Chapter 473 – Her Sudden Departure: A Tale of Love and Redemption (Lucian & Roxanne)

Even though he wasn’t standing before her, Roxanne still slowed down eating visibly, and her mind was a mess.

Earlier that afternoon, Herbscape Group once again received enormous backlash from the public. In the news report, the mostly deserted entrance to Herbscape Group was filled with several executives who had their hands handcuffed before they were escorted to the police cars.

It was not until that day that the public finally got confirmation about Herbscape Group’s fate. It ended up being acquired by Farwell Group.

Roxanne did not have to think twice to know Farwell Group must have saved a lot of money to acquire Herbscape Group in such a situation.

Did Lucian plan all of these? Also, what about the fire at the research institute?

With that in her mind, Roxanne could not help feeling frightened.

“Ms. Jarvis, here, have some.” Estella placed some food on Roxanne’s plate.

Roxanne snapped back to her senses and forced a smile at her. “Thank you, Essie.”

Estella looked at her with great concern. “Ms. Jarvis, are you not in a good mood?”

In the past, Roxanne would always take good care of them whenever they ate together. However, the woman seemed absent-minded this time and could barely take any food for herself.

Hearing that, something flickered in Roxanne’s eyes, but she quickly concealed that and said, “Of course not. I’ve been busy lately, so I’m feeling a little tired. Essie, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Despite that, Estella still stared at her with a worried expression and would occasionally place food on her plate.

At the same time, when Lucian heard what Roxanne said, he also fixed his gaze on her back inquisitively.

He was reminded of what Jonathan told him.

Is she really tired, or is she injured in the fire?

Roxanne could feel Lucian’s heavy gaze on her back. Although her back was facing him, she still could not ignore the fact he was staring at her. Due to Lucian’s presence, she was no longer in the mood to eat anything.

“You kids go ahead. I have something to discuss with Mr. Farwell,” said Roxanne softly after taking several quick bites and placing away her cutleries.

She could not stand having Lucian staring at her all the time, and she wanted to know why he came to her place. The kids did not think too much about that and nodded obediently in response.

Seeing that the kids had agreed to let her go, Roxanne stood up and walked over to Lucian. “Let’s talk in the study.” Lucian nodded casually and stood up, following her to the study.

“Mr. Farwell, to what do I owe this pleasure of having you over at my place? Do you have something important to tell me?” Roxanne stood in the center of the study, looking at him warily. “If you’re here to offer me the technical advisor’s position for Herbscape Group again, I’m afraid I’ll have to let you down since I’ve already made it clear that I couldn’t accept that offer.”

That was the only thing that she could think of at that moment.

Noticing Roxanne was on high alert around him, Lucian’s gaze darkened imperceptibly.

The atmosphere inside the study also became slightly solemn.

Roxanne fixed her eyes on Lucian, afraid that he would make any sudden move on her again like the other night.

After a long moment, Lucian was still staring at her, scrutinizing her from head to toe as if he wanted to read through her mind.

Roxanne’s wariness for him slowly turned into confusion.

“I heard a fire broke out at your research institute a few days ago.” Finally, Lucian broke the silence in the study.

At the mention of the fire incident, Roxanne’s expression changed again. She frowned. “How did you find out about the fire?”

She did not recall telling anyone associated with Lucian about the fire.

Could it be that Lucian did plan for the fire to happen?

With that in her mind, she subconsciously took two steps backward. The man standing before her had somehow turned a little scary in her eyes.

Noticing her reaction, Lucian furrowed his brows. “Are you suspecting that I was behind the fire incident?”

Roxanne pursed her lips tight, answering him with silence.

Lucian seemed pissed off by her tacit acquiescence. “Why would I make a move on your tiny research institute?”

He noticed she was still giving him a doubtful look, so he narrowed his eyes and continued, “If I was behind this, I wouldn’t have stopped at a mere fire incident in your research institute!”

He had plenty of methods to stop her research institute from operating if he was serious about teaching her a lesson. A fire was too insignificant.

Hearing that, Roxanne felt her heart skipping a beat. She was reminded of Herbscape Group’s current situation. She knew Lucian was telling her the truth. If he were determined to get rid of her research institute, he would not stop at such a simple tactic.

Thinking of that, her doubts for him finally dispersed a little. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this through and thought you have implicated our research institute for your feud with Herbscape Group.”

Hearing her straightforward apology, Lucian frowned even harder.

He had listened to Jonathan and came to her place to help her when she needed it most, yet she suspected him in return.

Lucian was fuming, but her apology forced him to swallow back his anger, making him feel like he had nowhere to vent it out.

For a moment there, his expression became inscrutable.

Upon sensing Lucian’s anger, Roxanne blinked and avoided his gaze guiltily. “If it isn’t because of this matter, then what else are you here for, Mr. Farwell?” she asked.

Lucian glanced at her gloomily. He only visited her as per Jonathan’s suggestion—to provide help during a crisis.

However, her icy attitude toward him made him unwilling to tell her the truth. The study was filled with dreadful silence immediately. Roxanne’s heart became heavier.

After a while, she could no longer bear the deafening silence. She lowered her gaze and said, “If there’s nothing else, let’s head out. The kids have been waiting for a long while.”

Having said that, Roxanne walked around Lucian to leave. Shortly after taking a step, however, her wrist was grabbed by the man’s large hand.

Roxanne had no choice but to stop and frown at Lucian. What is wrong with him? He won’t tell me what’s the matter, and he won’t let me leave as well. What does he want?

Roxanne really didn’t know what he was thinking about, so she swung her arm impatiently in an attempt to free herself from his grip.

“According to my intel, the fire that happened at the research institute destroyed the medicinal herbs you took from Herbscape Group,” Lucian said in a deep voice after spending a long while regulating his fury.

Hearing that, Roxanne stopped struggling as the suspicion in her heart rose again.

How can he be so clear about what had happened if it wasn’t his doing? However, since he has explained his side of the story, I can’t openly express my doubts.

Roxanne lowered her gaze to hide her thoughts and asked faintly, “So what if that’s true? What does it have to do with you, Mr. Farwell?”

A thought occurred to her as she spoke, and she raised her head to glance at the man. “Are you trying to help Herbscape Group get the batch of medicinal herbs back?”

Although she wasn’t sure why he would do that, it seemed like something he would do.

As soon as she was done speaking, she felt the temperature in the study drop instantly.

Roxanne’s heart sank to rock bottom as she thought she had guessed Lucian’s intention.

Yet, Lucian merely stared at her expressionlessly while various complex emotions filled his eyes. His grip on her wrist tightened and loosened occasionally.

He didn’t know what he did to make the woman feel so paranoid when dealing with him.

Within their few minutes of interaction, she had already expressed her suspicions toward him many times.

It took Lucian all his willpower to control his strength and stop himself from breaking her wrist out of anger.

Feeling the increased pressure on her wrist, Roxanne lowered her head and looked at it.

She wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt like he was going to break her wrist in the next second.

This further affirmed her suspicion of Lucian’s intention.

“Mr. Farwell, if you’re just here to talk about this matter, then all I can do is apologize.” Although Roxanne apologized to Lucian, she didn’t express any fear. “Those medicinal herbs were already burned to ashes. There’s nothing I can do about it even if you want them back. If you really want them back, I can ask someone to gather those ashes from the storage room. That way, you might still be able to extract some medicinal herbs from those ashes.”

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