Aubree was stunned for a few seconds. Suppressing the panic in her heart, she approached him with concern written all over her face and pretended not to know anything about what had happened yesterday. “Lucian, what’s going on?” Lucian looked at the person in front of him expressionlessly and interrogatively.Things had been chaotic last night. He had only heard Roxanne say that Estella’s symptoms were due to a bacterial allergy.As for where the bacterium came from, he hadn’t had the time to think about it until he carefully recalled what had happened when he was on the way back.Everything had been fine before Aubree arrived at the manor. However, the bacterium had shown up the same time as her.Lucian couldn’t help but suspect the woman in front of him.Aubree’s heart clenched when he glanced at her. She pinched her palm to calm herself down, then asked innocently, “I heard from the housekeepers that there’s a bacterium in the house. It can’t be true, can it? The house is cleaned
Aubree didn’t know where Lucian was taking her, but she didn’t dare to ask. She was afraid that he would send her straight to a hotel if she did. As she stared out the window silently, the road became more and more familiar to her.“Where are we…” She spoke hesitantly.“I’m sending you to my mom’s place.”Sonya had always been biased toward Aubree. If she learned that he had kicked Aubree out of the house, she might annoy him with her rhetoric again.He would rather send Aubree there directly and then explain the situation to his mother.That way, there would be nothing she could say about the matter.Aubree’s heart sank when she heard that.The only reason she had promised to leave the Farwell residence was that she wanted to visit Sonya at a later date. She was hoping to talk to Sonya about the matter during the visit with the intention of regaining the chance to return to the Farwell residence.If Lucian was going to send her to Sonya’s now, then there was no way she could embelli
Since Benny had asked Lucian to join them, there was no reason for Roxanne to refuse. She forced a smile and said, “You’re just in time, Mr. Farwell. Please join us.” With that, she walked into the kitchen to take another set of cutleries.Standing alone in the kitchen, Roxanne couldn’t help but be a little distracted.Meanwhile, Benny led Lucian to take a seat at the table. However, Roxanne did not come out of the kitchen for quite some time, leaving Lucian with no cutleries.Puzzled, the boys urged, “Mommy?”The children’s voices immediately pulled Roxanne back to reality. She quickly composed herself and walked out.Everyone at the table turned to look at her in unison.Lucian’s eyes darkened when he saw Roxanne’s expression.Roxanne placed the cutleries in front of Lucian before returning to her seat under everyone’s gazes, all the while pretending to be calm.None of the adults spoke first.Even the children were suddenly at a loss for what to say. They could only exchange glanc
Although Lucian did not answer her question directly, Estella was satisfied with his response, and she nodded obediently. Meanwhile, Roxanne was also being questioned by her two boys.“Mommy, did Mr. Farwell make you angry?” Benny had been following her wherever she went like a puppy.Having been questioned for almost half a day, Roxanne answered in resignation, “No.”“Then why did you ignore Mr. Farwell during lunch earlier?” Benny asked, unwilling to give up.Roxanne and Lucian did not exchange a single word with each other during the entire meal.Neither of them had responded, even when the children had tried their best to create an opportunity for them to speak.Roxanne, especially, had seemed to ignore the words “Mr. Farwell” in the children’s sentences. In fact, she had barely looked at him.Feelings of guilt rose in Roxanne’s heart when she heard the boys’ question.The reason she had ignored Lucian was that she did not want to see his face, for she would be reminded of the in
After ending the call and noticing that it was about time, Roxanne headed downstairs to prepare dinner for the children. Archie and Benny were sitting on the carpet, playing with Lego.When they saw their mother, they exchanged a brief glance, but they did not continue bombarding her with questions.“I have work to do tomorrow night. Aunt Madilyn will be keeping you company, okay?” Roxanne told Archie and Benny about the arrangements for the tomorrow night over dinner.Upon hearing that, they looked at her in puzzlement. “Why do you have to leave at night? Is it a business-related social event?”Roxanne had never hidden anything about work from Archie and Benny. She said patiently, “There are new developments for the project that I’m working on with Mr. Damaris. I need to attend a contract signing ceremony tomorrow.”Archie and Benny looked at each other as the same question surfaced in their minds. “Will Mr. Damaris be there too?”We still remember Mr. Damaris! He’s Daddy’s love riv
The following night, after getting ready, Roxanne headed downstairs and prepared to leave to meet Jack. The moment she descended the stairs, however, Archie and Benny stopped her. “Mommy, isn’t Mr. Damaris picking you up?” Despite waiting for a long while, they saw no signs of Lucian. They had no choice but to think of ways to stall for time. Roxanne was confused when she heard their question. “Mr. Damaris wants to meet our collaborators early, so I’m going there by myself. What’s wrong?” Unable to think of a response on the spot, Archie and Benny exchanged a look, then flashed a grin and shamelessly blocked Roxanne’s path. “What’s up with you two?” Roxanne bent down and stared into their eyes. Archie and Benny fell silent again. “But Mommy, Aunt Madilyn hasn’t arrived yet,” Archie said in piping voice. Roxanne glanced at the time. Madilyn should have left work by now. Although they had agreed in the morning that Madilyn would come right after work, she was still nowhere to b
A flash of self-mockery flitted across Roxanne’s eyes. She was worried that Lucian might find trouble with Jack because of her, but it turned out that she had gotten it all wrong.All the while, Lucian was finding trouble with her because of Jack.Seeing the change in the woman’s expression, Lucian realized that what he had just said might have been too suggestive.With his brows knitted together, Lucian was prepared to explain himself, but Roxanne beat him to the punch.“Since it’s business-related, you can reason with Mr. Damaris himself. I’m merely a researcher in this project. Both my words and my presence don’t carry much weight, so even if I’m not there at the ceremony, it can still proceed without a hitch.”Roxanne looked at the man in front of her with a tinge of mockery in her gaze as she continued, “I’m just an insignificant member of the project. If don’t attend the ceremony today, my colleagues will a*sume I’m unsociable and bring me trouble in the future. Mr. Farwell, pl
Roxanne felt conflicted as she realized she had inadvertently betrayed Lucian. I wonder what Lucian will say when he finds out…“Come on, Roxanne. We’re going to be working closely together from now on, so it’d do us good to spend more time with each other,” Larry chimed in as well.Left with no other choice, Roxanne recomposed herself and a*sented with a smile.The three of them left the private room and went straight to the banquet hall on the third floor.Roxanne was shocked when she stepped out of the elevator.Everyone involved in the project was already waiting for her in the banquet hall. It was as though they already knew the signing of the contract would be successful.They all flocked over to Roxanne with their gla*ses raised.“Mr. Damaris says you played a huge part in resolving the issue with our supply of medicinal herbs, Dr. Jarvis! Here’s a toast to you!”“It’s truly amazing how a young woman like you could make such great accomplishments in the medical field!”Just li
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