Chapter 324 – Her Sudden Departure: A Tale of Love and Redemption (Lucian & Roxanne)

It was a long while before he stepped away from Estella’s bedroom entrance. Instead of returning to the room, he went downstairs.

“Where are you going so late at night, Mr. Farwell?” Catalina was doing some chores downstairs. Confusion rose in her mind when she saw him descending the stairs.

Lucian replied, “Take care of Essie.”

She agreed and watched her employer exit the living room with an awful expression.

The scene confused her as she watched him leave. The last time I saw him like this was when Mrs. Farwell left. What’s going on with him this time?

Upon exiting the mansion, Lucian went into his car and called Jonathan.

Jonathan had already taken a bath and was getting ready to go to bed when suddenly, he received his friend’s call. Thus, he crawled up from his bed and answered, “What’s the matter? Why are you calling me so late at night, Lucian?”

“Come and drink with me.” Lucian’s reply was short and simple.

A conflict brewed in Jonathan’s mind when he heard that. “I’m going to sleep soon. How about another day?”

However, it was as though Lucian didn’t hear him at all. “I’ll wait for you at our usual spot.”

Then, the call ended.

The moment Jonathan heard that, he got off the bed unwillingly. Oh no…

Half an hour later, Jonathan arrived at the clubhouse wearing only pajamas with a long trench coat over it. Fortunately, he was a regular at the clubhouse, so he was recognized as soon as he arrived. Otherwise, he would definitely be refused entry wearing this outfit.

When he arrived at the private room that Lucian booked, Jonathan spotted the latter already seated inside. There were only a few plates of simple appetizers on the table, and the remaining space was filled with bottles of liquor.

One of the bottles was almost empty. “What’s the matter?” Jonathan’s heart sank as he sat down gingerly beside Lucian.

Lucian seemed to have only just noticed Jonathan and turned his head to look at the latter, his eyes dark. “I did as you told me to.”

When Jonathan heard that, he frowned because he was unsure of what that meant.

He did as I told him to? What did I tell him?

What disaster has happened to put him in this state? As Jonathan pondered, he poured himself a glass of liquor and drank alongside Lucian.

After he downed the glass, a speculation came to his mind.

“It’s Dr. Jarvis, isn’t it?” Still holding the glass, Jonathan looked at his companion hesitantly.

Other than Roxanne, there was no one he could think of who could bring Lucian out of the house at this time of the night to drink.

The moment he said that, he felt as if the room temperature dropped a few degrees.

Silently, Jonathan wrapped his trench coat tighter around himself, and he believed he already had the answer. Still, he waited for Lucian to speak up.

It seemed like an eternity before he heard Lucian speak up. “What have I done wrong? I did make a mistake six years ago, but after she came back, I have not done anything wrong. Why does she distance herself from me now?”

Jonathan was disturbed by his questions.

“Are you and Dr. Jarvis having problems again? Didn’t you both go on a vacation together just a couple of days ago?”

Frowning, Lucian placed the glass back on the table, which produced a sound.

Jonathan’s heart skipped a beat as he wondered what had gone wrong between them. How did Lucian end up broken like this?

After a moment, Lucian’s voice rang out as cold as ice. “It would have been better if there was no vacation!”

Lucian was the one who had planned the vacation; he had even swapped the winner of the first prize at the last minute.

In retrospect, the effort should not have been spent.

If the turning point of their relationship had remained as it was at the end of the stage play, perhaps Roxanne would not be rejecting him as she was currently doing so.

Even until now, he had not figured out what went wrong during their vacation.

Jonathan listened in bewilderment. “What do you mean? Weren’t you happy during the vacation? Didn’t you listen to my advice to let her have her way?”

By right, to warm up the relationship, the vacation was the opportunity to patch things up, and nothing could go wrong.

As Lucian frowned and recalled the experiences during the vacation, he felt even more upset.

He did more than just let her have her way. In fact, he had all but done everything and anything as she wished.

Even Archie and Benny’s attitude toward him had improved.

Sometime during the vacation, he had felt that things were improving between them, but unexpectedly, just before it ended, there was a sudden change in her temperament.

At this point, Lucian’s expression turned cold as ice.

Watching Lucian’s face, Jonathan could more or less guess what was on his mind, and he became increasingly bewildered.

“How could that be? If you had done as I said, Dr. Jarvis’ attitude toward you should change for the better!”

Since Roxanne’s return up until now, they had been interacting more than Jonathan knew. As far as Jonathan was aware of, Lucian had been helping Roxanne almost all the time.

Even the opportunity to cooperate with the Damaris family was Lucian’s doing in disguise. No matter how deep the misunderstanding between the two of them was six years ago, after all that Lucian did, at least Roxanne should be grateful, even if she did not plan to reconcile.

Moreover, Lucian had created so many opportunities for them to spend considerably quality time together. As far as he knew, Roxanne was not a heartless person, so what was the reason she was unmoved?

Lucian frowned deeply, his expression as dark as thunder.

Jonathan’s misgivings were the same questions that he, too, had concerning Roxanne.

Previously, when he thought Roxanne had abandoned Estella, for a time, he had the impression that she was a cruel person.

Now, though the misunderstanding was resolved, Roxanne still alienated herself from him.

Once again, the question of whether Roxanne was really cruel occurred to Lucian.

“If Dr. Jarvis was really unmoved, how did you spend the vacation? Did each of you just go separate ways?” Jonathan could not help but feel curious.

Lucian shook his head. “I really can’t fathom what goes on in that head of hers. Before the vacation ended, I honestly felt that she was being friendly with me.”

---