The smile on Roxanne’s face deepened when she saw how much Estella liked the conch. Roxanne took the conch and placed it beside Estella’s ear.Estella tilted her head and shot her a puzzled look.“Listen. Legend says conches have the sound of the waves. Can you hear it?” Roxanne gazed at Estella with a smile.When Estella heard that, her eyes lit up, and she listened attentively.After some time, she nodded vehemently. “Yes! I hear it!”This time, it was Roxanne who was surprised.Roxanne was only playing with Estella. Never did she expect the kid to give her a definite answer.For a moment, Roxanne could not help but doubt herself.Archie and Benny came over when Estella said she heard the sound of waves in the conch. “We want to listen to it, too!”Still feeling dubious, Roxanne placed the conch at the boys’ ears.After some time, Archie and Benny nodded vigorously, their eyes sparkling.Their reactions filled Roxanne with greater suspicion. Unable to fight her curiosity, she placed
It was getting dark by the beach, yet the crowd was getting larger and larger. Roxanne’s anxiousness flared as she recalled the incident the night before. Even though a day had pa*sed, she was still worried when she saw the large crowd. She hurriedly rounded up the kids and left the beach.Coincidently, it was dinner time. Lucian took them straight to a nearby restaurant.The kids’ pockets were full of sea shells. They emptied their pockets and set all the shells on the table before launching into a debate over who owned the best-looking shell.Roxanne’s eyes softened and laced with amusement as she watched the kids hard selling the shells in their possession.After a moment, a waiter came to their table with their food. Seeing that, the kids unwillingly kept all their shells.Both kids and adults were starved after spending the entire afternoon at the beach, so they were silent as they dug into their meals.After dinner, Roxanne and Lucian took the kids to a craft workshop.The work
Seeing Roxanne accepting her present, a smile returned to her face.Roxanne carefully kept the keychain in her purse, then reached for the bracelet she made. When she held onto Estella’s wrist, Estella was confused but still lifted her wrist nonetheless.Soon after, she watched as Roxanne clasped an exquisite seashell bracelet over her wrist.Estella’s eyes sparkled seeing the accessory.Roxanne compared Estella’s wrist with the length of the bracelet and let out a breath of relief when they fit. “I have a present for you too. Do you like it?” she asked with a smile.Estella nodded her head with her gaze glued to the bracelet and applied the words she learned from Lucian. “I love everything Ms. Jarvis gives me!”Roxanne laughed at her words.She only learned how to speak recently, yet she already knew how to make me happy with sweet words.Estella was earnest, though. She looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, unwilling to tear her gaze away.Seeing how much Estella loved the brace
They wanted to give Lucian a present, but their expression seemed nervous.After a long while, Roxanne reminded, “Mr. Farwell, please accept it, seeing that it’s the boys’ sweet thought.”Roxanne cast a complex gaze at the boys.She was beginning to suspect if the boys had found out about their identities.Lucian finally snapped out of his thoughts and took the shell from the boy’s hand at Roxanne’s reminder.He opened the shell and saw a pair of exquisite-looking cuff links made of tiny shells sitting in the middle.So they worked so hard earlier to make this pair of cuff links for me?A pang hit Lucian’s heart, and he asked, “Why would you give me a present?”The boys exchanged a glance, and Benny dropped his head shyly while Archie answered, “This is our gratitude for your help in finding Benny yesterday and stopping him from doing something dangerous on the yacht today.”Understanding dawned on Lucian, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I’ll accept this gift, then. Th
Benny joined in as well, “We love you the most, Mommy. We won’t like anyone you don’t!”Although those words were what they said, they still felt saddened.They had been happily spending time with Lucian during these few days. The latter had been taking good care of them as well.If it was possible, Archie and Benny wanted their parents to get back together.However, Roxanne obviously did not think the same way. Therefore, the twins could only respect her wishes.Roxanne was moved by their words, but she did not want them to know that she was afraid. She could not show that she was fearful.Upon listening to her children, she pursed her lips and smiled. “Mommy loves you two the most too.”Archie and Benny smiled sweetly at her.Benny, however, could not help but look back.Just as he did, his eyes met Estella’s aggrieved gaze.When their gazes met, Benny quickly tugged at Roxanne’s hand. “Mommy, Essie’s behind us! Should we wait for her?”Roxanne instinctively turned back to look as w
Hearing Archie’s words, Lucian’s face instantly darkened. “Where is she? Take us there!” Archie instantly ran toward the beach.With Estella in his arms, Lucian followed in long strides behind the boy.Roxanne was still worried about Archie, who had run off alone. After a while, she gently said to Benny, “Help me up, Benny. Let’s go look for Archie.”However, the latter shook his head without hesitation. “You’re hurt, Mommy. You can’t move. Archie will bring someone over soon.”Roxanne’s eyebrows furrowed slightly at Benny’s reaction. “I’m worried for Archie. Although I know that both of you are more than capable to take care of yourselves, I’ll still be worried,” she patiently tried to convince him.Listening to his mother’s words, Benny seemed to hesitate.He did not want Roxanne’s injury to worsen, but he also did not want her to worry for them.Just as Benny was contemplating listening to his mother and helping her up, Archie’s voice could be heard from afar.“Mommy! Mommy! I’ve
Upon hearing that, Roxanne’s lips quivered, but she could not say anything to turn him down.Lucian suddenly moved to shorten the distance between them.Roxanne could clearly feel his large hand pressing onto her waist. He then swiftly carried her up.She instinctively grabbed onto Lucian’s shirt in order to balance herself.“I can walk just fine. You just need to support me,” Roxanne said adamantly after recovering from her initial shock.Then, she struggled to get down.The children were all looking at them. She shouldn’t be so intimate with Lucian.However, Lucian refused to let that happen.All Roxanne felt was his hand tightening on her waist. “You’re a doctor, Ms. Jarvis. Aren’t you afraid that your wound would get infected if it comes into contact with dust and seawater?” His low voice rang next to her ears.Before Roxanne could even react, the children started to panic.“Mommy, your feet shouldn’t touch the ground!”“Ms. Jarvis…” Estella’s voice was full of concern.Roxanne he
The group soon left the hotel in the middle of the night and headed back to the city. It was different from how they arrived. On the way home, Archie sat in the front pa*senger seat in order to allow Roxanne to sit comfortably while Estella and Benny accompanied Roxanne in the back seat.All three children kept staring at her injured foot, and Roxanne did not know whether to laugh or cry at that.They finally arrived at the entrance of the mansion. With her hand on the car seat to support her, Roxanne carefully tried to get out of the car. Just as she reached the door, a pair of big hands reached out and were placed on her waist, carrying her up.Roxanne was stunned for a few seconds. However, after realizing that the kids had already seen this happen many times after she got injured and probably wouldn’t think much of it, there was no need for her to reject Lucian. Therefore, she allowed him to carry her into the mansion.Just as they entered, Lysa walked over to meet them. When she
While the reporters’ photos depicted a woman standing at the helicopter door, Jack knew Lucian was behind it. He thought the matter had ended when the celebrity scandals dominated the public consciousness that afternoon. Thus, the next day, he planned to meet up with Roxanne by using the project as an excuse.To his surprise, her a*sistant told him she wasn’t in the research institute.In fact, he received the same answer over the next few days.By then, no matter how stupid Jack was, he could still realize what was happening.He knew Roxanne had left with Lucian, so he wondered how long it would take them to return.To his surprise, it was a whole week, and that enraged him.Jack was still upset as he spoke. “Even though the development of our project was about to begin, the person in charge of the research institute was nowhere to be found. What do you think I should say about that, Ms. Jarvis?”When he brought up the project, Roxanne felt guilty and apologized further. “I’m really
In the end, Lucian called Jeffrey and requested a week’s leave for the children.With that out of the way, the three adults took the three children on a trip to Miralaea.Just as Jeffrey hung up the phone, a gentle-looking teacher entered the room.“You’re here, Ms. Smith,” he greeted. “You understand the situation about the cla*s, yes? Mr. Farwell’s children are in it, and the a*sistant teacher is on leave. I’m worried Ms. Ward won’t be able to manage the cla*s alone, so you’ll be helping her out for now.”Smiling, Ophelia Smith nodded. “I understand, Mr. Bauer. You don’t need to worry a thing.”Jeffrey scrutinized her and thought she looked pretty gentle. “I’m leaving them in your hands, so don’t mess things up.”“Should I greet them now?”“They’ve just started their one-week leave. Once they’ve returned, Ms. Ward will introduce them to you.”When Ophelia heard that, the look in her eyes imperceptibly darkened for just a moment. “I see. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave no
We didn’t see anything!” Madilyn smiled mischievously as she feigned ignorance.The children nodded along. “We didn’t either!”Then, Madilyn attempted to sneak away with the kids as though nothing had happened.Just as she turned around, Roxanne said, “Come over here. Let’s talk.”Thus, Madilyn twirled around again and saw a resigned expression on her best friend’s face.Roxanne and Lucian, who was slightly displeased, proceeded to sit next to each other on the couch.Upon hearing their mother’s summon, the children rushed over to sit around her.Only Madilyn was left standing at the entrance of the room.Glancing at the family of five, she cleared her throat, stepped toward the single-seat couch, and plopped down.Frowning, Roxanne questioned, “You said you’ve devised a way to handle the fallout. What do you suggest we do?”In response, Lucian shifted his line of sight to Madilyn, too.Madilyn could still sense the cold look in his eyes, so she did her best to ignore him and focus on
Meanwhile, Roxanne was still lost in a daze. “Madilyn, what…”Cocking a brow, Madilyn stepped aside to usher them in. “Come onboard. I’m here to pick you up.”Roxanne was blown away by the words.Is she asking us to get in the helicopter and leave just like that? We might be able to escape this time, but what about when the reporters come for us again?When she saw Roxanne remaining motionless, the puzzled Madilyn urged her, “Hurry up! What are you still hesitating for? Whatever concerns you have, we’ll discuss it on board.”She extended her hand while speaking.With the helicopter hovering right before her eyes, Roxanne realized that Madilyn’s effort would go to waste if she didn’t get on.Holding that thought, Roxanne took the latter’s hand. Given how close the helicopter was, all she needed to do was take a step forward to board it.After carrying Estella over, Roxanne turned around to do the same with the boys. Little did she expect them to be raring to go.Reciprocating their ent
It wasn’t until Lucian heard Madilyn’s words that he realized her point and stopped in his tracks.“This whole incident might just blow over if you don’t show up, but it will definitely worsen if you make an appearance. If that happens, they might even swarm Farwell Group along with Roxanne’s house!” Madilyn reminded him.She knew the mentality of those journalists all too well.Lucian clenched his fists so tightly that his veins were bulging from underneath his skin. “What should I do, then?” he asked while trying to suppress his anger.I wouldn’t have acted so impulsively if I knew this would happen!Madilyn rolled her eyes at him in response. Why is he asking us for a solution when he’s the one who caused all this?“Mr. Farwell, how about we send someone over to get Mrs. Farwell out of there?” Cayden suggested cautiously.“How are you going to do that? There are so many journalists around!” Madilyn snapped at him.Cayden fell silent and flashed her an awkward look in response.“If
News about the Farwell family’s two additional young heirs, who were given birth by Lucian’s ex-wife, caused an uproar in Horington.Of course, the journalists took action almost immediately. No one knew how they got the information, but they found and swarmed around Roxanne’s research institute and mansion.Roxanne was still asleep when she received a call from Linda telling her not to leave the house that day.When Roxanne received that call, she was still in a daze.However, the moment she got out of bed and saw the crowd outside, she panicked.The crowd was clearly there because of Farwell Group’s statement yesterday.Noticing her room’s curtains were pulled open, the crowd downstairs hurriedly focused their cameras in the direction of her room window and began snapping pictures.Shocked, Roxanne hastily drew her curtains.At the same time, her phone rang again.She grabbed it to take a glance, only to see it was from an unknown number.Suspicious, she answered it. The person on t
“It was Lucian who let Essie stay with me. So, if you want to take her away, you’ll have to get his consent first,” Roxanne emphasized without a change in her expression.The little girl in her embrace immediately chimed in, “I’ll do what Daddy says!”As Sonya watched the mother and daughter duo presenting a united front, she felt her temples throb.After all, her son had already made such a statement. The answer she would get could not be more obvious if she made the call.Roxanne’s saying that because she has no plans to let me take my granddaughter away! Most importantly, my son is siding with her. Ugh! I can’t do anything about it.After waiting for some time and seeing that Sonya didn’t take any action, Roxanne said, “If you don’t want to make the call, then please leave now. It’s getting late, and the children are hungry. I don’t have the energy to prepare another person’s portion.”With that, Roxanne put Estella down and gestured for the boys to take Estella upstairs.Once the
Originally, Sonya did not intend to cause trouble for Roxanne at such an hour.Yet she did not expect her son to release such a shocking announcement on the internet, and she only found out while she was having dinner.Sonya was so incensed that she didn’t even finish dinner. After throwing her cutleries in a rage, she set off and drove to Roxanne’s house.She was determined to make Lucian and Estella cut ties with Roxanne as soon as possible.Now that Sonya saw how dependent Estella was on Roxanne, her anger was further fueled.“Roxanne Jarvis, give me back my granddaughter,” she uttered frostily as if Roxanne had snatched Estella away from her.Sensing Estella’s nervousness, Roxanne gripped the former’s hand to soothe her anxiety. Next, Roxanne lifted her head to face the woman opposite her.If this had happened in the past, Roxanne might not know how to respond to a demand like this.However, things were different now. She was Estella’s mother, so she had the right to keep Estella
The boys were exhilarated for nearly the whole day after seeing the announcement in the morning.When night fell, Roxanne had just stepped into the house when Archie and Benny flung themselves at her in excitement. “Mommy!”She was slightly perplexed by their gleeful demeanor. “What’s going on? Did something nice happen in the kindergarten?”As soon as she ended her sentence, she glanced at Estella and was puzzled. If something did happen in the kindergarten, why isn’t Essie acting the same way as them?Upon detecting his mother’s confusion, Archie said, “Didn’t you see the news on the internet?”That confounded Roxanne even further. What news on the internet?Excitedly, Benny added, “Mr. Farwell claimed that we’re his children, just like Essie!”Did I hear that right? Lucian said Archie and Benny are his children? How’s that possible? Roxanne was stunned.He could tell his mother was befuddled, so he grabbed the laptop, clicked on a public forum, and showed it to her.Farwell Group’s