Subsequently, she got to her feet and regained her composure before heading to the restaurant next door. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”Upon entering the restaurant, Jessica gave her two guests an apologetic look.Her arrival brought a sense of relief to Roxanne and Jack who responded with a faint smile. “It’s all right. Please take a seat.”Nodding in acknowledgment, Jessica sat down beside them. However, at the sight of the untouched food on the table, she looked at them in surprise. “Didn’t I ask you to start first? Why did you wait for me? I’m really sorry that the food is now cold.”Since Roxanne didn’t know Jessica that well, she simply broke into a cordial smile.As for Jack, he gave her a perfunctory reply. “Since you’re the host, it’s right that we wait for you.”He had barely spoken when silence descended upon the table.At a loss as to what to do, Roxanne gave Jack an awkward look, for she intended to leave early if possible.When Jessica wasn’t around, she and Jack
The next morning, while Roxanne was having breakfast with the children before sending them to school, the doorbell suddenly rang. The ring caused Roxanne and the boys to exchange glances as the same thought popped into their minds—Lucian and Estella were there.After all, both of them usually dropped by at that hour.Without a second thought, Roxanne got up and opened the door.She was subsequently greeted by the sight of her best friend looking all anxious.“Did something happen?” A sinking feeling crept into her heart.The frowning Madilyn stretched her head to look at the children—who were busy eating—before pulling Roxanne out the door.Cognizant that it was something the children weren’t supposed to know, Roxanne followed the former to the yard. “What’s wrong?”“Did you see the news in the morning?” Madilyn sounded exceptionally grim.Hearing that, Roxanne shook her head in response as she was clueless.As Lysa was held back by something at home and couldn’t come to work for the
Initially, Roxanne wanted to put out a statement. However, since her Twitter account was mostly used to surf for news, it essentially had no content. Therefore, whatever she had to say would likely not reach anyone.After further contemplation, she decided to give Colby a call and got him to use the research institute’s account to put out her clarification.Although the account wasn’t particularly popular, it was still a much better option than using hers.“What happened?” Colby had gone to the research institute early and only learned of the controversy when Roxanne gave him a call.When he saw the pictures of Roxanne and Jack interacting with each other, he felt a faint squeeze in his heart.Sighing in resignation, Roxanne clarified, “I can’t really give you a good explanation but what happened last night was a misunderstanding. Both of us were not alone at the dinner.”Even though her a*surances failed to cheer Colby up, he remained hopeful and persuaded himself to have faith in R
As the hubbub got closer, Lucian soon entered Roxanne’s field of vision, spotting a stern expression. Roxanne stared at the man before her in astonishment. “Why are you here?”His formal outfit suggested that he was just in a meeting, yet his tie appeared loose as though it had been tugged slightly.Upon hearing her query, Lucian’s expression turned icy. “If you can come, why can’t I?”After saying that, he shot her a look while suppressing his anger before turning to face the reporters behind him, his cold eyes swept across their faces. “If you have any questions, I can answer on her behalf.”The crowd shuddered at his gaze, and everyone turned to look at one another. No one dared to say a word for some time.Given Lucian’s status, if they said something wrong that day, they might lose their jobs.No one wanted to face that kind of repercussion.Lucian frowned and grabbed the wrist of the woman behind him before glancing at the crowd in front of him. “If there are no questions, I’m
In the evening, after kindergarten cla*s was over, Archie and Benny stared at their father standing before them in confusion. “Your mommy has something to do, so I’ll be in charge of sending you to school for the next few days,” Lucian explained in a deep voice.The boys exchanged glances upon hearing his words but did not give it much thought. After all, from their perspective, whichever of their parents doing that was the same.The fact that Mommy is leaving the matter of sending us to school to Daddy means their relationship is developing in a good direction.As that thought came into their minds, Archie and Benny were secretly pleased as they obediently followed Lucian into the car.Estella was also on cloud nine.If Daddy is responsible for taking Archie and Benny to school these few days, it means I get to visit Ms. Jarvis’ home every day!All three kids were in a good mood and chattered away in the back seat.Unlike them, Lucian was thinking of Roxanne with a solemn look.It’s
That very night, the Queen family announced that Roxanne was the one who had cured Alfred’s sickness, resulting in the latter nominating her as a candidate for the Damaris family’s project. The internet went abuzz right after that.In a short span of time, those who were initially against Roxanne now sided with her, although there were some who still questioned her ability.Roxanne was astounded to suddenly receive such an update before going to bed.She had once thought of asking Alfred to help clear the air, but she also didn’t want to involve him in the whole ordeal.Yet, the Queen family had decided to help her voluntarily.Thanks to that, the situation was now far more controlled compared to during the day, even if some remained doubtful of her.Not wanting to disrupt Alfred’s quiet time, Roxanne decided to dial Jonathan’s number.The latter had just finished taking care of his family’s PR errands when he answered Roxanne’s call.“I just saw the announcement made by your family.
The next morning, Roxanne woke up and immediately checked the comments online. She was now the most trending person on Twitter.Thinking that the comments were leaning to her disadvantage, Roxanne’s heart sank as she glanced at the first post with a frown.To her surprise, the most viral Tweet was a video of her own professor in an interview. It wasn’t just him; many of Harvey’s internationally-renowned research partners from his overseas institutes were present too.“I’ve long heard about the Damaris family’s project,” Harvey stated in the video. “As Janet’s professor, I’m extremely proud that my student has been chosen to take part in this project. I’ve also come across many comments on her medical prowess within the nation. Please give Janet your trust for she’ll be sure to surprise you.”The man had a smile on his face, but his eyes looked stern.After he was done speaking, it was the other researchers’ turn to give their opinion about Roxanne.Upon seeing those familiar faces, e
Lucian’s frown deepened when he heard the boys, and he eventually decided to hold his tongue. As the children looked on eagerly, Lucian sat down at the table and took a sip of the drink made by Archie and Benny.Estella, too, happily joined her father and drank a mouthful until she ended up with a milk mustache. “Archie, Benny, you guys are amazing!” she exclaimed.Wow! I’ve never even made breakfast for myself before!Amused by the look of admiration on Estella’s face, Roxanne chuckled and promptly handed her a piece of tissue.Archie and Benny, on the contrary, were feeling mighty proud of themselves after the little girl’s compliment.“You could’ve told me if you didn’t have time to prepare breakfast. I can always take the kids out to eat,” Lucian said in a low voice.Right there and then, Roxanne suddenly remembered why she had wanted to call earlier and turned her attention to Lucian. “I’ve already settled everything on my end, Mr. Farwell. I won’t have to trouble you again.”As
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
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
Roxanne could feel Lucian’s heavy gaze on her back. Although her back was facing him, she still could not ignore the fact he was staring at her.Due to Lucian’s presence, she was no longer in the mood to eat anything.“You kids go ahead. I have something to discuss with Mr. Farwell,” said Roxanne softly after taking several quick bites and placing away her cutleries.She could not stand having Lucian staring at her all the time, and she wanted to know why he came to her place.The kids did not think too much about that and nodded obediently in response.Seeing that the kids had agreed to let her go, Roxanne stood up and walked over to Lucian. “Let’s talk in the study.”Lucian nodded casually and stood up, following her to the study.“Mr. Farwell, to what do I owe this pleasure of having you over at my place? Do you have something important to tell me?” Roxanne stood in the center of the study, looking at him warily. “If you’re here to offer me the technical advisor’s position for Her
That night, Lucian went to the kindergarten to pick Estella up. It was already late by the time he arrived, so Estella was the only kid left at the kindergarten.“Daddy,” Estella greeted him aggrievedly after noticing his arrival.He patted her head apologetically. “I’m sorry that I’m late.”Then, he looked up and nodded at Pippa.Pippa had waited with Estella the whole night. Now that Lucian had finally shown up, she could rest a*sured and let him take the little girl home.After bringing Estella into the car, Lucian sat idly for some time instead of starting the vehicle.Estella urged him in puzzlement, “Daddy?” Her voice pulled him back to reality.He glanced at the little girl through the rearview mirror and saw a bewildered expression spread across her face.“Have you seen Ms. Jarvis in the past few days?” he asked.Estella became crestfallen upon listening to his question and shook her head dejectedly.However, she quickly turned delighted. “Archie and Benny said I’ll be able t
Jonathan cleared his throat at Lucian’s lack of response.“I heard a fire broke out in Dr. Jarvis’ research institute two days ago.”Hearing that, Lucian snapped his brows together.Jonathan was satisfied to see his response. “What’s the matter? Did you not know about this?”Lucian nodded, his expression somber.He had not seen Roxanne since the kiss the other night.Therefore, he knew nothing of what happened to her.Although Estella would try to get news about Roxanne from Archie and Benny before telling her father what she learned, Lucian knew that Roxanne would not let the boys know that she had been in danger.Jonathan fell silent when he saw his friend’s grim expression, and he waited for Lucian to speak instead.“Was the fire a bad one? Was she hurt?” Lucian could not help but ask.Jonathan lifted a brow. “Won’t you know if you go and take a look at her?”At that, Lucian’s expression turned dark again.Jonathan was bewildered by that.What does this mean? Did they have a fight
When the a*sistant thought about how Jack had invested twelve billion in Herbscape Group, he found himself unable to continue speaking. Despite everything, twelve billion was a hefty sum.Even if Herbscape Group was a hot potato, keeping it around meant that they would be able to see where the twelve billion was going.If they threw the hot potato away, it would mean throwing the twelve billion into the gutters.“Do tell me how you’re planning to deal with this,” Jack urged with a frown.Jack’s voice snapped the a*sistant back to his senses, and he had no choice but to steel himself and continue.“If we keep Herbscape Group around, I’m afraid it’ll affect Damaris Group’s reputation, so…”Jack arched a brow.The a*sistant squeezed out, “So, the best way to deal with this is to cut ties with Herbscape Group as quickly as we can.”It’s even better if we do it before the news of Herbscape Group’s executives landing in jail spreads.That was what Jack thought as well, though his heart ach
Only after hearing Colby’s response did Roxanne relax slightly. “I see. I’ll leave it to you, then. Feel free to come to me if you need anything,” she said.Colby agreed.Roxanne couldn’t help adding emotionally, “If you can find those medicinal herbs again, you’ll solve a huge problem for me.”Finally, Colby felt chirpy upon hearing Roxanne’s tone.Ever since Roxanne went to the research institute, she had been solving all kinds of problems on her own.She would only let him, the person in charge of the research institute, help her with trivial matters.Therefore, Colby knew that despite her praises, she had always only regarded him as an ordinary researcher at the research institute.After all, he was nothing compared to the men she had by her side.This time around, he was rather surprised at the fact that it didn’t take much to trick Roxanne into holding him in high regard.No one would’ve expected him to do so much just to create a distance between Roxanne and other men. It’ll b
Jason was regretting what he did dearly. In fact, he regretted it the moment he did it the day before. However, Colby had already locked the research institute up, so he couldn’t salvage the situation, even if he wanted to.That morning, he made the effort to arrive at the research institute to see if there was anything he could do to fix it.However, he was wrong when he thought he had arrived early enough. By the time he arrived at the entrance, the firefighters were already at the scene.Jason couldn’t help but slap himself twice across the face when he recalled the burnt storage and what Roxanne had said.“This is my fault, Dr. Jarvis. I’m so stupid!” Utterly embarra*sed, he asked, “Since I’ve come forward on my own, c-could you please let the matter slide? My son is still in the hospital…”Roxanne dug her fingers into her palms to force herself to stay calm. “That’s not up to me, Dr. Coleman.”“This matter is being investigated by the police. Jason, how could you be so foolish?”
In the research area, the researchers had just regained their composure from the fire incident earlier and got back to work. When they saw two people walking in, they stopped what they were doing in unison.With a grim expression, Roxanne swept a glance at everyone and asked, “Did anyone come to the research institute yesterday afternoon?”Coincidentally, the surveillance cameras were down, so Roxanne could only a*sume that someone had gone over at that time.As soon as those words fell, everyone exchanged glances with each other silently. Yesterday was a Sunday. It was such a good opportunity to rest at home. So why would anyone come to the research institute without a reason? Besides, she’s asking questions that has something to do with the fire. Even if someone was here, why would they admit it?Suddenly, Roxanne was exuding a fearsome aura as she threw a cold glance at everyone. “I have no desire to suspect anyone here, nor can I think of a reason why an employee at the research