“That’s not what I meant.” Jonathan felt helpless.He admired Roxanne and felt that she would make a good friend. Yet, regardless of what he said, she would always steer the conversation back to Alfred’s treatment.In no mood for idle chatter, Roxanne asked out of courtesy, “Is there anything else?”As it would be rude to hold her back, Jonathan replied, “That’s all. Goodbye.”Roxanne nodded before getting into her car.After watching Roxanne drive away, Jonathan returned to the mansion.Frieda, who was drinking coffee on the couch with a scowl on her face, gave him the side-eye before recovering her gaze.Jonathan’s expression darkened when he caught her reaction. “Why are you behaving this way? What has Dr. Jarvis done to you for you to be so hostile to her? Don’t forget that she is Grandpa’s savior!”Frieda looked at Jonathan and refuted, “Savior? It’s not like we didn’t offer her anything. We’re just getting what each of us needs out of it.”Filled with displeasure, she inquired f
However, when he didn’t hear Archie’s response, he, too, fell silent and waited for his brother to express his thoughts.When it came to Estella, she had no objections, for she was used to eating with Lucian. In spite of that, she remained seated when she didn’t see any movement from the boys.Noticing the expectant look in Benny’s eyes, Archie paused for a moment before indicating his agreement by getting off the bench.Behaving just like his lackeys, Benny and Estella followed suit.Even though no words were exchanged, Lucian recognized their tacit agreement to have dinner with him.After the four of them got into the car, Lucian drove, while the children sat in a uniform row behind.“Since I don’t know what you like, I’ll just bring you to one of Estella’s favorite restaurants.” Lucian decided on the spot.Benny answered without another thought. “I’m fine with that!”Just as he spoke, he felt a tug from Archie and proceeded to keep his mouth shut sheepishly.Without another word, L
In the end, Lucian had no answers to Benny’s questions. In fact, he was intrigued about the actual genesis of the questions.Subsequently, the tension at the table intensified with no one saying another word until dinner was over.When Estella, who didn’t speak anyway, saw the somber mood the brothers were in, she felt equally glum.As the only adult at the table, Lucian tried to liven up the atmosphere with new topics but failed when the brothers just refused to talk.Once dinner was over, he sent the children back to Roxanne’s house.As Roxanne wasn’t back yet, Catalina, who was feeling worried, was relieved to see Lucian and the children.Instead of leaving right away, Lucian stayed to make small talk with Catalina while watching the children play in the living room.It wasn’t until around eight o’clock that Roxanne finally returned from work.However, the children only threw her a glance and didn’t rush to welcome her like they usually did.From their response, Roxanne could sense
During the weekend, Roxanne planned to take them out for the day, as they have not gone on an outing ever since Estella started staying with them.“Mommy!” Archie and Benny approached her enthusiastically. “Let’s take Essie to the aquarium!”Hearing that, Roxanne looked in Estella’s direction to seek her opinion.The latter nodded obediently.As long as I can stay with Ms. Jarvis, Archie, and Benny, it doesn’t matter where I go.With that, Roxanne got the children to pack up before heading to the aquarium together.Since Lucian was usually busy with work, he seldom brought Estella out. As for Archie and Benny, it was the first time both of them visited an aquarium in the country.The moment the children entered the aquarium, they were captivated by the smorgasbord of marine life in it. From time to time, they would stop to interact with the fishes.Roxanne would patiently wait and take pictures for them. Furthermore, she would also provide an explanation of the fish that she recognize
Roxanne finally came to her senses. She glanced at Estella before whispering, “Estella… She seemed to have spoken just now.”Furthermore, she spoke fluently and has a lovely voice.Lucian glanced at his daughter with a surprised expression and asked, “What did she say?”Roxanne was taken aback by his question. She was too surprised by Estella speaking suddenly and could not remember what Estella said.Archie chimed in. “She said the beluga whale kissed her.”Next to Archie, Benny could not resist his curiosity and asked, “Isn’t Essie mute?”They had always thought Estella was mute. After all, they had never heard her speak since they first met her.Lucian frowned and answered, “When did I ever say that Essie was mute?”Archie and Benny exchanged glances.Roxanne asked in confusion, “Essie doesn’t speak. You also prepared a notepad so that she can write to communicate.”Lucian felt a little helpless as they mentioned this matter. “Estella was usually unwilling to speak because of autis
Archie and Benny looked at the toys delightedly.It was normal for boys to love robots and race cars. Furthermore, Archie and Benny had much higher IQs than their peers. Therefore, they preferred more complicated toys and were interested in high-tech ones.They used to badger Roxanne to buy them. However, some of these were too expensive. Although they liked those toys very much, they were sensible and did not mention them to Roxanne.Thus, they were surprised that Lucian knew what they liked.Benny could not resist taking a couple of steps toward Lucian and looking into the box.It contained all the toys he coveted on the website. He nearly used the small fortune Archie earned in stock trading to get them, causing Archie to scold him.Although Archie liked the toys, he could not forget that Lucian abandoned his mother. He stood still with a stern expression but could not resist looking into the boxes.One could see Archie and Benny desired the presents from Lucian.Benny looked at th
Prior to the birthday banquet, Roxanne had given the last round of treatment to Alfred. Although he couldn’t stay on his feet for too long, he was in better spirits, and he could even get out of bed and move around.Roxanne had also given him medications and told him to take them on time. After that, the treatment was complete.On the day of the birthday banquet, Roxanne went home to dress up after she finished her work at the research institute. After putting on a dress and tying up her hair, she put on simple yet elegant makeup before going to the banquet.When she arrived at the Queen residence, the banquet was just about to start. There were plenty of luxury cars parked outside, and the residence was packed with guests, all of whom were prominent figures in Horington.Since Roxanne had stayed in Horington before that, she knew most of the people there. However, very few of them knew who she was.Yet, she was the center of attention when she showed up at the venue.When the crowd s
Roxanne fell silent and smiled with her pursed lips.Frieda wasn’t happy when she heard how her parents were complimenting Roxanne. She then scanned the surroundings to look for Lucian and Aubree. When she realized neither of them was there yet, she glanced at the entrance in anticipation. Let’s see if that woman could still smile when she sees Lucian showing up alongside Aubree!Frieda didn’t need to wait long, though. A few minutes later, Lucian showed up at the entrance of the mansion.“Lucian is here!” Frieda exclaimed to get everyone’s attention.As soon as those words fell, everyone in the Qucen residence turned toward the mansion’s entrance. Roxanne also did the same instinctively.Lucian was dressed in a tailored black suit. The suit was so well-lined that it was showcasing the man’s toned figure. With most of his hair combed to the back, his perfect lacial features were for everyone to see. At the same time, those few stray strands of hair hanging down from his forehead promp
Cory’s face was clouded over with disdain. “Obviously, I’m taking a picture of my lovely ex-boss. Aubree was the one who made me who I am today. How can I possibly forgive her so easily?” As he spoke, an ominous aura radiated from him as if he were a devil from hell. There was an imminent chill in the air that seemed to come from his sheer hatred toward Aubree.Frieda couldn’t help but shudder at his demeanor.“Have you gone insane? The Pearson family is already in ruins. How are you still not satisfied yet?”Cory snickered. “I won’t be satisfied until she truly gets what she deserves. Besides, she did this to herself!”He narrowed his eyes and began scrutinizing the people in front of him.“You don’t have to play pretend around me, Ms. Queen. Don’t you want to shut her up for good too? In fact, you’re probably still getting threatened by her, right?”Frieda’s eyelids quivered as she forced herself to look away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”She might have done her best t
Due to Benny’s injury, the three kids didn’t attend their cla*ses at the kindergarten for the time being. As a result, Ophelia didn’t have the chance to make her move.Aubree repeatedly received disappointing updates from Ophelia when she contacted the latter on multiple occasions.Exasperated, Aubree invited Ophelia out once more.“Aubree, there’s nothing I can do either. Who would’ve expected that b*tch to stop the other two kids from attending school after that little b*stard got hurt!” Ophelia uttered helplessly.She thought she could still target Archie and Estella while Benny recuperated at home due to his injury.To her surprise, she received news that all three children had applied for leave the following day.Aubree clenched her fists. Hatred filled her eyes as she spoke. “That b*tch!”The two women grimaced, stumped at the development.While vexed, Ophelia carefully observed the changes in Aubree’s countenance, fearing the latter might get sick and tired of her.After a lon
Because of Benny’s injury, Roxanne took a leave of absence for all three of her children and stayed at home to take care of Benny for the time being. Fortunately, the ointment she had developed was very effective, and when she applied it to Benny, his wound healed up rather quickly.In the past two days, Lucian would often come to visit the kids.While Roxanne was busy taking care of Benny, she was also worrying about the projects at the research institute.In the end, she found out that, except for the project with the Damaris family, all the other projects were progressing smoothly.Due to the previous incident, the project with the Damaris family had to be handled by Roxanne and Roxanne only. As such, the project was stalled the moment she left.Since she was preoccupied with taking care of Benny, it took Roxanne a few days to realize that she had forgotten to give Jack a heads-up on the situation.Just when she was about to make a call to Jack to apologize, the man himself called
Meanwhile, Ophelia stepped out of the kindergarten with a grim expression. Thank goodness I handled the matter fast enough! Who’d have thought Mr. Bauer would launch an investigation as soon as he returned? Gosh. I almost blew my cover! Then again, this must mean that little b*stard’s injury was pretty bad…With that thought in mind, Ophelia curled her lips into a smirk.That b*tch Roxanne has ruined my chances of a happy and comfortable life! She deserves this little payback from me. Ha!Naturally, Ophelia needed to inform Aubree about the incident, so she quickly got into her car and dialed the latter’s number.Fortunately, the call got through after just a few rings.“How did it go? Did you succeed?” Aubree asked urgently.Argh. Life has been incredibly tough on me lately. I need some good news to cheer me up!“I greased the shoes of that Benny boy, and he fell really hard!” Ophelia said with a smug chortle. “Mr. Bauer even made a big fuss out of it when he returned, so I’m sure t
Elias knitted his brows when he saw his wife acting in that way. “I don’t remember any conflicts between the two of you six years ago. Why are you so biased against her?” “Are you saying that I’m unreasonable?” Sonya snapped, turning around to glare at him.The resignation on Elias’ face deepened. “I’m only stating facts. Why are you taking this so personally?”“Then we’ll go to her place to check it out right now! We’ll see if the kid really is hurt! Didn’t she ask us to pick Essie up from her house? We’ll go right now!”Elias knew that she was only saying that because she was furious, so he just drove them back to the Farwell main residence.Sonya was even more irked when she realized where they were heading, and she kept grumbling on their way back.Elias pretended not to hear anything she said.He was already relenting much by accompanying her to pick Estella up from the kindergarten.As Farwell Group’s chairman, he simply could not do something ludicrous like kicking up a fuss i
Roxanne’s heart was lodged in her throat as she made her way to the hospital. She floored the accelerator, on the verge of breaking the speed limit. Archie and Benny might be independent since young, but it was the first time one of them had gotten hurt.Roxanne felt a surge of anxiety wash over her.Upon arrival, Roxanne parked her car hastily and strode into the hospital.Pippa was considerate enough to text her the ward number after Benny was admitted to the hospital.Thus, Roxanne found them without any difficulty.“Mommy!”Archie firmly grasped her hand, squeezing it with such force that it caused her pain.Estella also clutched at the corner of her shirt.Roxanne patted their heads comfortingly before turning to Pippa. “Ms. Ward, what happened?”Pippa answered apologetically, “We’re not sure yet. The doctor at the infirmary said it might be a bruised cartilage. Benny is taking an X-ray inside.”Roxanne felt a stab of pain in her heart after she heard the news.“Ms. Jarvis, we’r
The next game was hopping on one foot. The kids filed to the equipment room to change into their sneakers. After changing into his shoes, Benny felt slightly uncomfortable. He a*sumed that it was probably because he had not worn these types of shoes in quite some time and wasn’t used to the fit. Nonetheless, he didn’t give it too much thought and kept going.Archie and Estella were urging him to hurry up, so he pushed aside the thought of his uncomfortable shoes and hurried over to them, beaming happily.This was an individual game, and Benny’s turn wasn’t until later.After Archie and Estella finished their turns, they stood aside to watch Benny play.“Remember to be careful. Safety comes first,” Pippa told them repeatedly.Ophelia stood aside and acted like she was ready to spring into action and protect the children at any moment.The three children had done a good job in the previous games, so when it was Benny’s turn, their friends cheered him on and watched him expectantly.Ben
Upon seeing that Roxanne was still in a daze, Lucian couldn’t resist lifting his hand and caressing her face. “You…”Roxanne was stupefied for several seconds before she belatedly snapped back to her senses. Mild embarra*sment showed in her eyes.While the man had sneaked up on her countless times when they were in Miralaea, she could more or less postulate the reason after the fact.But this time, I didn’t do anything. Why did he simply kiss me?Innocence was written all over Lucian’s face. “Sorry, I lost control.”At that answer, Roxanne’s eyes went wide in fury. However, she couldn’t really censure him either. All she could do was turn around as though nothing had happened and put the washed tableware aside.The two of them spent some time doing the dishes. When they exited the kitchen, Archie, Benny, and Estella pestered Lucian to play with them for a while.Only when it was rather late did Lucian drive home.Needless to say, Roxanne saw him off with the three children.When they
Lucian didn’t expect his father to be in such a hurry to go and pick Estella up. After hanging up the phone, he glanced at the time. Seeing that it was still relatively early, he wanted to phone Roxanne to inform her about the situation. But on second thought, he snagged his jacket and went downstairs.Downstairs, Catalina had just prepared dinner. When she saw her employer coming down, she hollered, “The food is ready, Mr. Farwell.”Lucian halted in his steps for a fleeting second. “Go on and eat. I’m not having dinner at home.”Having said that, he left in huge strides without waiting for a response from her.Catalina stared at the man’s back, bewildered for a moment. In the next heartbeat, understanding dawned upon her.Aha! Who else could induce such an expression on Mr. Farwell’s face? He must be on his way out to visit Ms. Jarvis once more. Thus, he’s also likely having dinner there!Roxanne had just finished cooking dinner and led the three children to the dining table. They h