Roxanne shuddered in fright. “That’s enough!” Lucian’s dangerous tone of voice terrified her. Nonetheless, he wasn’t about to let her off. “Wouldn’t becoming Essie’s mother make you feel more at ease?”
Her chest felt tight, and she had difficulty breathing upon his words. This wasn’t the first time Lucian had asked her that question, but her answer remained the same.
This round was no different. She gritted her teeth and pulled away. “You’re overthinking things. I care for Essie because feel bad for how much she relies on me. That’s it.”
Lucian closed in. “I wonder what Essie would think of this when she learns that you care for her only because you feel bad for her.”
Roxanne’s heart fell when she heard him. She gritted her teeth and met his eyes. “I do like Essie, but that doesn’t mean I must become her mother. After all, I don’t intend on taking advantage of you, and I believe you don’t, too.”
Lucian’s eyes darkened. “How are you so sure that I don’t?”
Her pupils constricted as her heart shook. Is he saying what I think he’s saying? If that’s so… How could he say something like that? Isn’t he getting married to Aubree soon?
The words Lucian had spoken to her when he was courting her flashed through her mind, and she suddenly thought of a possibility.
Up till now, Lucian was merely looking for a mother Estella would like. That would mean Aubree might still be under consideration. Roxanne’s eyes turned cold at that thought.
“Don’t say something so misleading, Mr. Farwell. I already have Archie and Benny. I don’t have the energy to care for one more child. I’m sure Ms. Pearson will do a great job caring for Essie if you insist on finding a mother she would like, even if it is for your sake.”
Roxanne lowered her eyes and kept her emotions under control. “I’ve said everything I need to say. If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave”
Lucian’s eyes darkened. He reached out and grabbed her wrist with great force. Roxanne turned to look at him. She was about to speak up when an ear-piercing honk sounded.
She turned toward the direction of the sound instinctively A car rolled to a stop behind hers. The next thing she knew, Aubree stormed out of the vehicle with a grim expression.
“Ms. Pearson’s here.” Roxanne looked away as she reminded Lucian of Aubree’s arrival. Lucian frowned, turned around, and gave Aubree a glance.
Roxanne quickly pulled away. She got into her car nonchalantly and was about to leave when Aubree called out to her. “Ms. Jarvis, it’s been a long time. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
Roxanne could tell from Aubree’s tone that she was angry. Aubree approached Lucian with an awkward smile and fixed Roxanne with a murderous stare. How dare she show up here?
Aubree was secretly glad she was on good terms with Pamela as Pamela was the one who notified her the moment Lucian met up with Roxanne.
A wave of fury crashed through Aubree upon the thought of Lucian and Roxanne being together. Why does this woman keep showing up everywhere?
However, she forced a smile as she couldn’t express her disgust for Roxanne since Lucian was around. On the other hand, Roxanne never thought Aubree would call out to her when she was about to leave.
It would have been rude of her if she ignored Aubree. With that thought in mind, Roxanne paused in her tracks, turned around, and greeted Aubree coldly, “It’s been a while, Ms. Pearson.”
Aubree smiled. “If I remember correctly, your kids don’t study here. So what brings you here today, Ms. Jarvis? Are you planning to transfer them to this kindergarten so they can attend school with Essie?”
Roxanne’s heart sank at that. She could tell what Aubree was hinting at even though she didn’t say it straight to her face..
Aubree was accusing her of using Archie and. Benny to approach Lucian by transferring her two kids to the same kindergarten as Estella.
Roxanne denied her accusation without hesitation as soon as she realized what Aubree was getting at. “You’re overthinking things, Ms.. Pearson. Archie and Benny are doing fine in school. I have no plans of transferring them over, nor do I have the time and effort to do so.”
Aubree chuckled casually and started to put on an act. “It’s okay. I can help if you ever want to transfer your kids over. Essie likes being friends with Archie and Benny. It’ll be good company. for her.”
Roxanne’s lips twitched. “That won’t be necessary. I only came to check on Essie.” “Essie is well taken care of. You have nothing to worry about, Ms. Jarvis,”
Aubree continued coldly, “You have nothing to do with Essie. Moreover, you are Lucian’s ex- wife. It will be in our best interest for you to keep your distance from Lucian and Essie as we are getting married soon.”
Lucian’s and Roxanne’s faces fell when Aubree mentioned their divorce. Roxanne lowered her eyes and balled her hands into fists.
She was reminded of how she had brought her two kids up alone in a foreign country after the divorce. At the moment, all her hardships in the past six years turned into hatred for Lucian and Aubree.
She wouldn’t have landed in such a huge mess if not for the two of them. She couldn’t understand why she would want to worry herself about some kid Lucian had with another woman now that she was back.
A wave of sadness washed over her as she smiled bleakly upon that thought. Aubree, standing by Lucian’s side, was about to say something more to make her stand but was interrupted by Lucian.. “Are you done?”
Aubree gulped as she was jolted back to her senses. Only then did she realize she was being too arrogant just now.
“I’m sorry, Lucian. I was worried since Ms. Yaxley told me she saw a suspicious individual barge into the kindergarten and interact with Essie.”
She pushed the blame onto Pamela and Roxanne brazenly. Then, she turned to Roxanne and said kindly, “It’s not that I’m stopping you from visiting. Essie. I just hope that you can let me know. beforehand in the future so that I can give Ms. Yaxley a heads up.”
Roxanne gave cold looks to the two people in front of her. When Aubree met Roxanne’s eyes, a strange sensation struck her, and she subconsciously clamped her mouth shut. Lucian, on the other hand, scowled and looked at Roxanne gloomily.
A long while later, Roxanne curled her lips self- deprecatingly. “Don’t worry, Ms. Pearson. I get your point. I’ll stay away from Essie from now on, but I hope you’ll be able to take good care of Essie and not let something like this happen again.”
Right after she made those utterances, she went into the car without giving them a chance to respond to her.
Lucian drew his brows tightly together as he watched her leave. Though he wished she would not take off so unhesitatingly, he could not bring himself to say anything to make her stay when he thought about the look she had: on her face earlier.
Meanwhile, Aubree did not expect Roxanne to point out her fault in front of Lucian before leaving. Her countenance slowly stiffened as she watched Roxanne’s car disappear from her line of sight. Then, she carefully turned to look at the man beside her. “Lucian…”
Lucian was upset, so he was visibly impatient when he spoke to her. “What else do you want to say? You were the one in charge of sending Essie to and from her school these days. Did her teacher not tell you anything about Essie’s situation in school?”
Overwhelmed with guilt, Aubree lowered her gaze. Ms. Yaxley did tell me that Essie seemed down recently, but I didn’t put it to heart because I thought that was how Essie usually behaved. It never hit me that an incident like this would happen.
“If not for Roxanne finding out about it in time, what do you think would have happened to Essie this time?” Lucian questioned coldly.
Aubree hastily tried to shrink from the blame. “Lucian, I really didn’t know about these matters. You are well aware of Essie’s condition. She’s never quite excited. Moreover, something like that happened on her first day. of kindergarten. When Ms. Yaxley told me. about it, she only said that Essie wasn’t enthusiastic in class, so I thought…”
In other words, she was blaming Pamela for not looking more into Estella’s situation. That innuendo of hers did not go unnoticed by Lucian, whose expression darkened instantly. “When were you planning to tell me about this if I hadn’t asked?”
His sharp words had Aubree stumped for words. After a moment of silence, she tentatively uttered, “I shouldn’t have neglected this; I should’ve told you about it right away.”
Then, she quickly added, “Lucian, I really care about Essie. I was in a meeting earlier, but once I received Ms. Yaxley’s message, I hurried over without wrapping up the meeting-
Before she could finish her sentence, Lucian cut her off in annoyance. “If Essie is disturbing you from your work at Pearson Group, I’d say it’s best that I stop troubling you with Essie’s matters from now on.”
Aubree froze. Lucian was willing to continue with the engagement on one condition, and that was to get Estella to accept her. However, if he refused to let her get involved. with Estella anymore, she would have no means to make the little girl accept her..
In that case, her engagement with him would. be broken off. “Lucian, please give me one more chance! I won’t let something like this happen again!” Aubree pleaded, reaching out to grab Lucian’s arm.
However, he avoided her hands and uttered, “If this happens again, I’ll announce to the public that the engagement between us has been called off.”
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.