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
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
“B*tch!” Meanwhile, in the mansion in the suburb, Aubree was reading the comments all over the internet. A crazed look was on her face as she shrieked, “B*stards! I will never, ever, let you guys get away with this!”I was wrong about that man! He said he knew me, so I thought he had nothing to do with Roxanne.But in hindsight, who else besides Roxanne would do something so wretched? Besides that b*tch, who else would benefit from me becoming a joke? Roxanne must be taking her revenge on me! It has to be her!Aubree wanted to kill Roxanne. Her gaze hardened with unparalleled hatred.Anger clouded Aubree’s mind as she grabbed her handbag and stormed toward the door. The only thing on her mind was take revenge against Roxanne.Just as she flung the door open, she was halted by her father.Samuel’s venomous glare burned into her skin. “Have you no shame? How dare you still think about going out at a time like this? Do you think it’s not embarra*sing enough?”With each word he spoke, Sa
“Fiancée?” Kai shot back a question with a meaningful look. “Which fiancée are you talking about? During your absence, a lot of things have happened in Mr. Farwell’s life!” Shawn’s heart sank slightly when he heard that. “What do you mean? Isn’t Aubree Pearson his fiancée?”Kai laughed out loud when he heard that. “That was eight hundred years ago! Back then, I noticed that Lucian had been treating Aubree with indifference. I found it strange that the Farwell and Pearson families have managed to hold on to the engagement for many years.”Shawn did not respond. Instead, he continued to listen to his friend’s rambling.“The Farwell family called off the engagement two years ago. Lucian even implied that Aubree has a poor character. It turns out that his ex-wife is back in the country with two children. Right now, the Pearson family is being made bankrupt by the Farwell family, and Lucian is getting it on with his ex-wife again!”Kai was very animated when he was gossiping. It was as if
“I would say I’m pretty easy on the eyes. Getting to sleep with me isn’t that much of a loss for you.” He tucked a finger under her chin and lifted it so that she was looking right at him. “You truly are a delicacy. I hope you won’t forget me anytime soon.” As he spoke, his hand began to slide down Aubree’s neck, and he started to bend down until he was hovering right over her.She snapped back to her senses and pushed his hand away with a scowl on her face. “Get out! Don’t make me repeat myself!”The man chuckled amusedly at her angry look and actually began to walk out.Soon enough, Aubree was left alone in the hotel roomShe began to look around her, trying to recall what had happened last night.No matter how much she tried to make sense of her surroundings, she just couldn’t remember what happened.She had a*sumed that someone had been hired to a*sault her.However, that man didn’t look like someone who could be hired. In fact, he looked more like the one who would be doing the
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