Lucian knew how to make his daughter listen after all.
As expected, Estella hesitated when she heard Lucian saying that Roxanne might catch a cold. She relented and waved goodbye to Roxanne. “Hurry up and go on inside, Ms. Jarvis. I will come to play with Archie, Benny, and you some other time.”
Roxanne let out a relieved sigh. She smiled and nodded at the little girl. “You’re so thoughtful, Essie.”
Archie and Benny immediately huddled together near the car window when they heard that Essie was leaving and said, “We’re going to take you skateboarding next week!”
Estella’s eyes glinted, and she nodded enthusiastically. She waved at them and was about to close the car door.
Before she closed the door, however, Lucian’s voice rang again. There was a hint of displeasure in his voice. “Essie, pass Ms. Jarvis her stuff.”
Estella appeared lost and looked around the car. Then, she noticed the bouquet of flowers on the passenger seat.
The little girl pursed her lips when she noticed that Roxanne had left the flowers behind. She fetched the flowers and presented them to Roxanne. “You forgot your flowers, Ms. Jarvis!”
Roxanne was stumped at the sight of the flowers.
Lucian had not made it clear that the flowers were for her. In fact, she did not intend to receive any flowers from the man. Hence, she left the flowers on the passenger seat when she got out of the car just now.
Roxanne did not expect that the man would use such a way to let her know that the flowers were intended for her.
Conflicting emotions welled up in her as the pang of realization hit her.
Noticing that Roxanne had not taken the flowers, Estella nudged the bouquet forward and called out, “Ms. Jarvis?”
Roxanne had only snapped out of her own thoughts and took over the bouquet of flowers because of the girl’s voice. She glanced at the man before her and muttered softly, “Thank you.”
The little girl beamed sweetly when Roxanne accepted the flowers. Nevertheless, Lucian remained impassive and urged Estella, “Close the door. We should head back now.”
Estella nodded and reached out to close the door. “Mr. Farwell, Essie is still a child. Please be more gentle when you talk to her.” Roxanne could not stop herself from reminding Lucian again.
After spending more time with the father and daughter duo, Roxanne realized that even though Lucian was meticulous in caring for the little girl, his tone was sometimes too harsh on her.
Roxanne’s boys would even get startled by his stern tone sometimes, not to mention Estella, who needed more attentive care.
She had only reminded him out of goodwill. Yet, she got a rather ambiguous reply from the man. “Essie doesn’t need me to be more gentle. She needs a mother. If you’re truly worried about her, why don’t you reconsider what I’ve said?”
Roxanne’s face stiffened slightly. She cast a glance at Estella, who had overheard their conversation.
The little girl cocked her head to one side and blinked in confusion, pretending as if she did not understand a single thing.
Roxanne breathed a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, she still did not know how to reply to him.
“Essie, close the door.” Lucian did not expect her to reply and asked the little girl to close the door.
Roxanne took a step backward with Archie and Benny. After the door was closed, Lucian slowly drove away.
Roxanne stood grounded even when the car was already out of sight as she kept replaying Lucian’s words in her head.
He said he wouldn’t force me against my will, yet he said something like that right in front of Estella.
Roxanne reckoned that he was still mad about her and Jack’s relationship.
Well, I did run right into the line of fire.
That gave her a headache.
“Mommy, let’s go in!” Archie and Benny recalled Lucian’s words and were afraid that their mother might catch a cold.
Roxanne snapped out of her thoughts and nodded at her kids before bringing them into the mansion.
The boys urged her to take a hot shower after they got back home.
In the meantime, on the way back to the Farwell residence, Estella sat in her child car seat and pursed her lips into a thin hard line as she stared at the back of Lucian’s head.
Lucian could feel Estella’s burning gaze on the back of his head. He furrowed his brows and asked, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you all right just now?”
Noticing that her father was finally talking to her, Estella said in a huff, “Why were you so stern toward Ms. Jarvis? She’s going to run away if you keep doing that!”
Lucian frowned in response. He could not help but notice how much Estella resembled Roxanne in her mannerism. After all, Roxanne had also reminded him to be more gentle toward Estella.
This mother-and-daughter duo really does have each other’s backs, huh?
“No. I just want her to reconsider my offer. I’ve only said it like that so that she’ll take it seriously,” Lucian explained. He was feeling rather exasperated with himself.
At the Pearson residence, a sulking Aubree locked herself in her room. She was so pissed off about the photos Frieda had sent her in the afternoon that she had no appetite for dinner.
She did not expect to receive more photos from Frieda when she was about to sleep. In the photos, the man, whom Aubree could not get to meet no matter what she did, was doing all sorts of service for Roxanne—putting his jacket on her, buying her flowers, and holding her wrist.
The two looked just like a couple in love. Rage burned in Aubree as she looked at the photos. They were practically disregarding her position as Lucian’s fiancée.
If word got out, not only would she be utterly humiliated, but her dream to become Mrs. Farwell would also be shattered. A vicious look crept over Aubree’s face when she thought of that. “That b*tch! Why did she even come back?”
She shot up from her bed and flung the things on the table to the ground.
Downstairs, Gina was just worrying about her daughter. Earlier, when she noticed that Aubree did not come downstairs for dinner, she had knocked on the latter’s door but gotten no response. Now, upon hearing the noise coming from the second floor, she hurried upstairs to check on Aubree.
“Aubree, what’s wrong? What’s making you so upset?”
Gina tapped on the door frantically.
This time, Aubree opened the door immediately.
Gina had no idea what was going on as she looked at Aubree, who stood by the door with a grim expression. “What’s wrong? Tell me about it.”
Without saying anything, Aubree returned inside and sat on her bed.
Gina went in after her. Right when she walked up to the bed, she saw the unlocked phone beside Aubree’s hand.
Its screen showed a few photos, which Gina assumed was the reason for Aubree’s outburst.
At that realization, Gina glanced at Aubree before carefully taking the latter’s phone to check the photos.
When she saw Lucian and Roxanne together in every single photo and how close they were, her face clouded over.
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.