Sorry, I… was thinking about something earlier, so I accidentally missed the step,” Aubree murmured in feigned contrition after Catalina had helped her onto the couch. Standing behind the two of them, Lucian said nothing to that.Aubree’s heart sank, and she hypocritically remarked, “I probably twisted my ankle by accident. Let me rest for a while before going over to Mrs. Farwell’s place to tell her about your condition.”Having said that, she acted as though she was afraid that he would worry and flashed him another smile.She initially thought that her comment would garner the man’s sympathy.At the very least, he would allow her to stay over that night.To her disappointment, Lucian merely bobbed his head blithely. Subsequently, he crouched before her.For a moment, she was at a loss.A heartbeat later, a sharp pain came from her ankle, upon which her expression instantly changed.“Does it hurt?” Lucian queried in a deep voice, a hand grasping her injured ankle.Gritting her teet
“Daddy!” Estella urged a moment later when she did not receive an answer from her father. Shaking himself out of his reverie, Lucian nodded resignedly at his daughter.Only then did she let go and watch him go down the stairs.Aubree was beside herself with anxiousness as she waited downstairs and remained in doubt as she watched Lucian descend the stairs.That little b*tch’s private word with Lucian is obviously trying to get him not to send me to the hospital.Aubree was aware that Lucian spoiled Estella and was even delaying marrying her because of the girl.I wonder if I would have to go to the hospital alone because of her.Aubree could not quell her racing heart, even when Lucian stood firmly before her.Lucian turned to address the family doctor. “I must trouble you with Ms. Pearson, Dr. Elswick.”Aubree’s eyes widened at those words when she realized she was correct in her hunch that he did not intend to keep her company.“Do you hate me that much, Lucian?” Aubree hung her he
Lucian’s phone rang when he arrived at the hospital entrance. It was the landline from home.“When are you coming back, Daddy?”Estella’s demure voice sounded from the other end as soon as he picked up.“I’m on the way,” Lucian replied softly. “Go to sleep first, I’ll be home to see you soon.”Estella promised and hung up quickly after that.It was already late at night when Lucian arrived back at his manor.Then, he made his way to Estella’s bedroom as soon as he got home just like how he had promised her.To his surprise, he found the child still awake. She watched him enter indignantly without saying a word.Lucian frowned. “What are you angry about this time?”“You’re back so late!” Estella complained.I would love it if Daddy spent all night with Ms. Jarvis, but he was with Ms. Pearson. I dislike her! Counting in the travel time, it would not take him more than an hour to make it back.Lucian’s brows twitched at the child’s complaint.The child had never complained when I was ou
The next morning, words about Aubree’s injury became public knowledge. Sonya contacted Aubree to show her concern.“Aubree, I heard you were injured. Is that true?”Aubree sat on the edge of her bed and stared at her wounded ankle. Her expression was cold, but she replied nicely, “I accidentally fell down, but I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me, Mrs. Farwell.”Sonya furrowed her brows. “How did you fall? Didn’t you visit Lucian yesterday? Does he know that you’re hurt?”Aubree sounded conflicted as she responded, “Mrs. Farwell, you should stay out of this.”“He knows about it, doesn’t he?” Sonya immediately guessed.Every time Lucian mentioned his relationship with Aubree, he would tell me to stay out of it. Even Aubree is saying the same thing now!At that thought, Sonya grew breathless with anger. “Tell me how you got hurt.”A smug look flashed across Aubree’s eyes as Sonya was close to the truth.She pretended to be hesitant for a few seconds as if struggling with what to
“What is it?” Aubree asked with a scowl. Frieda retrieved her phone and showed her a few photos.There was a tent in the first photo. Not far away from the tent was a white skirt.Nothing else was shown, but Aubree’s face was already grim.I know the tent. It was the one Roxanne and the little b*stards set up that day. The white skirt is most probably the one I wore that day.The photo didn’t show anything else, so the person who took the photo was obviously targeting her.In the following photo, Aubree could be seen wearing that white skirt. She was holding a white medicine bottle with an unknown substance inside.The photos showed what Aubree had done that day.Finally, the series of photos ended when Aubree finished positioning the bacterium and made her exit.Aubree’s face was as dark as thunder by the time she scrolled to the last picture.“Where did you get these?” she demanded.Frieda quickly explained, “I don’t know. Someone sent them to me yesterday with a text.”She hurried
Meanwhile, in the CEO’s office of Farwell Group, Jonathan was sitting in front of Lucian with a teasing smile on his face. “I hear a portion of medicinal herbs from Herbscape Group’s overseas branch has been shipped back to Horington.”Lucian simply nodded without saying anything in response.“Back then, I suggested you lend a helping hand, but you refused to do so. Now, look what has happened!” Jonathan continued with a chuckle.I thought he was actually going to ignore Roxanne completely, but he ended up intervening anyway!“Well? How did Dr. Jarvis respond to you lending her a hand?” Jonathan asked.The look on Lucian’s face turned gloomy the moment he heard that.When Jonathan didn’t get a response from Lucian, he slowly came to realize that he had said something he shouldn’t have.From his expression, it’s obvious that their relationship has yet to improve. In fact, it might even have gotten worse. This doesn’t make any sense, though…Noticing the confused frown on Jonathan’s fa
Jonathan had wanted to try persuading him further, but Lucian cut him off, “I have a meeting to attend. We’ll talk about this some other time.” Jonathan had no choice but to get up and leave the office.After stepping out of Farwell Group, Jonathan thought about the advice he had given Lucian earlier and regretted every single word he said.If I had known things were that bad between them, I would’ve changed the way I worded my sentences! Now, look what I’ve done! Not only did Roxanne show no interest in Lucian whatsoever, but he has also given up on winning her over! Honestly, I feel really bad for Essie. She really likes Roxanne and wants her to become her mother someday. The best part about this is the fact that Roxanne is her biological mother. However, she’s in for a huge disappointment, as Lucian has already given up on winning her over. There’s only so much a child like Essie can handle…Of course, Lucian had thought about the exact same thing.He showed up outside the kinderg
Meanwhile, Archie and Benny were standing next to Pippa at the kindergarten. “Where did Essie go, Ms. Ward?”Pippa had no idea where Estella went, but she tried to rea*sure the boys. “Essie took the day off. But I’m not too sure about the reason.”“Will we be able to see her tomorrow?” Archie asked.Pippa was hesitant to answer that question at first. Seeing how anxious the two of them were, however, she flashed them a smile. “Yes, you will.”Only then did Archie and Benny breathe sighs of relief.When cla*ses were almost over, Pippa received a call from the head of kindergarten.He summoned her to his office and handed her a document and a pen.“All that’s left to do is for you to sign this.”Pippa took the pen and quickly read through the document.“Essie is transferring to another kindergarten? But why? Is there something we’re not doing well enough?” she asked in confusion when she realized what it was.“Mr. Farwell said it was a personal reason. He also said he would continue fu
As she stepped out of the hotel, Aubree’s mind drew a blank. She had no idea what to do next. There was no way she could return to the mansion on the outskirts, as Lucian would definitely have it watched.The same could be said of the hotel.Feeling desperate, she gave Frieda a call.The latter, who was already sound asleep, was woken up by the ringing of her phone.Just as she was about to end the call by reflex, she was jolted awake by a glimpse of the caller ID. It was then that a glint of annoyance flashed across her eyes.Aubree! When is she going to stop bugging me?Upon regaining her composure, she answered, “Aubree, is there anything I can do for you?”“Where are you now? Come to the hotel. I’m downstairs waiting for you. Remember, don’t let anyone find out!”The tension in Aubree’s voice couldn’t be any more obvious.Her tone caused Frieda’s heart to inexplicably sink. Before she even replied, she had already gotten out of bed.“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Why do you
The police responded efficiently, especially when it came to a matter related to the Farwell family. Investigations began that very night. Once Ophelia woke up, Cayden brought her to the police station.Traumatized by the evening’s events, she cooperated with the police by confessing and giving them all her phone records with Aubree.Upon obtaining the evidence, the police began the hunt.In a mansion on the outskirts of the city, Gina was tossing and turning on her bed at midnight.Samuel reprimanded her, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you asleep at this hour? Our useless daughter has left. Do you plan on leaving with her?”The distraught Gina carefully replied, “Don’t say that. Aubree’s still our daughter no matter what. Besides, didn’t you approve of her actions in the beginning? How can you now blame her when the plan has fallen apart? I wonder how she’s doing alone outside.” Gina rubbed her chest. “I can’t help worrying about her, and my eyelids won’t stop twitching—”Her words
Lucian studied her with cold eyes for a few seconds before letting go of her collar. Ophelia nearly fell right on her face. Thinking she had been spared, she started heaving breaths of relief.“Tie her up there,” came Lucian’s ruthless voice from above her.Ophelia’s breath hitched.Tie me up there? Up where?Anxiously, she lifted her head, only to see the small helicopter in front of her.At that very moment, Ophelia was certain that she was going to pa*s out again.Alas, the bodyguards did not give her the chance to do that as they came over to drag her to the helicopter. Then they tied her under it.Moments later, the rotor blades began spinning.Ophelia had been restrained tightly, but she started struggling nevertheless.“You better don’t struggle. If you do, I can’t guarantee that you won’t fall off mid-flight,” Lucian whispered in her ear.“Horington has a nice view, but unfortunately, I can only bring you around the suburbs. Think of this as a reward for your honest words, Ms
Meanwhile, Roxanne was walking to the car with the children when she saw Lucian interrogating Ophelia. “Lucian?” Upon noticing the fury on the man’s face, she quickly stood before the children and shot Lucian a look.Lucian clenched his fists before releasing Ophelia and gesturing for the bodyguards to let her go.Ophelia gasped with fear. She desperately wanted to run away but was so terrified that she could barely move.“Daddy!” the three children greeted Lucian affectionately even though Roxanne got in their way.When Roxanne realized the atmosphere had eased a bit, she released her grip on the children.They noticed Ophelia, who seemed somewhat out of place, and greeted her respectfully, “Ms. Smith.”However, Ophelia was so consumed by panic that she could not hear their voices.As the children received no response from Ophelia, they looked around at the adults in confusion.“Daddy, why are you and Ms. Smith here?” Benny asked in his innocent, childlike voice.The children had fi
Roxanne was dog-tired. She would doze off almost immediately after getting into her bed for the past couple of nights. That night, however, she couldn’t fall asleep even after being in bed for quite a long while.Instead of feeling sleepy, all she could think about was Lucian’s desire-filled gaze.Roxanne couldn’t help but feel nervous when she knew that Lucian was still downstairs.She only heaved a sigh of relief inwardly when she heard the sound of the door closing coming from downstairs.After that, she went to the window and saw Lucian getting into his car. The car stayed motionless for a while before leaving the compound slowly.Roxanne watched Lucian’s car disappear from her sight before returning to bed and dozing off within seconds.She didn’t know whether Lucian’s ma*sage was the reason or not, but she felt more energized when she woke up in the morning.Since it was a Sunday, Roxanne stayed home with the kids instead of going to the research institute. At the same time, sh
The two of them didn’t continue talking after that, and Lucian had moved from ma*saging her temples to ma*saging her shoulders. When he was moving his hands, he either intentionally or accidentally brushed his thumbs across her neck.Roxanne was caught off guard, and her body froze when she suddenly felt as though an electric current had coursed through her.In the next second, Lucian was already ma*saging her shoulders. “How are you feeling? Am I pressing too hard?” he asked softly.Roxanne turned around to meet Lucian’s gentle gaze. She was startled, so she immediately retracted her eyes and nodded. “It’s fine.”Little did she know Lucian wasn’t planning to let go of her just yet. “I don’t know which acupuncture point can help you relax. How about you teach me?”As he was talking, he loosened his grips.In a flash, the atmosphere became ambiguous.Roxanne feigned calmness and cleared her throat. “Why would you want to know that? It’s not like you can ma*sage yourself.”In a natural
When the four of them arrived home, Roxanne was already done preparing dinner, and she was resting on the couch. Upon hearing noises at the door, she woke up immediately and went to open the door.“Mommy!”The kids rushed toward her and hugged her legs.Roxanne lowered her gaze and patted their heads with a smile on her face. “Did you guys have fun today?”Benny nodded fervently before turning back to look at Lucian with his pair of bright eyes. “Yes! Daddy brought us to the amusement park, and we watched a movie!”Roxanne smiled when she heard the joy in Benny’s voice.She only realized how Benny had addressed Lucian a few seconds later. When she did, the smile on her face froze.Instead of asking Benny what was going on, she gave Lucian an inquisitive glance.Noticing that, Lucian explained matter-of-factly, “I told them to address me so when we’re in the public. After all, I’ve already made it known to the public. If others were to hear them addressing me another way, it would be
Benny opened the door, and Lucian immediately saw the three children waiting to greet him at the door. “Daddy!”“Mr. Farwell!”They sounded aggrieved and gazed at him as though he was their savior.Lucian could not resist ruffling their hair affectionately at the sight of their adorable pouting faces. Then he looked up and cast his gaze around the living room. “Where’s your mommy?”It’s the weekend, so she should be home.“Mommy’s working overtime. She has already been working late the past few days. We’ve had to stay home alone, and it’s so boring!” Benny whined, and Archie and Estella nodded in agreement.Lucian’s brows drew together slightly when he heard their complaints. No wonder she sounded so tired whenever I called her the last two days. I thought she was exhausted from looking after these three little tykes and purposely came over to take them out for a treat. However, it turns out it’s because she has been working.Seeing how dispirited the children looked, he suggested, “
Meanwhile, in the Farwell residence, Sonya felt nauseous upon seeing the photo being shared all over the internet. In the past, Aubree had told Sonya time and time again that she was in love with Lucian.It had only been a few days since the two families had called off the engagement. Sonya was surprised and disgusted when she saw that Aubree had already checked into a room with another man.Aubree even went as far as making love with him as if nothing has happened! She must have done so willingly! This time, someone took a photo and made it viral. Who knows whether or not she had been unfaithful during all those years of her engagement with Lucian? Her so-called “love” for Lucian was nothing but a lie!At the thought of herself being tricked by Aubree, Sonya could not help but feel humiliated.All of a sudden, the support Sonya had shown Aubree all those years seemed like a waste of time.If she had allowed someone like Aubree to be married into the Farwell family, people would have