Roxanne froze for a moment before answering, “I still have work to do at the research institute. We can travel once I complete all my tasks.”
“Does that mean we won’t get to travel anytime soon?” Benny queried again.
Roxanne bobbed her head in response to his question.
“How long more do we have to wait?” Benny refused to give in for some reason, making Roxanne knit her brows.
When their gazes met, she noticed his eyes were full of anticipation.
Roxanne could not help but feel a pang of guilt.
The two boys enjoyed living in Chanaea, yet they had to relocate from one place to another because of her.
However, knowing Sonya was on their backs, Roxanne had no choice but to steel herself and grasp at straws.
When she did not reply to them even after some time, the little ones urged her to give them an answer, “Mommy!”
Hearing that, Roxanne came back to her senses and put on a cursory smile. “I don’t have an answer yet. What’s with the question, though?”
Archie and Benny exchanged glances again. They were disappointed with Roxanne’s response.
Seeing them like this, Roxanne had no idea what was on their minds.
“We bumped into Essie in the kindergarten. She came to play with us, but we could tell she wasn’t happy,” Benny said in a sweet, mellow voice. Looking at Roxanne, he pleaded, “Mommy, can we stay a little longer?”
Roxanne felt a tingling pain in her heart when she thought of Estella. After keeping mum for a moment, she shook her head. “We have to leave after I’ve completed my work here. Don’t you miss Professor Lambert?”
Feeling disappointed, Archie and Benny lowered their heads. “Of course we miss him, but we also can’t bear to leave Essie.”
Roxanne was at a loss for words upon noticing how downhearted they were.
Thankfully, Archie and Benny knew their mother could not bear to leave Estella either. Although they were upset, they eventually regained their composure and continued finishing their dinner, sensibly not uttering another word.
By the time Roxanne finished her dinner, she had drained every last bit of her energy. The two boys went upstairs to rest as they were not in the mood to play anymore.
Watching them sleep, Roxanne gently stroked their cheeks and whispered, “Sorry, darlings.”
At such a young age, Archie and Benny had to travel from one place to another because of her.
By right, these boys deserved a better life. Had she told Lucian the truth, the Farwell family would for sure take them back, and they would be able to enjoy all the privileges.
Yet, Roxanne chose to keep them by her side.
She had worked hard over the years to make it up to the boys, but it seemed what she did was far from enough.
After watching them sleep for a while, Roxanne leaned forward and gave them a peck on their foreheads. She then stood up, turned off the lights, and left the room.
When they heard the sound of the closing door, Archie and Benny gradually opened their eyes and exchanged looks.
They heard Roxanne’s apology because they had been awake all along. Why did Mommy apologize to us? Did she do anything bad to us?
Returning to her room, Roxanne packed her things for a while before lying on her bed.
As she had a long day at work, she thought she would fall deep into slumber in no time, but the moment she shut her eyes, all sorts of images kept popping up in her mind.
She recalled how Sonya confronted her in the café, how Estella cried while pleading with her to stay, and the disappointment on Archie’s and Benny’s faces.
Roxanne felt helpless. My life is nothing but a joke.
After working hard for so many years, she thought she had garnered enough strength to face the Farwell family, but that was not the case. To the Farwells, she was just another small fry.
Once again, she had to leave the city because of the Farwell family.
After what seemed like a long time, Roxanne finally fell asleep.
When the alarm rang the next day, Roxanne woke up with a headache. However, upon remembering Queen Group would deliver the herb today, she forced herself to crawl out of bed. Even when she was freshening up in the bathroom, she was still very much in a daze.
By the time she got downstairs, Archie and Benny were already having their breakfast by the table.
When the two boys saw their mother coming down the stairs, they remembered how she had apologized to them last night.
Even so, they believed Roxanne apologized to them when they were asleep because she did not want them to know, so they decided not to pursue the matter.
Looking at her face, they expressed their concern, “Did you not sleep well, Mommy?”
That question took Roxanne by surprise.
“You have dark circles under your eyes,” Archie added with a serious look as he was worried about her.
Upon hearing that, Roxanne immediately understood what they were implying. Plastering a smile on her face, she said, “I couldn’t sleep well because I had too much coffee at work yesterday. Thanks for your concern, darlings.”
The two boys looked at each other, skeptical about her answer. After asking her a few more questions, they finally settled down.
After breakfast, Roxanne requested Lysa’s help to send them to the kindergarten. Then, she went upstairs to put on simple makeup and drove to the research institute.
During the drive to the research institute, she could help but feel a tad anxious.
Jonathan might have given her his promise, but somehow, she still felt insecure because she had not seen the herb.
Based on her experience with the other business associates, problems always occurred during the delivery. Had she not called them to check on the progress, they did not even bother to tell her the truth.
Roxanne arrived at the research institute’s entrance and saw Colby doing a check on the herb. Standing beside him was a plump man in a suit.
She had no idea what their conversation was about but could tell Colby was annoyed by the man who tried to please him.
Roxanne rarely saw such an expression on Colby as he had always been a patient gentleman. Quickening her steps, she walked up to them.
“Dr. Galloway, I didn’t do this on purpose. I was in a meeting when you called me yesterday, and I thought—”
Before the man could finish his sentence, Colby interrupted him indifferently when he saw Roxanne coming in his direction. He then introduced Roxanne to the man, “This is Dr. Roxanne Jarvis, the person-in-charge of our research institute. Please tell her what you told me just now.”
The man froze for a moment and immediately tilted his head to look at Roxanne. He then greeted her with respect, “Dr. Jarvis, I’m Rex Tanner, the manager in charge of the herb from Queen Group. You can call me Rex.”
Roxanne looked confused. This man is from Queen Group? What’s going on?
Words caught in Rex’s throat as he did not know how to explain the situation to Roxanne.
Truthfully, Rex was a victim of the incident. He only gave Colby an attitude because Frieda told him that was Jonathan’s idea. Now, he had no choice but to bear the consequences.
When Jonathan ordered him to apologize to people in the research institute, he thought he should beg for their forgiveness in person instead of making a call. That was why he came here with his entourage.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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