“Daddy!” At the sight of her father, Estella ran up to Lucian’s side and pointed to the untouched food on the table. “You’re finally here. All of us are famished!”
As Lucian followed the trajectory of Estella’s gaze, he saw Archie and Benny at the dining table, looking at him while supporting their heads with one hand. Their eyes still reflected the resentment they felt for him.
As for the five sets of dinnerware on the table, they remained untouched. Evidently, everyone was waiting for him to have dinner together.
Realizing that fact, Lucian felt a complex range of emotions as he glanced at Roxanne, who had just come up to his side.
When their eyes met, she briefly froze before explaining by reflex, “Estella wanted to wait for you.”
Raising his brows slightly, Lucian looked down at his daughter, who nodded with a gleeful grin as if she was taking credit for it.
In response, Lucian stroked her head and apologized to Roxanne and the boys, “I’m sorry for holding you up. I didn’t realize you were waiting for me to have dinner.”
Roxanne pursed her lips. “It’s no big deal. Now that you’re here, let’s dig in and then continue with our rehearsal.”
After giving her a nod, Lucian washed his hands before taking a seat at the table opposite her.
When dinner was over, everyone began rehearsing.
After practicing a few times, Roxanne had come to accept Lucian’s lack of talent in acting. Therefore, she simply went along with the flow.
As for the three children, their acting skills were better than she had expected. Initially, she was worried that they wouldn’t even be fluent with their lines. However, they impressed her not just with their eloquence but also with their convincing expressions,
Once rehearsal was over, the confused Estella tilted her head as she stared at the two adults.
Noticing how she was looking at them, Roxanne crouched by her side. “Essie, what is
it? Is there a problem?”
Knitting her brows, Estella asked hesitantly, “Oh, Ms. Jarvis, does Sleeping Beauty sleep till the end? I remember…”
I remember that she was awoken by a kiss from the prince! However, the rehearsal always ends after the prince defeats the witch.
Roxanne didn’t have to wait for Estella to finish her sentence before she understood what the girl was going to say. She interrupted with a smile, “Of course not.”
A baffled look emerged on Estella’s face. “But the rehearsal always stops here.”
Having heard Estella’s question, Archie and Benny came over, for they too were equally curious.
Faced with the children’s confounded expressions, Roxanne furrowed her brows, at a sudden loss for words.
Even though Pippa had mentioned that they only needed to look like they were kissing and no physical contact was needed, Roxanne still wanted to avoid any intimacy with Lucian.
As a result, she had been neglecting that last scene on purpose.
To be honest, she hadn’t expected the children to notice.
Unable to find the words to explain, Roxanne turned to Lucian for help.
However, she saw a strange look on his face instead.
When his gaze met hers, his expression became indifferent once more. He then said something that disheartened her further.
“That’s true. I, too, am curious about it. Ms. Jarvis, why do you always skip the last scene? Isn’t that where the soul of the story lies?”
The children nodded in agreement.
Stumped, Roxanne took a while to regain her senses before walking to Lucian’s side and whispering, “Ms. Ward said that we can just pretend to kiss without making contact.”
“All the more reason why we should practice it.” Lucian cocked his brows while giving her a thoughtful look.
Having heard Lucian’s words, the frowning Roxanne felt a strong sense of resistance within her Lucian’s deep voice rang out again. “If we don’t rehearse it, please don’t accuse me of taking advantage of you when I kiss you by mistake.”
In that moment, Roxanne couldn’t believe her ears. Nevertheless, she did find the scenario Lucian had conjured up to be entirely possible.
“Besides, neither of us are actors by profession. If we don’t practice, how would we know where we should stand to make the kiss realistic?” Lucian, who could sense her wavering, pressed on calmly, causing her to feel ambivalent about the matter.
She admitted that he had a point. However, given that the anniversary celebration was still a few days away, she would have to be in close proximity to him for consecutive days if they were to rehearse the scene.
In the midst of her hesitation, Estella’s squeaky voice piped up, “Why are we rehearsing everything but this scene?”
She proceeded to give Roxanne a quizzical yet innocent look.
When she saw the confusion in Estella’s eyes, Roxanne sighed in resignation. “Fine. We’ll run through it too.”
After giving in, she threw Lucian a glance.
Nevertheless, all she saw was a detached expression, as if the comment he made was solely for the sake of the rehearsal.
Shifting her gaze away, Roxanne prayed that it was just her imagination that was running wild
Given that every scene before the kiss had been rehearsed multiple times, Roxanne had no choice but to jump right into the kissing scene.
The children subsequently led her to the couch, wanting her to lie down.
However, when Roxanne didn’t move a muscle, Estella urged her, “Ms. Jarvis, lie down quickly!”
Roxanne looked at the children’s excited faces and then at the waiting Lucian, still feeling torn over the matter.
It took her a while before she finally felt mentally prepared for it and lay down.
The children smartly made way for Lucian.
A few seconds passed before he walked over to the couch. Supporting himself with his hand on the back of the furniture, he leaned in to look at the woman lying on it.
Roxanne had shut her eyes, though there was a slight furrow between her brows. From the way her eyelashes trembled, she looked as if she was going to open her eyes at any moment.
At the sight of her nervousness, Lucian cocked a brow and sniggered quietly to himself.
The children, who were all watching by the side, were shocked to see the amusement on Lucian’s face.
During their rehearsal over the past few days, they kept hearing Roxanne complain that Lucian didn’t have any emotions at all. But from what they were seeing now, they realized that Roxanne’s words were a far cry from reality.
While Roxanne lay on the couch with her eyes closed, it was so quiet that she could hear a pin drop. All she could feel was Lucian’s breath bearing down upon her.
As he continued to approach, Roxanne’s hands clenched into fists while her brows slowly knitted together tightly.
All of a sudden, Lucian’s breath stopped at an angle with no further movement.
When Roxanne opened her eyes in curiosity, she was greeted by his annoyed face.
“Ms. Jarvis, there’s no need to be so nervous. I will keep my word not to take advantage of you.” Lucian’s voice sounded a little cold, causing Roxanne to be stunned.
At the same time, the children chimed in.
“Mommy, Sleeping Beauty doesn’t frown!”
“Ms. Jarvis, your expression cannot change because you’re supposed to be asleep!”
After being reminded by the children and glancing at the displeased-looking Lucian, Roxanne lowered her gaze self-consciously.
“Close your eyes.” Lucian gave her another instruction. Roxanne’s eyelids fluttered before she complied. She became nervous when she felt the man’s warm breath near her once more but tried to stay calm by digging her nails into her palms.
The little ones watched as Lucian got closer and closer to Roxanne. Right as his lips were about to touch hers, Lucian froze for a moment. Then he tilted his head slightly, creating the illusion of a kiss.
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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