The sound of the door downstairs being opened and closed was heard. Roxanne froze where she stood as she glanced at her empty hands. Lucian is gone just like that…
She rushed out to the balcony and looked down and managed to catch a glimpse of Lucian carrying Estella to the car before their car slowly pulled away from the mansion. Roxanne felt inexplicably aggrieved as she watched their car gradually disappear from sight.
All I wanted was to discuss with him the issues with Estella’s character, so how did the matter take such an unexpected turn? If we were to never see each other again, wouldn’t Estella’s final impression of me be terrible?
By the time she regained her senses, her cheeks were already wet with tears. Archie and Benny, who had been waiting for their mother downstairs, went up to check on her when they didn’t see her come down.
The moment they came upstairs, they were greeted by the sight of Roxanne standing on the balcony with her back facing them.
For some reason, they could sense the sadness just by looking at her silhouette.
“Mommy?” Benny called out warily.
Roxanne didn’t respond at all as if she didn’t hear a thing.
The boys, upon exchanging a glance, ran up to her side, where Archie gave her sleeve a tug.
His gesture jolted Roxanne back to her senses. Surprised by the sight of her sons, who had arrived unnoticed, she frantically wiped her tears away with her hands.
Unfortunately, it didn’t escape the boys’ notice.
“Mommy, are you crying?” Benny looked up with an anxious expression.
Realizing that it was too late, Roxanne sighed in resignation as she squatted down. “Why did you come up?”
As she spoke, the tears in her eyes continued to flow uncontrollably. The sight of the boys reminded her of Estella.
Archie extended his hand to wipe her tears away. “We were concerned when you didn’t come down, so we decided to check on you. Mommy, are you worried about Essie?”
Smiling at Archie through the tears that clouded her vision, Roxanne choked out, “I’m fine. Sorry to have made you boys worry.”
Benny comforted her anxiously, “Don’t cry, Mommy. Even Essie didn’t shed tears when she left just now.”
There was a glint in Roxanne’s eyes when she heard that.
Essie didn’t cry? I clearly saw her tears just now.
Noticing the suspicion on Roxanne’s face, Archie said in a childish voice, “Essie told us she would definitely come and play with us again!”
Thereafter, the boys gave Roxanne a long hug to comfort her, and only then did Roxanne regain her composure.
“Am I… not nice to Essie?” Roxanne asked hesitantly after a long pause.
The boys were surprised by her words. “Mommy, no one treats her better than you do!”
Daddy and Grandma don’t concern themselves with Essie’s feelings. Only Mommy cares about what she thinks.
Moreover, the boys could see that Roxanne treated Estella the same way as she did to them even though she didn’t admit it.
The love she has for Essie is on par with the love she has for us!
“This is all our fault. Not only did we not set a good example, but we also failed in taking good care of her.”
“Mommy, we’re the ones to blame!”
Roxanne pulled the boys into her arms and expressed her gratitude in a raspy voice. “Thank you, Darlings.”
Meanwhile, on the way back to the Farwell residence, Lucian would glance in the rear-view mirror intermittently. He saw Estella sitting obediently in the back and would sniffle once in a while. However, she did not look as if she would cry again.
She was reacting very differently from when she previously left Roxanne. Lucian couldn’t help but be unsettled by her behavior, thinking that she had suffered some kind of shock.
A short while later, he said in a grim voice, “Go ahead and cry if you feel like it.” Estella pouted as she lowered her gaze and fiddled with her fingers.
Hearing no response, Lucian was about to turn around when suddenly her voice rang out. “Daddy, did Ms. Jarvis really want to hit you just now?”
Estella tilted her head as she looked to Lucian for answers. After all, she had been dwelling on the topic for the entire journey.
Although Ms. Jarvis was angry at Daddy at times, she has never hit him before. It must have been a misunderstanding!
Lucian recalled the kiss on the balcony. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t help but regret his impulsiveness.
However, he still couldn’t shake the anger he felt over how she saw Jack.
While he was lost in his thoughts, Estella continued, “Why did she try to scare you this way?”
From her perspective, Roxanne was just trying to frighten Lucian even though there was no chance of success given how tall and well-built her father was.
Lucian cocked a brow at her words, and a headache set in.
From the rearview mirror, he could see the earnest look in her eyes.
Upon deliberation, he answered grimly, “It’s true that there’s been a misunderstanding, but it isn’t what you think.”
Estella’s curiosity intensified. “Then what is it?”
Of course, Lucian would not tell her about the kiss. “It’s a private matter between Ms. Jarvis and me.”
Hearing that, Estella accepted the fact that Lucian would never tell her.
After a brief silence, she asked again. “In that case, Daddy, please don’t be mad at Ms. Jarvis anymore, all right?”
Furrowing his brows, Lucian pondered upon the matter. In the end, he decided to use the opportunity to break the news to Estella that he and Roxanne would never be together.
It was imperative to do so because Estella had yet to give up.
The longer he allowed her to have expectations, the greater her disappointment would be in the future.
Lucian threw Estella a glance through the rearview mirror. “I’m not mad at her.”
Estella’s eyes lit up.
Then she heard her father continue, “After all, we’ll probably not see each other again.”
Estella was momentarily stunned. Her eyes gradually darkened. “Why?”
Worried that the news would come as a shock, Lucian said in a softer tone, “Ms. Jarvis has her own family to attend to, and the boys have their own father. It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to keep bothering them.”
Besides, I will have my own family in the future too.
“But…”
Estella gave Lucian a defiant look.
Didn’t Daddy say that he would pursue Mrs. Farwell previously?
“I didn’t give the matter proper thought before. Now that I have, I realized that there are certain matters that can’t be forced.”
Lucian preempted what she was about to say.
Once he finished, he looked into the rearview mirror to observe her response.
All he saw was a sad frown on her face.
The fact that she didn’t cry at all came as a surprise to him.
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.