The sight of his smile under the sun took her breath away. Lucian’s period as an exchange student ended after that. He left and never showed up at Roxanne’s high school again.
The two of them only met twice when Roxanne was fifteen. Yet, those two encounters were deeply engraved in her memory and frequented her dreams. She didn’t even get to ask him whether he really did bury that wish bottle for her.
In fact, he didn’t even know her name. The next time they met was when she almost graduated from university. That year, her father married her off to Lucian with a price.
She was confident that he would recognize her, but alas, he treated her coldly throughout those three years of marriage and never regarded her as his wife.
In the end, she threw herself at him like a moth to a flame, acting on her immature yet fervent feelings. Getting pregnant with his children, however, was totally unexpected. Jonathan and Madilyn found it hard to recover from the shock after Roxanne finished her story.
“So, you fell head over heels for Lucian when you were fifteen?” Madilyn felt inexplicably moved. No wonder she still loves Lucian despite being hurt so badly. The corners of Roxanne’s lips curled into a nonchalant smile as she acknowledged her feelings.
“Those details match my memory. Lucian did sprain his ankle that year and took a few days off from school. After that incident, he appeared to have something on his mind and kept returning to that high school.”
Referring to his memory, Jonathan confirmed that Roxanne did, in fact, appear in Lucian’s life at that specific timeline. “Looks like this bottle with the purple paper is indeed yours.” He passed the wish bottle to her.
The wooden cork was loose, so Roxanne removed it easily. She took out the folded piece of purple paper and slowly unfolded it. Madilyn leaned closer to Roxanne, curious about her best friend’s wishes in the past.
The purple paper was filled with words, but the writing was neat. She had written down a lot of wishes. Her greatest wish read: I hope to get into the same university as Lucian. Other than that, she also wished to study. medicine, make lots of money, and have a promising career.
The wishes of a fifteen-year-old girl were simple and straightforward, but the usage of adjectives was verbose and convoluted. Madilyn couldn’t help but laugh. “I never knew you were so poetic!”
Roxanne wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest. and even boldly admitted, “Many girls in my class asked me to help them with their love letters back then.”
After attending a short meeting at the office, Lucian rushed home immediately. He had undergone formal antenatal training and knew all the procedures of taking care of at pregnant woman like the back of his hand. As such, he was determined to do everything himself. Upon his arrival at the manor, he was surprised to see Jonathan and Madilyn there.
“You just brought health supplements yesterday, so what do you plan on giving today?” Lucian teased. Yet he could sense Madilyn glaring at him, while Jonathan was also wearing a gloomy expression.
Only Roxanne was full of smiles. She was well aware that the two of them, upon listening to her story, resented Lucian for how he treated her during those three years of marriage back then.
“What’s wrong, Jonathan? Say something!”
Madilyn’s frosty gaze caused Lucian’s hair to stand on end. Without hesitation, he tried to recall if he had gotten on Roxanne’s nerves, as that was the likely reason for Madilyn’s hostility.
“Lucian, do you still remember this wish bottle?” Roxanne showed him the wish bottle in her hand. As if remembering something, she refolded the piece of purple paper and stuffed it back into the bottle. A single glance was all it took for Lucian tor remember what it was.
“Isn’t this the wish bottle I gave you back then? Looks like Jonathan has dug it out. What about it? Are you guys talking about the past?” Jonathan asked, shooting a careful glance at Madilyn.
However, his nonchalance intensified Madilyn’s anger, and she snapped, “Mr. Farwell, since you’ve known Roxanne a long time ago, why did you treat her that way after getting married to her back then?”
“Lucian, you should’ve been able to recognize Roxanne. She’s the high school girl that you mentioned before!” Jonathan remembered Lucian telling him about his encounter with a mysterious girl.
At that moment, it dawned upon Lucian what was going on. When he shifted his gaze to Roxanne, the latter grinned back at him.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to explain, so why don’t you do the honors yourself, Mr. Farwell?” Lucian didn’t know how to react. He had long expressed his remorse to Roxanne over what happened.
“Actually, the reason was simple. I couldn’t accept the fact that the girl I was once in love with married me because of money. You can blame me for what happened, but that was how I saw it back then. This was all my parent’s fault, or you can say that fate had brought us together. If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t have wanted it to happen that way.”
That year, Lucian had just taken charge of Farwell Group. He was weathering all sorts of difficulties in the business world and suffered all kinds of plots to undermine him.
His experience made him realize that all the theoretical business knowledge he had was irrelevant. Fortunately, he didn’t panic in the face of adversity. Steeling himself, he struck back at his enemies with a vengeance as he swiftly made investments in many industries he saw potential in.
His exposure to the business world consequently made it difficult for him to trust anyone. It was under such circumstances that Roxanne became his wife. In order to bring good luck to his grandfather, his parents found him a bride and paid a pretty sum for it.
Little did he expect his bride to be the girl whom he had a good impression of in school. The change in Roxanne wasn’t something that he welcomed.
A studious girl who spent all her time reading in the library wasn’t supposed to walk down such a path-marrying indiscriminately for money. It made him wonder if she was also willing to marry another random rich heir for the same reason.
Therefore, there was no way he would develop feelings for Roxanne, whom he perceived as materialistic in the past.
Despite Lucian’s explanation, Madilyn still felt indignant about it. The seed of love that was planted during their school days bore a bitter fruit after their much- anticipated marriage.
“Mr. Farwell, you were being too presumptuous!” Madilyn concluded while shooting Lucian a vicious look. The embarrassment that was written on Lucian’s face elicited a faint smile from Roxanne.
That’s all in the past now. Unlike in the past, Roxanne felt differently now. She counted her blessings, for her wishes had come true one by one, albeit in a delayed manner.
Stroking the tiny bump on her belly, she could feel a new future brewing inside. The adversity the three children had gone through for the past few years would never happen again.
As if reflecting on himself, Lucian nodded as he admitted, “It’s true that I, too, was at fault. I was mentally exhausted due to being embroiled in the struggles of the business world back then. I ended up letting my thoughts be dictated by societal convention.”
Lucian’s admission of his mistakes finally eased Madilyn’s fury. When Jonathan gave Madilyn a slight tug, their discreet gesture didn’t escape Jonathan’s notice. He then threw his wife a questioning glance.
Roxanne responded with an affirmative look.. She hadn’t gotten the opportunity to tell Lucian that Jonathan had confessed his feelings the night before. Nonetheless, Lucian curled his lips into a smile, for he immediately knew what was going on.
“Jonathan, since it’s almost noon, why don’t you stay back for lunch? Lucian suggested. Just as Jonathan was about to nod habitually, a look from Madilyn prompted him to turn down the invitation. “Not this time, Lucian. I promised Madilyn that we would take Mdm. Xander out for lunch.”
“Sure, no problem.” Jonathan has finally learned how to say no after getting a girlfriend. It was a development that Lucian was glad to see.
After the newly minted couple departed, Roxanne related Jonathan’s exploits from the night before to Lucian, to which the latter exclaimed, “I’m surprised that Jonathan was capable of pulling off something as interesting.
as that. I think he has outdone me when it comes to romance!” As Roxanne looked at her husband from the corner of her eye, images of his face during their teenage years emerged in her mind..
Even now, the feeling she had from back then didn’t change. Regardless of how much time had passed, it was one that she would never forget.
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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