After a few seconds, Roxanne calmed herself before turning down his concern, “Mr. Farwell, Benny’s illness has nothing to do with you. I will take care of my own children. You should spend more time with your fiancée instead of asking about my sons. Earlier on, I saw that Ms. Pearson was seriously injured. Someone needs to be by her side at all times.”
There was a grim look in Lucian’s eyes when he heard that.
Roxanne’s heart raced as she met his eyes, but she could not figure out what he was thinking.
However, she could sense that he seemed to be displeased with what she had just said.
Then again, I haven’t said anything wrong. Everything that I have said is the truth.
Roxanne met his gaze, unperturbed.
After a while, Lucian forced himself to calm down before explaining to Roxanne patiently, “Aubree has fractured her arm, and she has been in the hospital for a few days now. She’s fine and doesn’t need my care. I have come to ask about Benny because he gets along very well with Essie. If Essie asks about Benny, at least I will know what to tell her.”
Looking at the way Roxanne and the boys were eyeing him, he had to use Estella as an excuse. If not, he doubted they would tell him anything.
Lucian thought of the time when Estella used to stay with Roxanne. He was puzzled at how things had come to the current situation.
At the mention of Estella, Roxanne’s expression softened. However, there was something Lucian had said that affected her somehow.
Since Aubree had been hospitalized for a few days, Lucian must have been by her side all the while.
Otherwise, there was no way he would know so much about her injury.
Regardless, Roxanne still ended up telling Lucian about Benny’s condition but in a very cold manner. “If Essie asks about Benny, just tell her that he has caught a cold while swimming. It’s nothing serious. He will be fine after taking some medication. I can’t share any other information other than that.”
Lucian heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that Benny was not seriously ill.
For some strange reason, he could not help but feel concerned about Archie and Benny despite their obvious enmity toward him.
It was as if he owed them something.
“Now that you know about Benny’s condition, you will be able to explain it to Essie. If there’s nothing else, we would like to make a move first.” Roxanne nodded at him before attempting to lead the boys past him.
Just as they walked past him, she heard him ask, “Why are you in such a hurry to avoid me?”
Hearing that, Roxanne stopped and tightened her grip on Archie and Benny.
Lucian was watching her inquisitively.
Roxanne pursed her lips and answered indifferently, “Mr. Farwell, we are different. I may have children, but I’m still single. You, on the other hand, are engaged. In order to prevent any misunderstanding, you should have been the one to avoid me. But you don’t seem to be aware of it. So, I have no other option. I hope you can understand.”
Lucian gulped and looked like he wanted to say something.
However, he had no response to the matter-of-fact manner in which Roxanne spoke.
Just as the tension in the air began to build, Benny broke the silence.
“Mommy, my tummy hurts. I want to go home and rest.”
With that, Benny tugged at Roxanne’s arm.
She bade Lucian farewell before leaving with her sons.
“Is your stomach aching badly? Do you want me to carry you?”
Roxanne, who had come to the staircase, knelt down in concern and looked into Benny’s eyes.
Benny cracked a mischievous yet gleeful smile. “It stopped hurting a long while ago, but I could sense that you felt like leaving early.”
From the moment Mommy saw Daddy and the wicked woman at the elevator just now, there was a drastic change in her mood.
Furthermore, when they were blocked in the corridor by Lucian, he could clearly feel the hostility Roxanne exuded.
Coincidentally, both he and Archie resented the sight of Lucian, hence the excuse to get Roxanne to leave.
Upon hearing Benny’s words, the relieved yet amused Roxanne gave his nose a playful scratch. “Next time, don’t scare me by telling me that you have a stomach ache while being sick. Instead, you should just say that you’re tired.”
Roxanne was given a fright by Benny earlier. If not for the urge to avoid further interaction with Lucian, she would have brought Benny back inside the room for further examination.
Fortunately, Benny was all right.
Just when the trio of mother and sons were enjoying a tender moment, a flurry of footsteps rang out in the stairwell.
As the sound gradually bore down on them, they could guess from the lightness of the steps that it was a woman.
Assuming that it was just someone passing through, Roxanne moved aside together with her boys.
Unexpectedly, they were greeted by the sight of Aubree emerging from the corner the moment they stood up.
The instant their eyes met, Roxanne’s expression darkened on impulse.
A single glance was enough to tell her that Aubree came with ill intentions.
It was just that she had no idea what the latter had hidden up her sleeve.
Is it because Lucian left her abruptly to see Benny?
Roxanne’s mind was rife with speculation.
Nonetheless, Aubree approached them with an indifferent expression. In fact, she even gave Benny a concerned glance before inquiring with Roxanne, “Have you brought him to see the doctor? What did the doctor say? Is his condition serious?”
After giving Aubree a wary look, Roxanne turned around and instructed the boys, “Go downstairs and wait for me there.”
However, they stared fiercely at Aubree instead, worried that the latter would hurt their mother.
Roxanne knew that she couldn’t predict what would happen despite being aware of the boys’ intentions to protect her. She was worried that she would fail to protect the boys if Aubree were to somehow harm them.
When she saw the children were hesitant to leave, Roxanne steeled her face and instructed the more sensible Archie, “Archie, take Benny downstairs and watch over him.”
Only then did Archie nod in acknowledgment before holding Benny’s wrist to lead him downstairs, leaving Roxanne and Aubree alone in the stairwell.
“Go on, what do you want?” Roxanne gave the lady in front of her a distant look.
Aubree responded with an innocent expression, “Didn’t I just express my concern for Benny’s condition? What’s with that snarky attitude of yours? Do you actually think I’ll hurt the children?”
Recalling how Aubree had caused the children to be expelled from school without reason some time ago, Roxanne pursed her lips into a smirk. “You know better than anyone else.”
Roxanne had barely finished when Aubree put on a pitiful look. “All I really wanted to do was to show my concern for Benny. Besides, with my arm still injured, what can I do to them? Since Lucian cares about Benny so much, I’m just trying to help by getting to know the latter’s condition better. Also, I’m certainly not doing this for your sake. I just don’t want Lucian to worry.”
Regardless of what Roxanne said, she was trying to prove that her feelings for Lucian were true.
As a scornful look momentarily flashed across Roxanne’s face, she nodded with an emotionless expression. “In that case, thank you for your thoughts, Ms. Pearson. Anyway, Benny’s condition isn’t serious, and he should be fine after taking some medication. So instead, you should be more concerned with your own injury.”
In reflex, Aubree looked down at her arm in a cast before returning her gaze to Roxanne as if it was nothing. “My injury isn’t a big deal. I was accidentally clipped by a car while out shopping with Mrs. Farwell two days ago. Luckily, she was unhurt.”
Aubree was clearly hinting that she hurt herself in an attempt to save Sonya.
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.
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