By the time they settled in their room, it was already nighttime. Pippa led the parents to the restaurant the botanical garden had arranged for them.Roxanne took Archie and Benny to get their food.There were far more employees of the botanical garden at the restaurant than when they first got off the bus, and Estella did not like that.She followed closely behind Roxanne, never taking her eyes off the latter.Roxanne turned around when she sensed Estella’s gaze, and a pained look appeared in her eyes upon noticing the girl’s timid expression.She immediately let Archie and Benny hold hands, thus allowing her to free one hand to take Estella’s.Seeing Roxanne reach her hand out toward her, Estella took it without hesitation, her eyes crinkling as she beamed.All signs of timidness had vanished from her face without a trace.Lucian was still worried about Estella, so he followed her.Then, he saw Roxanne and Estella holding hands, and mixed feelings surged within him as he walked behi
Mr.Farwell only interacts with you for the sake of his child.Don’t have any ideas about weaseling your way into the Farwell family.”Roxanne’s head pounded inadvertently at the woman’s words.knew running into Lucian here was catnip for unsavory comments.I just didn’t think it would come so soon.“You must be mistaken about the situation…” Roxanne tried to explain.Alas, the woman cut her off disgustedly and retorted, “Mistaken? Everyone knows how much time you’re spending with Mr.Farwell these days.Know your place, Ms. Jarvis! Mr. Farwell’s fiancée is Ms.Pearson, and their relationship is stronger than ever.I hope you don’t humiliate yourself in this hopeless scheme to win Mr.The mention of Lucian and Aubree’s impending wedding caused Roxanne to lower her gaze. She swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue and replied to the nasty woman, “Thank you for your advice.I’ll be more mindful in the future.” The woman took Roxanne’s meekness as a sign of her victory.She made a ment
Suddenly, Estella tugged on Roxanne’s hand and said, “Over here!” Roxanne followed Estella through a complicated route and was surprised to see the boys hiding behind a man made hill.“How did you know Archie and Benny were hiding here, Essie?” asked a surprised Roxanne.The boys always hid in the most creative places, and Roxanne had always struggled to find them during their hide-and seek sessions.She never imagined Estella would find them so easily.Estella tilted her head and replied, “I don’t know.It was a guess.” Roxanne did not think much of Estella’s response and promptly believed her.By the time Lucian, Roxanne, and the children returned to their rooms, it was already nine at night. Archie and Benny were dripping in sweat from playing hide-and-seek earlier.Roxanne quickly ushered the boys into the bathroom to shower them once they got back.Their playful chatter drifted out of the bathroom from time to time.From where she sat on the bed, Estella stared at the bathroom do
The tree-planting activity started very early the next morning.After waiting for the parents and children to finish breakfast, Pippa led them to the venue of the event.The kindergarten had collaborated with a botanical garden to provide the kids with an empty spot to plant some trees.There was quite a lot of staff standing by when they arrived.As the kids were all born with silver spoons in their mouths, the staff made sure they were extra friendly with them.Pippa then introduced the parents to the staff, split them into groups, and had them follow the staff to collect their saplings.Estella stared reluctantly at Roxanne when she heard they would be split into groups.She refused to budge even when the teacher called her name.Lucian frowned when he saw that and shifted his gaze toward Roxanne, who was standing nearby.After hearing the conversation between Lucian and Aubree last night, Roxanne instinctively tried to keep her distance from them.She then took Archie and Benny by
Lucian frowned in frustration as he found the shovel extremely unwieldy.While struggling with it, he felt Roxanne’s gentle gaze on him and looked up in response.As their eyes met, Roxanne quickly retracted her gaze and put on a neutral expression.Lucian frowned when he saw her response, but whatever frustration he had earlier seemed to have vanished completely. He then turned toward a staff and said, “Excuse me, I’m having some difficulty using this. Could you please show me how to use it?”The staff had been observing him from the side for quite some time. He had wanted to tell Lucian that he was doing it wrong but held himself back when he saw how intimidating Lucian looked.Seeing as Lucian had asked him for assistance, he quickly stepped forward to perform a quick demonstration.Even Lucian chuckled in amusement when he saw the staff’s technique and realized how funny he looked earlier.Having learned the proper way to use a shovel, they were able to speed up the process of fil
Aubree’s motive for coming was to prevent Lucian and Roxanne from spending time with each other. Now that Roxanne had suggested the idea herself, Aubree could not be happier.Lucian’s gaze turned grim when he heard Roxanne’s words. He looked at her with a frown and said, “Ms. Jarvis, you helped me and Essie to plant the tree just now. I can’t just leave like that. Besides, there’s one more tree left. Let’s plant it together.”Roxanne furrowed her brows. When she was about to turn down his suggestion, Estella called out timidly, “Ms. Jarvis…”Roxanne’s heart softened. She turned around, only to notice the look of aversion on Estella’s face.Clearly, Estella was traumatized by what Aubree had done to her previously. She was still afraid of her.I’d love to keep Essie with me if possible, but we’re not even related. I can’t do anything about it even if I want to protect her.After pondering for a moment, Roxanne lowered her eyes and agreed, “Since you’ve said that, Mr. Farwell, I’m afrai
Roxanne’s heart ached for Estella, but she could only smile and console the boys. “Oh, that’s unlikely. Why would she treat Essie badly? She’s going to be Essie’s mom in the future. Come on now. Stop thinking too much and eat your food.”Benny lowered his head reluctantly, complaining about Lucian in his heart.Just exactly how is Ms. Pearson better than Mommy? Why does Daddy want to marry that woman?After lunch, Pippa invited everyone to take a walk around the area.When Roxanne took the boys out of the cafeteria, she realized they were still feeling low. Hence, she decided to take them out for a stroll. She suggested, “Why don’t you take me to the place you hid last night? I have no idea how you boys find that place.”The boys finally cheered up at the mention of the hide-and-seek game. Just as they were about to take Roxanne to the location, they heard Estella’s sweet voice.“Ms. Jarvis…”The fact that Aubree had replaced. Roxanne’s spot during mealtime put Estella in low spirits.
Lucian knitted his brows. “Essie‘s just a little tired. If you have no other matters, you should go home as soon as possible.”Aubree‘s expression froze, and she racked her brains in search of an excuse to stay back.As she was thinking about it, she suddenly spotted the pink luggage at the bedside.It did not look like it belonged to Lucian no matter how hard she stared at it.“This is…” Aubree asked in puzzlement, eyeing the luggage suspiciously.Lucian followed her line of sight and said plainly, “That belongs to a parent of Essie‘s classmate. There weren‘t enough rooms, so I had to squeeze into someone else‘s.”Upon hearing that, Aubree shot him a look of surprise. “You‘re sharing a room with a woman?”Lucian‘s gaze darkened.If it were another woman, he, naturally, would not agree to it.However, that woman was Roxanne.They were once husband and wife and had intimate moments back then. Thus, there was nothing to be shy about.Moreover, they were very cautious by making sure they
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