With a stern face, Sonya slammed her phone in front of her son, the screen showing images of Roxanne and Jack in the middle of what appeared to be a happy conversation. “Have a look yourself!”Lucian gazed down at the phone, initially thinking that these photos were taken from the public uproar before.However, upon closer inspection, he realized that the woman was wearing the same outfit she had worn when she left this morning.Not only that, but Hector could be seen not too far away from the two in the photo.A look of irony flashed in Lucian’s eyes as he thought back to the excuse Roxanne had made when she left earlier today.She said she had to show up no matter what because Old Mr. Damaris would be there.Yet, in all of these photos, she was only talking to Jack and seemed to treat Old Mr. Damaris as though he was non-existent!Sensing the atmosphere around her son turn gloomy, Sonya continued to demean Roxanne.“I remember people saying that Roxanne only managed to become part
The sky was about to turn dark when Roxanne left the research institute. On the way home, her chest tightened as she thought that Lucian was still lounging around at her place.However, she returned to find only the three children sitting on the couch and staring at the computer screen.Roxanne scanned the living area, but the man was nowhere to be seen.“Mommy!” the boys greeted her as soon as they realized she had come home.Roxanne caressed their tiny heads while asking, “Where’s Mr. Farwell?”“He left a long time ago, but we asked him to let Essie stay so that we could wait for you to come back together,” Benny explained in his squeaky voice.The woman smiled when she heard that. Then her gaze fell on the little girl standing behind the two boys.Unlike her usual peppy demeanor, Essie now stood timidly behind Archie and Benny, not even saying hello.Clearly, she was still bothered by what had happened earlier that day.Realizing this, Roxanne knelt down and stared straight into t
Roxanne sensed that Estella was staring at her, but she did not react. Just now, all Cayden said was that Lucian was busy with work.As Lucian was the CEO of Farwell Group, it was natural for him to be busy.However, Roxanne felt that Cayden was actually referring to her, insinuating that she had neglected her children as she was too busy with work.Lucian’s words from that morning rang in her ears again.Is work really that important?Roxanne kept asking herself the same question. She worked hard because she loved her job, and she also wanted to provide a better life for her children.Yet, her good intentions had seemed to backfire on her.“Ms. Jarvis…” Estella noticed Roxanne’s silence and began tugging at the hem of the latter’s clothes. “I don’t want to go back.”Roxanne snapped back to her senses and lowered her gaze to eye the little girl.When she met Estella’s innocent gaze, her heart softened. Nevertheless, she had to coax the girl. “Be a good girl, Essie. It’s very late, an
Seeing that the kids were already back in their room, Roxanne tidied up the kitchen and went upstairs to do some work in the study. Even though she had agreed to be the technical advisor of Herbscape Group, she did not know much about the company.Prior to the actual collaboration, Roxanne felt the need to get a rough overview of the company, so she searched for information about Herbscape Group online.To her surprise, the moment she typed in the search bar, she noticed some unusual keywords a*sociated with Herbscape Group.Herbscape Group had been accused of tax evasion and selling illegal drugs.Almost all a*sociated searches were negative.Roxanne was stunned and filled with suspicion.She used to be in touch with various medicinal herbs companies in Horington when she was trying to resolve the research institute’s issue of medicinal herbs supply, and Herbscape Group was one of them.She remembered Herbscape Group’s reputation was quite good. Why are there so many negative news a
Estella had always kept to a fixed daily routine. While at Roxanne’s house, she had started getting drowsy at around nine o’clock in the evening and only became a little more awake while on the way home.Now, she had been sitting on the couch for a long time. Although she dearly wanted to wait for Lucian to return, she could not fight off the sleepiness that washed over her, and her eyes slowly closed.Catalina knew Estella’s routine like the back of her hand. Upon seeing Estella’s head droop lower and lower, she quickly hurried over to the girl’s side, preparing to catch her at any time.Just as Catalina anticipated, Estella fell fast asleep within a few minutes, and her body tilted to one side.Fortunately, Catalina was well-prepared. She caught Estella in her arms, then carefully carried the latter upstairs.When she finally left Estella’s room and checked the time, she saw it was already late at night.Ms. Estella was so stubborn just now. It seems as though she really does have
Lucian’s end of the line was so silent that his breathing was clearly audible. “Lucian?” Puzzled at not getting any response even after waiting for a while, Jonathan called out Lucian’s name. He started feeling tensed, thinking that his actions had drawn Lucian’s displeasure.There was another long pause before a low voice said, “You’re responsible for the online furor I’m seeing, aren’t you?”Lucian’s tone was impa*sive.Jonathan pondered for several seconds before admitting frankly, “That was the easiest and quickest method that came to my mind. As long as Herbscape Group’s reputation gets dragged through the mud, they may even end up approaching us, begging for an acquisition.”That response is not in keeping with Jonathan’s usually free-and-easy demeanor, yet it’s unsurprising. He has put in a lot of effort to get to where he is today and helped his family gain a solid footing in Horington’s business world. Apart from Damaris Group, they’re the only other family that’s so powerfu
After ending his call with Dean, Jack googled Herbscape Group and was swamped with news headlines about the company. Jack read every article carefully, realizing that every post was published that day.The person behind the exposé clearly did not wish to give Herbscape Group any room to breathe.Jack raised his brows in surprise as he read the news online.He had to admit that the person who uncovered Herbscape Group’s scandalous past was a brilliant mastermind.Only a skilled hacker could dig out the company’s well-hidden scandals.The discovery significantly narrowed his circle of suspects.There were few people in Horington who were this talented and had a history with Herbscape Group.Jack could only think of one person—Lucian.Still, Damaris Group and Herbscape Group had formalized their collaboration a long time ago. It seemed a little late to be exacting revenge now.What is he playing at?Jack narrowed his eyes in thought.Just then, Dean called him again. He was evidently an
A moment of silence descended upon the room. When Lucian saw Catalina’s expression, he instinctively turned around. His heart skipped when he saw the state Estella was in. He swiftly reached out and caught Estella. “Be careful.”At the sight of Lucian holding Estella, Catalina heaved a sigh of relief.Although Estella was only a few steps away from the floor, she was small and fragile. It would be dangerous if she were to fall.Estella had been in a hurry to chase Lucian that she did not watch her steps. The moment she missed her footing, she was so terrified that she couldn’t make a sound at all.Although Lucian had caught her in time, she only felt more and more aggrieved.Why didn’t Daddy wait for me?At that thought, Estella looked up at Lucian with a pout and grumbled, “I couldn’t keep up with you because you were walking too fast.”Lucian furrowed his brows. He knew that Estella was blaming him for her almost accident.Meeting her eyes, he said helplessly, “Essie, I told you th
Roxanne had long guessed Sonya would treat her with an unpleasant attitude. Although she was displeased, she didn’t show it on her face.“It’s Essie and Mr. Farwell’s wishes that Essie stays here. As you’re her grandma, I have nothing to say if you want to bring her back, but I hope you respect Essie’s opinions.”Sonya frowned in displeasure.I’ve already asked Essie just now. I wonder what sorcery Roxanne has cast on her to make her refuse to go home. That’s why I turned to ask Roxanne, but I didn’t expect this woman to be so tactless!Sonya was livid.Just then, Estella spoke. “Grandma, I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here and play with Archie and Benny.”Estella looked at Sonya pitifully.Usually, when Estella wore such an expression, Sonya would have gone along with her wishes. However, she was filled with rage right now, so Estella’s look only added fuel to the fire.“You have to go home even if you don’t want to. You belong to the Farwell family. How can you stay at some
Ten minutes ago, Catalina had been instructing the rest of the household staff on their chores when she heard the doorbell ring.The moment she opened the door, she saw that it was Sonya.Before Catalina could greet her, Sonya questioned her, “Where’s Essie? Tell Essie to come out. Tell her that her grandma is here.”Catalina was put in a difficult position.Estella had not been in the manor for the past few days.She had thought that the little girl was with Sonya.However, judging from Sonya’s reaction, Catalina knew there and then that Estella was with Roxanne.It was obvious that Sonya must have discovered that, and that explained her anger.As a servant, Catalina did not know how to answer her question. In the end, she replied, “I will inform Mr. Farwell right away.”She was about to go and seek help from Lucian when Sonya stopped her in her tracks.“I want to see Essie. If she doesn’t come down, I will go up myself.”With that, she began to walk upstairs.Catalina had no choice
“Please wait for a moment as Mrs. Farwell is taking a nap. I’ll tell her you’re here.” After inviting Aubree to sit on the couch in the living hall, the butler was ready to go up to call Sonya.Aubree knitted her brows and responded, “It’s okay. I can go up and check on her.”The butler knew Sonya doted on her. He hesitated but eventually agreed to allow her to go upstairs.Aubree responded with a nod. After plastering a smile on her face, she took the stairs and went up.Sonya had just woken up from her nap in the master bedroom upstairs. Upon hearing a knock on the door, she opened it right away.“Mrs. Farwell.” Aubree grinned politely. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”Sonya, too, responded with a smile when she realized it was Aubree. “Not at all. I just woke up.”Aubree walked up to her and held her arm affectionately. “I brought you lots of gifts. Let’s go down and check them out.”“Aww, you’re too sweet.” Sonya glanced at her. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m happy that you’re h
The search lasted the entire morning.The grim-faced Cayden, who returned with his subordinates in the afternoon, said, “We found nothing, Mr. Farwell.”Admittedly, Cory was an excellent private investigator.Cayden could not help but wonder how he had managed to keep in touch with his employers.Not only did Cayden not find any evidence of how the mastermind instructed Cory to spy on Roxanne, but he also could not find proof that could expose Cory’s identity as a private investigator.Cory began playing the sympathy card. “Mr. Farwell, I told you no one instructed me to do anything.”Lucian waited for half a day but did not get the answer he was looking for. His eyes blazed with fury when he saw the pretentious innocent look on the culprit’s face.“If no one put you up to this, why did you stalk her?” he asked.Cory blinked innocently. “B-Because I find Ms. Jarvis attractive. I wished to snap photos of her since I was trying my hand at photography.”He had felt nervous before Cayden
Meanwhile, Lucian, too, ordered Cayden to investigate the issue.With Farwell Group’s financial capability, the investigation was carried out effortlessly.In less than an hour, Cayden had managed to bring the private investigator to Farwell Group.It was not until the private investigator was led to Farwell Group’s entrance that he realized something was off.“D-Did I do something wrong? Why did you bring me here?”Cayden cast him a cold glance. “Why are you asking me that? I’m not the one who calls the shots here. You’ll find out soon.”The private investigator’s legs trembled when he heard Cayden’s words.The only person who came to mind when he thought of the person who called the shots for Farwell Group was none other than Lucian Farwell.The private investigator had recently been following Roxanne around on Aubree’s orders. During those times, he had indeed seen Roxanne interacting with Lucian.Yet, he paid no mind to that.After all, he was merely doing as instructed. He did no
Upon hearing that, the doubtful Roxanne and Madilyn exchanged glances.They had spoken to nearly all the research institutes that could develop that specific bacterium in Horington, and only that research institute confirmed that their laboratory had previously lost the bacteria.Although it happened half a month ago, the bacteria could remain viable as long as they were appropriately preserved.Madilyn was aware of that and didn’t hesitate to ask, “How did you guys lose the bacteria back then? Do you guys have any findings now?”The person’s answer did not disappoint them. “One of the researchers should have taken it,” he said frankly.Madilyn was filled with confusion when she heard that.“Although we have no solid evidence, we were certain about that. Two days after the bacteria went missing, that researcher suddenly quit. We haven’t heard from her since then,” the person continued.Before Madilyn could speak, Roxanne asked, “What’s the name of that researcher?”The person on the o
At the side, Estella had her head lifted and gazed at Roxanne, looking hopeful.Roxanne’s gaze flickered. Only after obtaining Lucian’s promise did she forcibly suppress the worry within her.“Got it. I’ll take good care of Essie for the next few days.”Lucian indifferently inclined his head a fraction in acknowledgment. Shortly after, he took his leave and left.Roxanne watched as his car disappeared into the distance before bringing Archie, Benny, and Estella into the mansion.All three children were already starving to the point that their stomachs growled incessantly.Without tarrying, Roxanne prepared some quick and easy breakfast to fill their stomachs first.After having breakfast, she had the children play by themselves while she stood up and went into the study.She simply couldn’t sit back and do nothing about the person who used the bacteria on the children.Worse still, Lucian left Estella at her place. Hence, she wanted to catch the culprit as soon as possible to eliminat
“Have you and the kids been here?”Lucian came to a stop under a gigantic tree.Stopping with him, Roxanne looked around before shaking her head. “No.”That tree was located at the edge of the woods.Yesterday, she had been with Archie, Benny, and Estella in the woods or by the waterfall.As such, they indeed hadn’t been to that particular spot.Nodding in understanding, Lucian motioned for her to take a look at the bottom of the tree.Roxanne followed his gaze and took a closer look, upon which she made out a vague footprint.From the looks of it, it obviously belonged to an adult.As the footprints moved toward the edge of the gra*sy area, they grew increasingly faint.Therefore, she had no way of knowing whether the owner of those footprints had gone anywhere near the tent.However, it was certain that someone else was there yesterday other than her and the children.In fact, that person had been watching from the side while she was playing with the children.That realization had a
After Archie, Benny, and Estella had dozed off, Roxanne turned off the small night light in the tent.Consequently, the tent was pitch-dark right then, and she had no idea whether Lucian was asleep on the other side.Well, I didn’t hear any movement in a long time, so he has probably gone to sleep.At that thought, Roxanne quietly got up and left the tent. She sat outside under the moonlight alone and stared blankly into space.The weather had been great for the past two days. The moon shone brightly, but there weren’t many stars in the sky.For safety reasons, Lucian had the headlights turned on, illuminating the tent’s surroundings and rendering it like daylight.As Roxanne looked at the scenery around her, her mind gradually began drifting.Too many things had happened that day.At first, the children suddenly contracted a bacterial infection. Then, she inexplicably ended up in the same space as Lucian.Both of the incidents had her emotions turn into a jumbled mess.While she was