In the middle of the night, Lucian tiptoed into Estella’s room in the Farwell residence and tucked her in.He watched the little girl sleeping soundly in bed for quite a while before he turned and stepped out of the room.The moment he came out of the room, Cayden stepped forward to update him, “Mr. Farwell, I’ve dropped by the restaurant to investigate the matter. However, I didn’t discover anything as the surveillance cameras there were broken.”“So coincidentally?” Hearing that, Lucian knitted his brows. The moment my suspicion was piqued, the surveillance cameras were broken as well?Looking troubled, Cayden replied hesitantly, “It could be mere coincidence. After all, we haven’t received any news about Mrs. Farwell- I mean, Ms. Jarvis, since she left years ago. I don’t think she’d appear out of the blue in this city.”Right after he said that, he noticed his boss’s expression darkening.Cayden’s heart skipped a beat. He cast his head down and dared not utter anything more.“I got
Roxanne was clueless about the incident at the kindergarten.After leaving the kindergarten, she headed straight to the research institute set up in the country by her professor.The moment she stepped into the building, she saw a charming man dressed in a suit approaching her.“Welcome back, Roxanne. I’m excited to be your colleague again.”Colby Galloway stood before her and extended his hand.Roxanne nodded and shook his hand, quickly retracting it.Previously, Colby was abroad. He was also in Harvey’s team and was involved in many types of research and development.During that time, Colby had been her a*sistant. After all, he was a graduate of a famous school, and his capabilities were acknowledged by Roxanne and Harvey.Though Roxanne’s attitude was impa*sive, Colby did not mind it. He smiled and offered, “Come on. I’ll bring you to the office.”With that, he turned around and led the way, introducing the structure of the research institute and the key personnel along the way.Up
Lucian furrowed his brows, and a look of annoyance flashed through his eyes.Am I seeing things again? I wouldn’t bother about it if it’s just once or twice, but this has been going on for two days straight. I’ve been seeing her figure in different places. But the silhouette only flashes past my eyes without leaving any traces behind.He could not help but snort coldly before retracting his gaze.I must be going mad. That’s why I’m thinking of her again.Meanwhile, Cayden had been waiting by the side for some time. Seeing Lucian not moving his feet, he asked carefully, “Mr. Farwell, our client has been waiting for a long time. Aren’t we going in?”Lucian shut his eyes for a while and recollected himself before replying calmly, “Let’s go.”With that, he strode into the building with his long legs.Cayden followed closely behind him.When Roxanne and Colby arrived in the private room, all the employees of the research institute were already there.Colby let her sit in the main seat, whi
The private room was empty.Once Lucian entered the room, he shut the door right away.At that moment, the room fell into pin-drop silence. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard.Roxanne scanned the area. For some reason, she felt a sense of danger, and she started struggling fiercely.“What are you trying to do? Let me go!”In the next second, Lucian pinned her against the wall effortlessly.Both their bodies were pressed so tightly together that Lucian’s warm breath landed on her ears.Roxanne suddenly stopped struggling and leaned against the wall, straightening her body stiffly. Without realizing it, she even slowed down her breathing.They were so close that her chest would touch the person before her if she breathed slightly harder.The room fell into dead silence.Roxanne gritted her teeth as her mind raced.No matter how much time had pa*sed, the oppressive feeling he gave her was still as strong as before.However, their relationship had changed long ago.Roxanne c
Roxanne had nowhere to go after fleeing the room, so she hid in the stairwell.As she leaned against the wall and panted, she reached up to touch her aching lips. It felt as if the man’s warmth was still lingering on them.A moment later, Roxanne lowered her eyes self-deprecatingly.It had been many years, and she thought she had no feelings for Lucian anymore. Yet, after just one meeting with him, the man was wreaking havoc in her mind again.After a while of recomposing herself later, Roxanne returned to the room.The workers inside were still partying away, and they only became a little quieter when she entered.Noticing that her mood seemed to have changed since she left the room, Colby furrowed his brows. “Why did you leave for so long? Did something happen? It’s… like something’s off with you.”Roxanne gave him a nonchalant smile and shook her head. “It’s nothing. I gave my son a call.”With that, she took a seat, not letting Colby ask her anything else.Roxanne had left for qui
Once the two boys were upstairs, the smile on Roxanne’s face slowly faded.Madilyn turned off the television and inched over to ask in concern, “What’s the matter? Something on your mind?”After a moment of hesitation, Roxanne told Madilyn a lighthearted version of what happened earlier. “I met Lucian when I was having dinner just now.”There was no one but Madilyn who Roxanne could talk to about what happened six years ago.Upon hearing that, Madilyn froze. Then, she whispered, “What kind of fate is tying you both together? Horington is such a big city, and I thought the chances of the two of you meeting would be close to zero if you’re not actively seeking each other out.”Roxanne lowered her eyes, seemingly deep in her thoughts.“So, what are you thinking about after meeting him?” Madilyn continued querying.The corners of Roxanne’s lip turned down. “What can possibly be on my mind? My relationship with him has ended six years ago. We’re nothing but strangers now. I won’t be affect
After Lucian said those words, he looked away from Aubree’s face.He had decided to marry Aubree back then to repay the favor her grandfather had done for them.That was why he interacted with the Pearson family so closely. That was also why he had agreed to marry Aubree when the elders of the families suggested it.In fact, for a while, Lucian was sure that Aubree was his first crush.That lasted until six years ago when that woman left without saying anything. It was then he realized that the feeling he had for Aubree was not love as he initially a*sumed.After that, the elders of both families kept urging him to marry her, but he had found all kinds of excuses to delay the wedding.In those six years, he had also done everything he could to a*sist the Pearson family and agreed to all kinds of business requests they made to repay them for the kindness back then.Now, it seemed like he had done more than enough to repay them for that favor back then.At the very least, it was enough f
“An increment of two percent?”Colby stiffened. “Ms. Pearson, haven’t we come to an agreement the other time? We’re now about to sign the contract, so why are you increasing the price all of a sudden;”At his shocked response, Aubree folded her legs and replied, “Indeed, we’ve agreed on it, but almost everything in the crude drug market has risen in price this year. If we were to sign the contract with the price we previously agreed on, we’ll be suffering a loss too great. Dr. Galloway, please forgive us.”She made it seem so rational.Colby’s expression tensed. Just as he frowned and was about to say something else, Roxanne stopped him again.“Ms. Pearson, you must want to suddenly raise the price because you saw me. I know the prices in the crude drug market well. We can have a negotiation if you want to increase prices, but raising it by two percent right here and now is far too unreasonable.”Roxanne wanted to be professional, but clearly, Aubree did not. Hence, there was no need
Seemingly sensing Roxanne’s gaze, Lucian turned toward her. Roxanne was stupefied when their eyes met. It took her a few seconds to come back to her senses and signal Lucian to stop the head of the kindergarten.“I don’t have much time. Tell them to hurry up.” It was as if he did not understand the look she gave him.What the he*l!The head of the kindergarten was quick to agree to it and promptly went to call the parents.Once the other man was out, Roxanne turned to look at Lucian disapprovingly. “You don’t need to blow this out of proportion.”Those kids might take out their anger on Essie after getting scolded by their parents. The lesson I taught them was more than enough.Lucian’s eyes flitted toward the girl in Roxanne’s arms before anger seeped into those eyes. “Those parents could not educate their children well and let their kids bully Essie, so it is normal for them to have to pay the price for it. The consequences await them will only be more severe if they don’t apologiz
Pamela had not been paying attention to Estella, and she dared not tell any lies in the face of Lucian’s gaze. Thus, half-way through her speech, she turned to cast a pleading look at Roxanne.Roxanne had planned to talk to Lucian about it anyway, so when her eyes met with Pamela’s, she continued where Pamela trailed off.“The kids crowded around Essie and said something to her. They even stepped on Essie’s hand. Essie resisted, but they pushed her down again. I only intervened when I couldn’t bear to watch it anymore.”Roxanne could somewhat guess what the children had said to Estella, but she did not want to rub salt into the girl’s wound.As Roxanne gave Lucian the explanation, Lucian’s expression turned colder.At the same time, the more Roxanne said, the angrier she became. She questioned, “The intense way the kids bullied Essie means that this has been going on for more than a day or two. Do you really not know anything about this, Mr. Farwell?”Why did he put Essie in a school
“May I know your last name?” Pamela suddenly looked at her. “Jarvis,” Roxanne replied in a hoarse voice.Once Pamela heard the answer, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly notified Lucian.I’ve never heard of the Farwell family having any relationship with a family with the surname Jarvis. Thus, this woman will certainly not be any relative of Essie. Luckily, I call Mr. Farwell in time to confirm it.However, the person on the other end of the line fell silent after she told him Roxanne’s last name.It made her a little worried, and she wondered if she had done anything wrong.“Get her to wait. I’m heading over right now.”When Pamela was about to apologize, Lucian’s deep voice suddenly rang out.She looked at the woman before her in confusion and hastily agreed.Roxanne noticed Pamela’s gaze and felt her heart drop.After hanging up the phone, Pamela looked at Roxanne solemnly and said, “Mr. Farwell said he’ll be here soon. Please leave Estella to me.”Lucian’s tone on the ph
Now that Pamela had taken a good look at Roxanne, she realized there were indeed some similarities between Estella and her. Despite that, she still chose to be careful and confirm with Estella. “Essie, is she your aunt?”Estella only wrapped her arms around Roxanne’s neck with her back facing Pamela. Not a single word came from her mouth.Roxanne had no choice but to pat the girl’s head to attract her attention. “Essie, your teacher’s talking to you.”Only when Estella heard Roxanne’s voice did she slowly turn around.Flashing Estella a smile, Pamela repeated her question.To their horror, Estella pursed her lips and shook her head, clearly looking upset.Both Roxanne and Pamela were stunned by Estella’s response.Roxanne knew Estella was mad because she had denied being her mother. However, she could not explain the situation to Pamela either.Pamela thought that Roxanne, the woman who claimed to have a different identity, was extremely suspicious.She picked up her phone again with
The children got more fearful when they heard Estella calling Roxanne “mommy.” On top of that, the latter did not show any rejection. This lady must’ve seen how we bullied Essie just now.Roxanne patted Estella’s head before lowering her gaze to glance at the surrounding children.“Apologize to Essie!”Her fierce expression made them hang their heads low in guilt.However, the girl who attacked Essie summoned her courage and feigned innocence. “It’s not like that. It was Essie who pushed me first. That’s why—”Hearing the little girl lying straight in her face only brought Roxanne’s anger to a new height. “Why would Essie push you out of nowhere?”When she finished, she suddenly remembered something and reached out to hold Estella’s hand.The moment Roxanne saw the red mark on Estella’s hand, her anger spiked even more. “Did Essie do this to herself, too?”The children exchanged glances, for they never expected Roxanne to have witnessed them stepping on Estella’s hand.Now that her a
Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief. She could see that although Estella was a bit out of place, the other children approached her enthusiastically and played with her.Yet before she could feel totally at ease, she saw Estella letting out a yelp.The children who were skipping around also halted their actions one by one.Feeling her heart tighten, Roxanne instinctively looked in Pamela’s direction.Something was obviously wrong with Estella, and Pamela could probably see that from where she was standing.However, there was a child who wouldn’t stop crying next to Pamela. Although she did notice a small commotion over here, she was occupied with coaxing the child beside her.Left with no choice, Roxanne turned back to Estella and observed her worriedly.The girl hung her head low as she ma*saged her hand on her lap.Roxanne could only see Estella’s actions vaguely from her spot, but she could guess that the latter was hurt.Upon realizing that, Roxanne felt a little distressed. Neverthel
Roxanne was surprised by her son’s words. She knew they had always been very sensible and had always taken good care of Estella.However, what she didn’t expect was that they had been thinking about this even more than she did.Benny chimed in sweetly, “Mommy, please talk to Mr. Farwell about this. We’re worried that Essie might get bullied, and we won’t be there to protect her.”Roxanne felt her chest tighten at the mention of Estella being bullied.She recalled the incident when Estella had been bullied by her cla*smates when Archie and Benny first entered the cla*sroom.Back then, the boys had stepped forward to protect Estella and helped her to smoothen things over with her cla*smates.However, now that Estella was in a new kindergarten, she no longer had any playmates she was familiar with. Roxanne was worried that if Archie and Benny weren’t beside Estella, the past would repeat itself.There’s a possibility that it would be just like what the boys said. Estella would be ostrac
Meanwhile, Estella and Pamela were the only ones left at the kindergarten entrance. “Essie, who’s coming to pick you up today? Were you always picked up so late in your previous kindergarten?” Pamela patiently clarified the matter with Estella, for it was the first time she had encountered such a situation.Estella pursed her lips in silence as if she didn’t hear Pamela at all.It was never her desire to come to the new kindergarten, and now that she was left to wait for a long time, she couldn’t help but feel depressed.Just when Pamela was wondering whether to give Lucian a call, a car gradually rolled up beside them.Aubree alighted from it with an anxious expression on her face.“I’m sorry for being late, Ms. Yaxley. Traffic was really bad.” After speaking to Pamela, she gave Estella an apologetic look. “I’m sorry to have made you wait, Essie. I’ll definitely come earlier next time!”Estella continued to pout in silence.Seeing that, Pamela defused the situation with a smile. “It
Jack froze for a few seconds before coming to some kind of realization and agreeing to it. The two of them then went out of the research institute.A look of delight danced across Colby’s face when he saw them leave.Ever since Jack came for Roxanne, Colby had been keeping his focus on the two.Therefore, he saw the look of struggle on Roxanne’s face.Evidently, what he had said in the morning was effective.Meanwhile, Roxanne came to a stop in her tracks at the entrance of the institute with mixed feelings still surging in her heart. In the meantime, Jack stopped behind her.“Sorry.” Roxanne had calmed herself down on their way out and realized that she had been a little too carried away earlier.Jack raised a brow and teased, “What’s the matter? Why are you apologizing to me all of a sudden? You couldn’t have secretly done something terrible to the project, could you, Ms. Jarvis?”Roxanne shook her head immediately. “Of course not.”I’ve done so much for this project. Why would I d