Cognizant that Madilyn had helped her pick up the boys two days in a row, Roxanne planned to pick them up herself that day. Thus, she headed to the Queen residence in the afternoon after finishing her work in the morning.After she arrived, she examined Alfred to make sure there weren’t any complications before continuing his treatment by inserting needles.While waiting for the time to remove the needles, Jonathan approached with a document in hand. “Dr. Jarvis, here’s the contract I’ve prepared. If you’re fine with the terms, you can just sign on it.”Roxanne wasn’t surprised, as that was what they discussed the night before. After going through the document in detail, she placed her signature at the bottom.With the contract signed, Jonathan’s attitude toward her grew warmer. “From now on, we have become partners. Nevertheless, we’ll still need your help with regards to Grandpa’s condition.”Roxanne nodded in acknowledgment. “That’s the least I can do.”After a brief chat, Roxanne
At the same time, Estella, too, threw her a hopeful gaze.Faced with the look in Estella’s eyes. Roxanne, who was about to decline, couldn’t bring herself to say it. In the end, she swallowed her words and nodded at the teacher.In response, Estella’s eyes glistened as she discreetly leaned into Roxanne while holding the latter’s sleeveFrom afar, it looked as if she was leaning in Roxanne’s arms.Sensing the slight movement, Roxanne didn’t stop her nor show her any attention. Instead, she discussed the boys’ affairs with the teacher as if she didn’t realize anything.“I remember that you came back from overseas together with Archie and Benny. Considering that they grew up overseas, I’m surprised at how well they speak Chanaean.”Since the chat was just an excuse, the teacher talked about trivial matters, as Archie and Benny’s performances in class were so impressive that there was nothing to complain about.Roxanne nodded with a smile. “That’s because there were still many Chanaeans
Meanwhile. Lucian didn’t notice the boys in the car as he strode into the kindergarten, well aware that he was late.The moment he stepped in, he saw two figures by the slide together with Estella, who had squeezed herself into Roxanne’s arms by then.“Mr. Farwell, you’re here!” the teacher greeted respectfully when she saw Lucian.Lucian nodded in acknowledgment as he walked up to them. After throwing his daughter a glance, he stared coldly at Roxanne. “Why are you here?”Sensing his hostility, Roxanne knitted her brows in confusion.The teacher then looked at them in surprise, “Do you know each other?”Just a while ago, she had assumed that Roxanne didn’t know Estella.However, considering how dependent Estella was on Roxanne, she figured that it wasn’t such a surprise at all.After nodding at the teacher without answering the question, Roxanne shifted her attention toward Lucian. “I came here to pick my boys up. It was your daughter who refused to let go of my clothes, forcing me t
Lucian arched his brow at her body language. “You getting mad isn’t going to change my mind.”Estella furiously snapped her head to him and shot him a death glare.Daddy is the worst! I hate Daddy the most! I like the beautiful Ms. Jarvis and Archie and Benny. Why did Daddy have to fight with her and even forbade Archie and Benny to attend kindergarten?Estella was crestfallen at the thought of never being able to see Archie and Benny at the kindergarten anymore.Daddy is too unreasonable! I don’t want to like him anymore!Estella sulked the whole way back.She ignored Lucian who was trailing after her and dashed up the stairs to her room without one glance back at him. After slamming the door, she even locked the door angrily.Catalina was standing at the door when the father and daughter arrived, so she noticed Estella’s angry mood. When she shifted her gaze to the expressionless Lucian walking behind Estella, she knew they were once again at outs with each other.“Mr. Farwell, what
Roxanne didn’t know how to answer her at that moment.Yesterday, the boys’ teacher did tell me Estella liked following the boys around. However, I neverthought she’ll be bold enough to take a cab to my house alone just so she can play with them. Moreover, she can’t speak. If she met some bad people on the way here…Roxanne didn’t dare to think about what would happen.“Mommy?” Archie and Benny had been waiting inside for a while and didn’t see Roxanne come back in, so they came out to have a look.When they saw the little girl at their front door, they had the same reaction as Roxanne. “What … are you doing here?”Estella was about to scribble in her notebook when Roxanne explained on her behalf, “Essie just wanted to play with you guys.”Archie looked around at Roxanne’s explanation, thinking he would see his dad, but there wasn’t an adult man anywhere.“How did she get here?” Archie flitted his gaze to Roxanne.Roxanne replied resignedly, “She took a cab here alone.”Even I have a
Lucian scoffed internally at the thought of how she had escaped his previous antics. “What do you want?” he asked in the same frigid tone the woman used.Roxanne glanced at the little girl beside her. What’s with that tone? I would’ve hung up right away if it weren’t for the child!“Essie came looking for me first thing in the morning. Come and get her if you’re free. Or you can tell me your address, and I’ll take her there.”Upon hearing that, Lucian furrowed his brows slightly. “Give me your address.”“32, Durwest Garden.”The man hung up right after that.Roxanne breathed an internal sigh of relief as she watched her screen turn black. She turned toward the little girl standing beside her, saying, “Your daddy’s coming over to pick you up. Be a good girl and go home with him, okay?”Estella nodded but secretly began pondering over her next move.She had finally gotten the chance to be with this pretty lady and didn’t want to have to leave so soon.But Daddy’s on his way here. What s
After Roxanne was done tending to Estella, Archie and Benny returned downstairs while carrying Estella’s gifts.They each had a strange-looking stuffed toy in their hands and walked up to the little girl. “We bought these with our pocket money. You can have them.”The dolls looked adorable yet hideous at the same time and didn’t seem to suit Estella at all.However, this was the girl’s first time receiving gifts from peers her age whom she liked very much. Thus, she joyously accepted the stuffed toys and hugged them more tightly than she did her previous doll.After a long while, Estella finally put the toys down and scribbled a massive word of thanks on her notebook, showing her writing to Archie and Benny.This was the boys’ first time seeing her beam like that.They used to avoid her because she was a child their father had with another woman.But after they saw how adorable she looked, their hearts skipped a beat as they exchanged glances and scratched their heads sheepishly.She’
Benny turned to the other boy in a daze, but he immediately came to a realization upon meeting the latter’s warning glance.Right! We can’t show this guy how much we like Essie!Remembering that, Benny hastily shut his mouth, using only his eyes to express his discontent.Lucian took notice of everything the boys had just done.Still, he didn’t know what they were thinking. Assuming he had frightened them, he fell silent for a moment before softening his expression.They might be another guy’s kids, but they’re still young. Lucian knew he shouldn’t take his annoyance out on the children.“In any case, the fact that Essie showed up at your door early in the morning must’ve caused you some trouble. Thank you for playing with her,” he tried his best to state calmly.The boys nodded icily in response.Then, the living room fell into silence.“Where’s your mommy?” Lucian asked in frustration a while later, rubbing his temples.Despite having a daughter, he wasn’t particularly good at inter
Quiet settled in the car again. Lucian had thought Roxanne would offer him an explanation or words of rea*surance after he had shown understanding, but she remained silent for a long time.That ticked him off, but he couldn’t go back on his words and could only keep his emotions in check.Thankfully, Benny had notified him of this earlier, or he would have flipped his lid thinking about Roxanne and her indulgent demeanor working together with Jack.“You could take a break on this trip, too,” Lucian continued, not meaning a word he said. “The stories circulating online these few days must have affected you. I should have handled it better. I wanted to take you away for an excursion after my trip, but it seems that the medical consultation came at the right time.”Roxanne came back to her senses and seemed to remember something. “Sorry for troubling you with the comments online.”Lucian frowned. “I was the one who put you in this situation. I should be the one apologizing to you.”Roxa
I have never needed to inform Lucian about impending business trips, but things are different now. Knowing how much he dislikes Jack, I should inform him it is with Jack I’m making this trip. I have gotten so used to leaving whenever work crops up for the past six years that I would have forgotten if not for Benny’s reminder. Benny watched his mother’s expression soften and knew his timely words worked. Although his face glistened with anticipation, he was also silently urging his father to hurry up.Roxanne fell silent for a long while before grabbing her phone to give Lucian a call.Just when she found his number, a horn sounded outside the mansion.Somehow knowing exactly who it was, Roxanne put her phone away and walked to the entrance with her suitcase in tow.She saw Lucian’s Bentley at the door. Clad in a smoky gray vest with sleeves rolled up halfway, he emerged from the car and strode toward her.“What are you doing here?”Roxanne had a funny feeling as she watched him appro
Estella nodded innocently in response to their explanation. It is true that I know nothing about the stock market, and hearing about it would mean nothing to me, anyway.“Then finish up your discussion and come play with me!” Estella whined.Benny gave Estella a guilty nod.As he watched her climb up the bed, he produced his watch to send his father a message.Meanwhile, Lucian was displeased after learning from Benny’s message that Roxanne was going to the medical consultation again with Jack.Though I can’t bear to say anything to her, I’m even more unwilling to keep this to myself.After mulling the matter over, Lucian called Jonathan and blamed him for telling Roxanne about the medical consultation run by the Damaris family and for introducing Jack to her.Jonathan was deeply amused by his friend’s accusations. “Are you kidding me? I did that to help you appease your wife! She would have left the country if not for the Damaris family’s project!”Since learning about the Farwell f
Roxanne was totally unaware of the children’s involvement in Aubree’s predicament. Upon waking up the following morning, she wasted no time browsing the discussion online.Lucian’s announcement from the night before topped the trending topics, above the other popular topics from the day before that lay below, forgotten. The search phrases of the posts were also almost completely deleted.Roxanne deemed the matter resolved and was finally appeased.She was getting out of bed to prepare breakfast for the children when Jack suddenly called.Roxanne picked up at once, thinking it pertained to the project. “What happened, Mr. Damaris?”She sounded apologetic, as she feared her being the subject of tabloid gossip would affect the project.Jack sounded concerned on the other end. “Are you all right? I saw the comments online yesterday and considered dropping by, but I was swamped. Now that I have some time to spare, I’m calling to check if the comments have brought you down.”Roxanne froze
Coming down the stairs, Aubree spotted her father surrounded by the other relatives pointing their fingers at him and questioning him. “What are you guys doing?” Aubree asked after seeing the scene.In the entire Pearson family, their family was the superior one; they had never received such treatment.Hearing her voice, everyone turned to look at her.“You still have the guts to question us, huh? You know, had you not offended Lucian, our family would not have been like this right now. Old Mr. Pearson established Pearson Group all by himself. It’s not something you can toy with! You’re the one who messed up, but why do we have to bear the consequences as well?”Aubree appeared in a wretched state as her cheek was still swollen, and Samuel’s handprint did not fade.Aubree was so infuriated that her hand started trembling. “Oh, we’re talking about that now, are we? Didn’t all of you also bask in the glory when Pearson Group was at its peak?”If not for the marriage contract between Lu
Her face contorted with anger when she saw Farwell Group’s new announcement trending. On top of that, the announcement clearly stated it was Aubree’s personality that caused the annulment of the engagement.How could Lucian do this to me?A netizen commented: I’ve met Aubree before. Sure enough, she’s not all that great. She always looks down on others as if we’re inferior to her.Another comment read: I heard Aubree even scolded the daughter of the Farwell family and called her Little Mute. Back then, I thought I’d gotten the wrong person because they hadn’t called off their engagement yet. Now that I see it, it’s definitely Aubree. No wonder Mr. Farwell wants to renounce the engagement.The more Aubree read, the darker her expression grew.Everyone, no matter their identity, was stepping out to criticize her.Hmph! What do they know? It’s all Roxanne’s doing! Who knows what she said to Lucian? It’s clearly that b*tch’s fault. What right do they have to criticize me?Aubree was seei
Aubree’s joy did not last long, for the tables had turned that evening. Farwell Group made an announcement again, clearly stating the reason for the annulment of the engagement between the Farwell and the Pearson family. At the same time, it also contained a warning for the people who contributed to the discussions on the internet.One specific line in the announcement caused an uproar on the internet. It read: The Farwell and the Pearson family have annulled their engagement due to Aubree’s personality that is unfit for the role of Mr. Lucian Farwell’s wife.Someone wrote: The Farwell family must’ve toned down their words. They’re a big family, after all. I bet Aubree has done something disgusting behind their backs. Farwell Group is already sparing her dignity by saying it’s a personality problem.Another wrote: So, who’s the problem now? Aubree or Roxanne?Someone replied: Do you still need to ask that? Didn’t Farwell Group explain everything clearly in the announcement? It’s Aubr
Lucian narrowed his eyes dangerously as he scanned the inside of the restaurant. When the others saw Lucian had gone looking for the man to settle the scores, they retracted their gazes guiltily.Meanwhile, the man was so scared he did not dare breathe loudly in front of Lucian.Truth was, the man had no ill intentions.He had only read the discussion on the internet and gotten curious about their relationship.In fact, when the man saw Roxanne bringing along two sons of unknown origins, he figured Lucian would have some grudge against her.To the man’s astonishment, Lucian seemed to be truly in love with Roxanne.Moreover, Roxanne did not look like a crafty person as described in the rumors.Lucian suddenly thought of something and warned the man, “I don’t care what you think, but you’d better keep your eyes to yourself and not interrupt our meal.” After that, he instructed the waiter to move them to a different private room.“What happened?”Uneasiness swirled within Roxanne’s hear
It was her first photograph with the three children. More importantly, it was after learning that Estella was the baby whom she had thought died prematurely.“Thank you,” she said gratefully.Looking at her trembling hands, Lucian pulled her into his arms. “If you want to thank me, then reconsider my proposal. I was lying to you. I can’t wait much longer. Six years is long enough. I don’t want to keep waiting.”Roxanne lowered her head without answering. Her eyes brimmed with guilt.Having detected something in her silence, Lucian released her with a sigh and gave her a kind smile. “It’s all right. I can wait a little longer. Besides, I’m sure you wouldn’t bear to keep me waiting too long.”Roxanne looked away, not knowing what to say.Meanwhile, having tired themselves out, the children came running over to the adults.“Mommy, what were you looking at earlier?”Benny could tell that something was wrong between their parents, so he hurriedly tried to change the subject. Clutching Rox