Sonya felt bad for her. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll head back home to deal with the matter right away.”On the way back from the café, Sonya grew more worried the more she thought about it. Hence, when Elias got off work, she called him to go to the manor together.Lucian went to pick up Estella after work. As soon as the two entered the door, they noticed the elderly Farwells sitting on the couch with a solemn expression. It was apparent that they had something to say.“Dad, Mom, why didn’t you tell me you were coming over? Is there a problem?” Lucian queried in puzzlement.Those words had barely left his mouth when Sonya nodded solemnly. “There’s something we wish to talk to you about.”Upon seeing the grave expression on his mother’s face, Lucian knitted his brows. He turned his head and handed Estella to Catalina to allow her to take the little girl upstairs first.Catalina obliged. Estella also greeted her grandparents obediently before following her caretaker upstairs.Lucian sat dow
Lucian did not say anything in the end, thinking that he would just head over and pick up the little girl in two days.Estella was very well-behaved with her grandparents and fell asleep obediently after dinner.Meanwhile, Sonya called Aubree, telling her to come over in the morning to send Estella to kindergarten, as she always felt that the little girl did not like Aubree because they spent too little time together.The following morning, Aubree arrived early, and after greeting the elders, she reached out to take Estella’s hand.Estella had just eaten breakfast, and her face fell when she saw Aubree coming over. Upon seeing the latter’s outstretched hand, she shrank back further, expressing great resistance.“Be good, Essie. Ms. Pearson is sending you to kindergarten. If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late,” Sonya patiently persuaded for a long time.Hearing this, Estella hesitated for a while. However, at the thought that she would be able to see the two little boys when she arriv
Aubree frowned but quickly covered it up with a smile, hurriedly changing the subject. “Maybe she’s not feeling too well today. After all, her fever has only just gone down. Please keep an eye on her. If anything happens, please contact me.”The teacher agreed with a smile, not looking too much into it.Aubree handed Estella over to the teacher and pretended to give her a couple of words of advice before turning to leave.She had only just gotten into her car when she spotted a familiar Mercedes-Benz parked in front of the kindergarten.Roxanne brought her two children out of the car soon after.Estella’s expression cleared up, and she began to look as right as rain once the three of them showed up.Aubree’s expression darkened rapidly.She watched bitterly as Roxanne chatted casually with the teacher before handing the kids over, and her expression remained gloomy until Roxanne got into her car and left.She only stopped watching once the Mercedes-Benz disappeared at the end of the r
Roxanne didn’t really know what was going on, but she still went upstairs and knocked on his door.The head of kindergarten’s expression also seemed strangely suspicious.“Pippa told me you wanted to talk to me about something. What’s wrong?” Roxanne asked.The head of kindergarten smiled in an extremely business-like way as he said slowly, “This is the problem. I’ve been observing your children for the last two days, and I feel like they are simply not suitable for our kindergarten. Maybe you should consider giving them a change of environment.”So he just wants to expel Archie and Benny!Roxanne frowned but remained polite. “Did they do something wrong today at school? If that’s the case, I will definitely tell them off at home. Please don’t worry. I can promise that they won’t do it—”She wasn’t done with her promises when the head of kindergarten cut her off abruptly, “The two of them have done fine. However, I wouldn’t like them to stay in this kindergarten any longer. Of course,
Roxanne didn’t even let him finish his sentence before she bellowed angrily, “Don’t you think you’re going a little bit overboard? No matter what happened in the past, it should stay between us. Just come at me instead! I won’t say no to that, but the kids are innocent. They don’t know anything. Why are you doing this to them?”She dug her fingernails into her palm in an attempt to calm herself down. Trying her best to stop her voice from wavering, she continued, “Yes, I shouldn’t have done that in the past. That was my fault, so feel free to get revenge on me for that. But please, can’t you find it in your generous, generous heart to forgive my kids?”She looked down after that, feeling her eyes start to water from frustration.The head of kindergarten had been right. It wasn’t hard for her to find another kindergarten for the kids, but that was only if Lucian didn’t interfere.If he wasn’t willing to let either of them go, then she couldn’t do anything no matter how much power she h
Roxanne hesitated for a few seconds before telling Madilyn about everything that had happened today.When she heard about Lucian being petty enough to take it out on the two kids, Madilyn was extremely pissed off. “What kind of man is he? How can he do that to kids? I won’t let this happen to my godsons! I’m going to tell him off.”She was about to storm out of the house, but Roxanne quickly pulled her back.They sat down on the couch and Roxanne chuckled. “It’s fine. I’ve already gone to talk to him. On the way back, I thought it through. You know what? This is a good chance to really cut things off with him. I don’t have to worry about him stealing the boys away from me anymore.”However, Madilyn still couldn’t let it go. “What about Archie and Benny? How are you going to explain to them?”Roxanne was still stressing out about that. She hesitated before replying, “I’ll come up with something.”The two of them continued chatting about the matter for a little while until it got late a
Roxanne’s expression became even more scornful at his explanation. “Aubree? So basically it was your idea too, right? Who in Horington still doesn’t know about the marriage between the Pearson family and the Farwell family? Aren’t you afraid she’ll feel bad after hearing how desperately you’re trying to clear boundaries with her right now?”She pulled her wrist out of the man’s grasp and said coldly, “Don’t worry, Mr. Farwell. I’m not shameless, and I won’t annoy you anymore, so you don’t have to explain anything to me.”After that, she walked off without looking back.A dark cloud formed over Lucian’s expression as he watched her leave.Estella began crying uncontrollably after standing in shock for a few seconds. She tossed her father’s hand aside and started to run after Roxanne’s car.She had a feeling that she might not see Roxanne again after this.Estella felt immense panic at the thought and she didn’t know what to do.In her panic, she tripped over a rock on the ground and fe
Close to an hour later, James stepped out of the room, looking quite exhausted.Nothing had worked to the effect that he was hoping for, in spite of him having doled out every trick in the book that he knew of just to coax some manner of response from Estella.“How did it go?” Lucian inquired anxiously.James shook his head. “Essie has completely shut herself in. She has refused to communicate with anyone and is resistant even to me. My guess is that she must have been triggered by something. The only way to resolve this is by identifying the source of her trauma.”Lucian’s expression dimmed when he heard that.Seemingly unaware of the change in his friend’s mood, James continued to ask of the latter in earnest, “Has Essie encountered any situation recently that might have brought about this change in her emotional state?”Memories of the kid breaking her silence because of Roxanne came flowing back to Lucian. The answer thus became obvious to him.After a moment’s pause, Lucian recou
“Aubree!” Frieda only came back to her senses after Aubree left in a huff.A loud slam sounded downstairs.Frieda hurried over to the balcony to see Aubree marching into her car and driving away swiftly.The sight caused Frieda to ball up her fists in frustration.I came here today to convince Aubree not to act recklessly! Instead of achieving that, I have actually given her the idea of settling scores with Roxanne. If she heads there alone, she’ll surely cause a commotion!Frieda quickly ran down the stairs and went after Aubree’s car, which was heading for Roxanne’s house.…On the other hand, Roxanne and the children had no idea about what happened back in Aubree’s house.Roxanne was preparing lunch for the children in the kitchen.“Mommy, will Mr. Farwell have lunch with us today?” Benny asked eagerly at the door of the kitchen.The children noticed Lucian’s dedication as he showed up every day, but they still felt uncertain.Hearing that, Roxanne paused in her tracks. She belate
No matter how she thought about it, Aubree just couldn’t calm down. It wasn’t until she gave Cory a call that she found out about Roxanne’s discharge from the hospital.Without a doubt, the news further unsettled her.After much contemplation, she steeled herself and gave Lucian a call.However, she had to wait for a long while before she heard an answer in a frosty voice. “What is it?”Despite gritting her teeth, she maintained a caring tone. “Lucian, I just received a call from Ms. Yaxley saying that Essie has missed school recently. Is she not feeling well?”The moment she finished, Aubree felt her heart tense up as if she was afraid of hearing Lucian say that Estella was at Roxanne’s.Furrowing his brows in brief silence, Lucian replied, “Essie is at my mom’s. You don’t have to bother. As for the teacher, just inform her that Essie is sick.”Due to the bad blood between Aubree and Roxanne, Lucian didn’t plan on letting the former know where Estella really was.In addition, Lucian
Sensing that she was out of sorts, Lucian felt like probing further. However, he swallowed his words at the last moment when he thought of their previous interaction. Even when the table had been set up, neither of them said a word.As for the three children, who were already seated at the table, the sight of their parents busying themselves brought glee to their faces.The delight they exuded gradually softened Roxanne’s heart.Even though Roxanne had calmed down after dinner, the results of the investigations from the afternoon were still on her mind. “Mr. Farwell, are you ready to talk about it?”Filled with curiosity, the children inquired with their childish voices, “Talk about what?”Roxanne flashed a smile at them. “It relates to the research institute and has nothing to do with you. Go out and play now.”In response, the children looked toward Lucian for verification.The latter affirmed in a serious tone, “Go on now.”Only then did they slowly make their way out of the mansi
Lucian remained at the research institute for the entire afternoon. After he left the building in the evening, he glanced at the time. A brief hesitation flashed past his eyes before he called Cayden and asked him to grab the medicine in his possession for examination. Then he drove to Roxanne’s place.Meanwhile, the children were playing with each other at home.Roxanne was preparing their dinner absentmindedly.It was because she felt a little regretful after Lucian left.After all, he was investigating a matter involving her, and she wanted to be a part of it.Furthermore, that was the main reason she left the hospital in the first place.However, she simply couldn’t leave the house because the children refused to let her go.To make matters worse, she still hadn’t gotten a single text or call from Lucian for the whole afternoon.Hence, she had no idea if he unearthed anything.Just as Roxanne was getting distracted, she heard the children’s voice in the living room.The children
After a while, Lucian shifted his icy look away from Colby, to which the latter responded with a calm sigh of relief. Then, Colby reflexively stepped away and allowed Lucian to take his seat while he stood at the side.Both of them then watched yesterday’s surveillance footage, starting with the experiment Roxanne was performing with Jack.In the footage, they saw Roxanne joking around with Jack.Colby was also in the footage, but he was a few steps behind Roxanne and Jack with an expression completely different from theirs.Overall, it seemed as though Colby was the only one focusing on the experiment while the other two were not involved in any work.Lucian always thought Roxanne was way too intimate with Jack.However, it was the first time he saw the two of them interacting with each other without his presence. They don’t look like business partners at all! It’s completely different from how Roxanne describes their relationship.The longer he watched the footage, the colder his e
A few moments later, Roxanne organized her thoughts and explained, “It’s just standard procedure for acupuncture. If he wants to perform it on me, he can’t do it with my clothes on.” Upon hearing that, Lucian furrowed his eyebrows slightly as a look of dissatisfaction flashed past his eyes. Now that I think about it, Jack did need to remove her clothes to perform acupuncture on her. Still, it was disturbing!His jealous expression amused her.“Setting that aside, Jack’s behavior is still very suspicious,” Lucian concluded stubbornly.That rendered Roxanne speechless.While she didn’t want to believe Jack was acting maliciously, she had to admit that, from an objective point of view, he was pretty suspicious.Lucian frowned at her and informed her coldly, “I plan to investigate this matter in the afternoon. Will you join me?”Nodding, Roxanne was about to accept his invitation when the children pounced into her embrace.Thus, instead of replying to him, she stared at the children, puz
Estella hugged her and refused to let go. Thus, Roxanne explained resignedly, “Your daddy and I haven’t eaten yet. We’ll keep you company after our meals, all right?”Upon hearing that, the girl finally released Roxanne and stared intently at her.Roxanne smiled, patted her head, and turned to Lucian. “Come on in, Mr. Farwell. I’ll prepare some food.”The look in Lucian’s eyes darkened before he ambled into the living room. It’s been a long time since I was invited by her. This feels pretty good.The children were relieved to see the relationship between the two adults improved after Roxanne left the hospital.As Lucian sat on the couch, he watched the children play with each other.Inside the kitchen, Roxanne was preparing the food nonchalantly.As a result of all that, the atmosphere in the mansion became surprisingly heartwarming.Not long after, Roxanne exited the kitchen with two sandwiches and a gla*s of hot milk before putting them in front of Lucian. “It’s nearly time for lun
The rain had stopped when the two reached the parking lot. The custom-made jacket Lucian used to shelter them from the rain was wet. Even his arms got soaked from the rain.Standing by the side of the car, Roxanne watched him open the door and put his jacket on the back seat with no change in expression. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to sit in the pa*senger seat.Soon, Lucian got into the car and drove toward her house.“I wonder what they are doing now.”Feeling uneasy by the silence inside the car, Roxanne quickly searched for a topic.Lucian raised his eyes and glanced at her face reflected in the rearview mirror. “Cayden will take good care of them. You can call him if you’re worried.”Roxanne grinned. “It’s okay. I believe Cayden will take good care of them.”As they spoke about the kids, Roxanne couldn’t help but think of how they left without hesitation this morning.She wondered what was on the kids’ minds when they did that and decided to find the answer when she
Hearing Roxanne’s apology, there was a flash of smugness in Colby’s eyes, but his tone was full of concern. “As long as you get better, it doesn’t matter how tired I get. I thought… Forget it. Let’s not talk about this. Why did you call?”Uneasy, Roxanne said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to continue to trouble you.”Colby was busy since yesterday after she fell unconscious.Recently, they needed to carry out an investigation. Due to that, they had to ask for Colby’s help to grant them free rein.For everything Colby had done, Roxanne felt nothing but sorry for him.Colby, on the other end of the phone, was working overtime at the research institute, handling the surveillance footage of the research facility.He froze momentarily when he heard what Roxanne said but soon returned to normal. “What is it? Go on. I’ll try my best to help.”Roxanne said with a grateful smile, “Mr. Farwell and I want to investigate yesterday’s incident. In the process, we will need permission to access the resear