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
Estella had already been taken away, so there was nothing they could do now.Roxanne could only return to the mansion with Archie and Benny.The three kids were going to help her with lunch, but in the end, she had to do it herself.After finishing cooking lunch with mixed feelings, Roxanne went to the living room to call Archie and Benny over to eat. However, she received no reply after calling them twice.Confused, she walked over to them and saw them sitting on the carpet absent-mindedly with the untouched Lego model before them.“What are you thinking about?”Noticing that they looked depressed, Roxanne squatted before them in concern.Only then did the two come back to their senses. They only shared a glance and did not reply to Roxanne as they were thinking about Sonya’s words.As they had been focused on helping Estella stay, they had no time to care about their own emotions. Now that Sonya had left with Estella, they felt despondent thinking about what had happened just now.T
Thirty minutes later, Sonya’s car slowly came to a halt at the entrance of the Farwell residence.By then, Estella, who was sitting in the back seat, had gone quiet.Sonya heaved a sigh of relief inwardly because she thought Estella was finally done crying after crying throughout the journey home.To her surprise, she saw that Estella’s face was still covered in tears when she opened the car door.Estella had gotten tired from all the crying, but she was still crying silently.Upon seeing Sonya opening the door, Estella didn’t even bother turning her head toward Sonya.Sonya’s heart ached when she saw her granddaughter sobbing silently.She reached out to lift Estella into her arms and consoled helplessly, “Why are you still crying? Do you really like Roxanne that much? Do I not treat you well enough?”Estella shook her head.Sonya’s heart sank when she saw that. Is Essie turning rebellious because of Roxanne? This little girl doesn’t even want me anymore.Her anger toward Roxanne int
Lucian noticed the guilty look on his mother’s face. “I’ll handle my own marriage and Estella’s life. What you think is best may not be the best in others’ eyes.”In other words, he was telling her to stop meddling in his personal affairs.Sonya felt angry and guilty at the same time. “Whatever I did, I did it for your own good.”Lucian refused to respond to her because he knew how stubborn his mother was. Whatever I say is pointless.“Essie is my granddaughter, so obviously I care about her. I wanted to bring her back with me, but she was crying for you. In the end, I still brought her back here, didn’t I? Even if Essie has accepted Roxanne, Roxanne still has two more kids. If you were to be with her in the future, what would happen to those two kids of hers? Are you going to give the Farwell family’s inheritance to those… children?”With much effort, she managed to stop herself from calling Archie and Benny a pair of illegitimate children.Prior to that, Sonya had never thought abou
Roxanne lowered her head at that thought.As long as I keep a distance from Essie and Lucian, Aubree and Sonya won’t come and bother me. If I get close to them, Aubree might do something even crazier.Previously, Aubree had ruthlessly infected Estella with bacteria. Thinking about that alone, Roxanne felt a chill running down her spine.“Have you tried thinking about it carefully during this period?” Lucian interrogated.He was quick to notice Roxanne’s strange attitude and tone. He refused to let her hang up on him just like that.He had already spotted her behavior change at the campsite and had a hunch that she might be concealing something.There must be something fishy going on.Meanwhile, his question caused Roxanne to feel a wave of turmoil within her. She persisted in not revealing anything, nonetheless.“Mr. Farwell, didn’t you ask people to watch over me? If none of them find anything suspicious, it’s impossible for me to have anyone in mind.”The crease between Lucian’s bro
The next few days, Roxanne did not send the children or pick them up because of her work.Like the previous time, the boys would come back and hint to her about how upset Estella was to not see her.Although Roxanne’s heart ached whenever she heard that, she said nothing about it.One night, as usual, the children waited for their parents to pick them up after schoolEstella stared at the two boys.Without even needing her to say anything, the boys knew what she was going to say.Her question would be none other than when their mother was going to come.Estella’s continuous stares throughout the past few days could burn a hole in their faces at this rate.However, they could not do anything if their mother did not give them her permission.Not long after, Lysa appeared in the line for parents.Estella looked away in disappointment.Archie and Benny did not leave immediately. They waited until Lucian’s car appeared before leaving with Lysa.“Daddy,” Estella miserably called out as she
Right as Estella brought water over, she saw Catalina exiting the room and closing the door behind her.At that, she quickened her pace and jogged over to the doorway before looking at Catalina angrily.“I want to give this to Daddy!”The second Catalina turned around, she was greeted by the sight of the sulking girl. A resigned look crept into her eyes.Mr. Farwell enjoys giving me challenges like these, doesn’t he?“Ms. Estella, Mr. Farwell isn’t feeling well, and he has gone to sleep again.”Catalina dared not look into Estella’s eyes as she spoke, for she could not bear to lie to the girl.Upon hearing that her father had gone to sleep, Estella looked at the gla*s of water in her hands in disappointment and in silence.Catalina glanced at the time. It would still take some time before Sonny got here, so she brought Estella back to her room to rest.Half an hour later, Sonny walked into the mansion with his medical kit.By then, Catalina had already coaxed Estella to sleep, so she
While that was happening, Sonny had also informed Sonya that Lucian was unwell.Although she had previously gotten into an argument with Lucian, she still decided to personally check in on her son upon learning of his condition.“Mrs. Farwell.”When Catalina saw Sonya walking through the door, she could not help thinking about how the mother-son pair had quarreled the last time. She hesitated, wondering whether to let the latter go upstairs or not.Naturally, Sonya paid no mind to her hesitation. “Is Lucian in his room?”Catalina nodded. “He’s not feeling well and is resting. How about—”Before she could finish her sentence, Sonya interrupted impatiently, “My son has fallen ill. As his mother, of course I want to see him.”With that, she strode upstairs.Not daring to stop her, Catalina could only trail behind awkwardly.Over in the bedroom, Lucian thought it was Catalina coming to check on him again when he heard a knock on the door.“Come in,” he responded in a low voice.Soon, the
“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
Estella looked at her father, who was already at the door and turned to look at Aubree, who was still standing by the couch. A few moments pa*sed, and the little girl finally begrudgingly got out of her chair and jogged to keep up with Lucian.Aubree let out a relieved sigh and caught up to them as well.“Daddy,” Estella mumbled. She gave her father a puppy-eyed look and tugged at the corner of his shirt in a bid to curry favor with her father.Lucian lowered his gaze to meet Estella’s. He lifted his hand and patted her head. “I’m really busy lately. Please don’t throw a tantrum at me.”Estella pursed her lips in disapproval, refusing to believe what he said.She knew as a matter of fact that Lucian was in a bad mood because he had quarreled with Roxanne.Estella was flabbergasted that Lucian was still trying to lie to her, despite the fact that even she knew the real reason her father was upset.Why are adults so weird? Why doesn’t Daddy just make up with Ms. Jarvis?Of course, Luci
Cory was in a good mood, knowing he had once again made a fortune. He then said, “Of course. Ms. Pearson, I’m sure you’ve come to me again because you believe in my capabilities. Now, tell me. What is it that you want me to investigate?” Narrowing her eyes, Aubree said, “Investigate what happened between Roxanne and Lucian!”Cory let out a meaningful chuckle when he heard what she said.Aubree questioned coldly, “Why are you laughing?”As if unaware of her anger, Cory muttered, “Since you’ve agreed to the price I proposed so readily, I have to show you something.”With that, he took out a phone from the bag beside him and typed away on the screen.Soon, Aubree received a few messages on her phone.“I believe what you’re about to see won’t disappoint you, Ms. Pearson.” Cory sounded confident.Aubree furrowed her brows and swiped open her phone, checking the messages he sent.The chat interface showed that Cory had sent her more than ten pictures.Each picture was attached with the tim