After giving it much thought, Jonathan came to a brazen conclusion. “What you have done so far isn’t enough.” Lucian cocked a brow. “I only followed what you said.”Jonathan was rendered speechless by the snarky response. He was filled with the urge to remind Lucian who it was who needed help.However, when he recalled that Lucian’s demeanor would inherently make him bad at courtship, he decided to shoulder the blame.“That’s because the methods I shared with you weren’t enough,” he said in resignation.“What else can I do?” Lucian looked at him in puzzlement.Roxanne’s attitude in the morning made him feel uneasy. He wanted to improve the dynamics of their relationship as soon as possible.Scratching his nose, Jonathan suggested, “You know, women like romantic stuff. You can consider doing something romantic that will move her.”Something romantic?Lucian thought back to the recent interactions he had with Roxanne.Come to think of it, I don’t remember doing anything romantic. I mig
Frieda was already annoyed. The lecture she had just received from Jonathan made her expression contort even more. “I think you’re the one who’s doing stupid things!”With that, she looked daggers at Jonathan before turning around to leave the office in a huff.So my own brother has turned against me, eh? I guess I have to see Aubree about this!Even I can tell that Mrs. Farwell wants Aubree to be her daughter-in-law. I remember that she even took it upon herself to get rid of Roxanne the last time.Lucian is trying to woo Roxanne now, but he hasn’t even break off his engagement.The outcome of this tussle between Aubree and Roxanne is quite obvious. Aubree will be the rightful daughter-in-law of the Farwell family.Jonathan is helping Roxanne that b*tch. He even said that my trying to help Aubree is a stupid thing to do.I think Jonathan has truly lost the plot here. He’s out of his mind!Jonathan could feel his head throbbing as he stared at his sister’s retreating figure.After le
Roxanne remained oblivious to what Aubree was plotting. Estella, on the other hand, desperately wished for Roxanne to accept her father’s affection for her.For several days, Estella would pester Catalina to teach her how to bake a cake when she returned from school.Catalina naturally wanted to know where the interest came from. However, the little girl refused to explain, and instead, she would respond with a shy smile each time.Catalina’s heart melted when she looked at Estella’s expression, so she decided to fulfill the girl’s request.She had thought that Estella was just learning how to bake for fun.After all, Estella was so small that she could not even reach the countertop. She needed to use a stool, which made the activity quite inconvenient.However, to her surprise, Estella had learned how to bake quite decently in just a few days.Early in the morning, when the weekend approached, Estella waited for Lucian at his bedroom door.“Daddy!”Lucian had just opened the door wh
After hearing what the kids had to say, Roxanne could not help but hesitate. Baking with the children meant that she could not avoid interacting with Lucian.But…Roxanne looked at Lucian, who was seated across from her at the table. His expression seemed to be quite indifferent as if he did not really mind.Seeing how bland his expression is now, I think it would be strange if I react too strongly or kick up a fuss.After some deliberation, Roxanne smiled at the kids and said, “All right then!”Seeing that Roxanne was on board, the kids looked expectantly at Lucian.Lucian also nodded wordlessly.The children then let out triumphant cheers. “Yay! Let’s all bake together!”In their haste and excitement, the children barely finished their breakfast. They took another two cursory bites before eagerly jumping off their chairs and looking at both adults.Although Roxanne had agreed, she still felt awkward at the prospect of being in such close contact with Lucian. Subconsciously, she fel
After that, the children then looked at Lucian distressedly, hoping he could say something on their behalf too. Roxanne noticed who the children were looking at, and her gaze lingered briefly on Lucian. Seeing that the man had no intention to speak, she felt something strange welling in her heart.“I’ve already agreed on a time with Mr. Damaris. I cannot be late.” Roxanne then dipped her head to look at her children, her tone sounding contrite.The children knew there was nothing else they could do to dissuade Roxanne when they saw how adamant she was about going. Their faces were filled with disappointment.Roxanne felt sorry for the children as she took note of their crestfallen expressions, but she knew she could not do much. She merely patted their heads and said, “When it’s done, just leave some for me so that I can taste your handiwork.”Subsequently, Roxanne turned around to leave.She barely took two steps when she heard the man’s voice.“Since you need to go, Ms. Jarvis, may
For a moment, Roxanne did not know how to respond to Estella’s declaration of love. I mean, I like Essie too, but I have never entertained the thoughts of becoming her mother.After all, she has her own biological mother. If anything, children would probably prefer their biological parents more…A good example will be Archie and Benny. Although they don’t know the truth of their births yet, their attitude toward Lucian is clearly different from the rest.“You can’t?” Having received no answer from Roxanne, Estella lowered her eyes in disappointment and despair.Roxanne’s heart ached when she saw the girl’s disappointment, but there was nothing she could do besides giving her a merciless rejection. Patiently, she explained to the girl, “Essie, you’ll have your own mommy, and once you have your mommy, you’ll find out that liking mommy and liking me don’t feel the same.”Estella tightened her fists stubbornly and looked at Roxanne with tearful eyes. “I only like Ms. Jarvis!”“You won’t—
Estella nodded obediently upon hearing her father’s words. Lucian lifted Estella into his arms before returning to Roxanne’s place. Just as they reached the entrance, they saw Roxanne’s car reaching the gates of the residential area. Lucian could recognize Roxanne’s car right away, and the moment he did, the temperature around him dropped. Essie was sobbing so badly because of her, but the only thing on her mind is her appointment with Jack. Is work that important to her? In the living room, Archie and Benny were about to open the door to look for Estella after the long wait. To their surprise, right as they opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of their grim father with Estella in his arms. Estella peeked into the living room when the door opened, but she saw no traces of Roxanne around. “Where’s Ms. Jarvis?” Estella asked, her eyes still red. “Is Ms. Jarvis not back yet because she’s out looking for me?” After that, she patted her father’s shoulder and said anxious
Hector exchanged a few pleasantries with Roxanne, and the conversation went back to business as she led Hector and Jack to visit a few sites. The tour of the research institute was nearly finished at noon, and they adjourned to the restaurant where she had made a reservation.Jack sidled up to Roxanne soundlessly after they exited the research institute and asked in concern, “You mentioned that you had to attend to family matters. What were they, if you don’t mind my asking? The Dr. Jarvis I know would never show up late to an appointment.”She smiled slightly, her lips compressed. “It’s nothing, just a temper tantrum by Archie and Benny.”Jack didn’t question her answer and smiled sympathetically with a nod. “It’s understandable for problems to arise when you have kids at home.”Hector turned toward both of them. “What are you talking about? My old ears didn’t catch it.”They hastily pasted a smile on their faces and hurried to walk alongside Hector.Colby wasn’t familiar with Jack
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