Lucian couldn’t resist stroking her hair. He got out of the car quietly before carrying her off the car seat.It was breezy outside. Despite the jacket draped over her, Roxanne instinctively snuggled into his chest.Lucian held her tighter and quickened his pace, though his steps remained steady.At the sight of the sweet couple, the people in the hotel lobby looked over with surprise and envy.Ig
Just then, Jack’s muffled voice rang out beside Roxanne. “Ms. Jarvis, are you okay?” Roxanne forcefully blinked her eyes to clear her head, but all her efforts proved futile.Despite having heard Jack’s question, she couldn’t muster the energy to reply, so she could only acknowledge him by holding eye contact.Jack had also drunk quite a lot, and after noticing how intoxicated Roxanne was, he knew it was time to bid farewell to Terence and the family members.“It’s getting late. We should be heading back to get some rest. We’ll still have to return to the nursing home tomorrow to continue the treatments.”Upon hearing that, the crowd knew better than to take up any more of the duo’s time. As such, everyone expressed their gratitude once more before seeing Roxanne and Jack out of the restaurant.With Roxanne in such a drunken stupor, Jack had to keep her steady by holding her arm.There were even a few instances when he tried to pull the doctor into his arms so they could walk togethe
It took Jack and Roxanne a while before they could pacify the elderly man and calm him down. After that, they continued treating the rest of the elderly people.Initially, the elderly people liked Roxanne for her looks and her sweet demeanor, and they were also curious about her relationship with Jack.However, after witnessing how the two of them treated the elderly man, the others saw the duo in a new light.During their consultations, they would eagerly list out all of their health issues.Many even talked about the minor issues they faced every day, desperately hoping that Roxanne and Jack could make them as healthy as a horse.The two of them ended up getting heavier and heavier workloads.Once the sessions were over, Roxanne was exhausted.“How do you feel?”Jack was tired too. He took a bottle of water and walked over to sit beside Roxanne.Wiping the sweat off her forehead, she then took the bottle he pa*sed to her and took a sip out of it before turning back to the smiling e
It was apparent that they did not buy her explanation at all. Roxanne cast a glance at Jack, hoping that he would help her out.However, Jack only smiled before turning away and changing the topic. “No matter what kind of relationship we have, it won’t affect our ability to treat you. Next, please.”He did not deny the elderly people’s a*sumption of their relationship, and so the elderly people became even more confident about their guesses as they looked at Roxanne and Jack lovingly.Upon realizing that she could not change their minds, Roxanne decided to drop the topic.Nevertheless, she later made sure not to do anything to let others misunderstand the nature of her relationship with Jack.Roxanne ended up consulting dozens of elderly people, but their health issues were all common and not too severe.As she was fully prepared to find their conditions had worsened, she was glad to see that they seemed better than she had thought they would be.Thank God they’re not doing as terrib
Arriving before the room door, Roxanne glanced at the shirt on herself. “I’ll wash this shirt and return it to you.”Since they were at the food stall for quite some time and even got into a conflict with those drunkards, it was no wonder their clothes were reeking of barbecue and alcohol.Roxanne was undeniably a little thrown off by the smell.“You probably got a shock earlier, didn’t you?” Lucian asked, sidestepping the topic Roxanne brought up.It took Roxanne a good few seconds to process the man’s question. In response, she pursed her lips and smiled. “Yeah, a little. That was a big group. We should’ve just walked away. There’s no point getting entangled with them.”Lucian’s brows drew together. “I don’t like the way they look at you.”In other words, he was telling her he chose not to leave because those drunkards were blatantly taking liberties with her through their words.Roxanne was taken aback, but she slowly put on a smile on her face. “Thank you.”I was the one who sugg
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t see you there.” Not wanting to escalate the situation, Roxanne apologized and adjusted her chair a little.The drunkards’ eyes lit up with lust when they saw her pretty face and amazing figure.Roxanne frowned in discomfort when she noticed them ogling her body.That was when she heard Lucian standing up next to her.She had wanted to stop him as she thought he was going to start a fight with the drunkards, but he simply stepped in front of her and shielded her with his large frame.“Given how packed this place is, it’s common for people to bump into each other. Of course, since you all think we’re at fault here, I’ll take responsibility and make it up to you guys. Which table are you seated at? I’ll have the stall owner put your expenses on my bill,” Lucian said while glaring at the drunkards.Roxanne breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that.Oh, thank goodness… I thought Lucian was actually going to fight them! He may be skilled and all, but they ha
“So, what are we going to eat?” Since he had already heard her stomach growling, Roxanne decided to be straightforward about it.Lucian retracted his gaze and replied, “I haven’t been here in a long time, so I’m not too sure if that restaurant is still in business. Come on, let’s head downstairs.”The two of them continued chatting as they made their way toward the elevator.That was when Jack’s door opened by a crack, and he could see them as they entered the elevator.The look in his eyes turned gloomy the moment he saw Roxanne’s outfit and recognized the man standing next to her.That’s Lucian! So, he’s the one who came to Jadeborough with Roxanne! I can’t believe Roxanne declined my dinner invitation only to go out for supper with Lucian! Is it true what the rumors say about their relationship improving because of Essie? If that’s the case, then it’ll be near impossible for me to win Roxanne over!Jack’s face darkened.The elevator slowly came to a halt on the first floor, and Ro
Lucian furrowed his brows and replied, “What else can I do? I don’t know anything about medical consultation. Since you are in the medical industry as well, give me some tips, then.” Jonathan held his forehead in exasperation.Is he seriously thinking of helping out at the nursing home tomorrow?The man let out a long sigh in his heart before replying patiently, “From what you’re telling me, Roxanne and Jack are staying in the same hotel now. Aren’t you worried at all? You know Jack has ulterior motives toward Roxanne…”The crease between Lucian’s brows grew deeper.He looked up at Roxanne’s room and saw that the lights had already been turned on.Recalling Jonathan’s words, Lucian could no longer sit still. Immediately, he opened the door and got out of the car.Jonathan was still blabbering nonstop over the phone.After heading into the hotel, Lucian made a reservation for the room next to Roxanne’s.It was already almost ten at night when Roxanne entered her room.She hesitated fo
“If you enjoy it here, then we can go traveling often in the future,” Lucian said when they were on the way to the lake. “The past few years have been incredibly hectic, so I’m looking forward to taking some time off to relax during my vacations.” He was holding Roxanne’s hand. She stared at his side profile and felt a bitter feeling spreading across her heart.For the past six years, they had been out of touch and unaware of each other’s current status.Roxanne led a hectic but fulfilling life.On the contrary, Lucian didn’t seem to be doing well.“We can bring the kids here one day. I don’t think they have been in the mountains before.”Lucian stopped in his tracks and turned over his shoulder to look at her.They had arrived at the lake.Perhaps they were in the mountains, for the lake water was crystal clear. The branches of the drooping willows by the lake were swaying lightly in the breeze.Roxanne glanced at him and said distractedly, “I believe Archie and Benny want to travel