When he caught her gaze, Lucian’s brows furrowed quizzically. Casting his thoughts about Roxanne aside, he changed out of his shoes before walking upstairs to her.
“Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”
Estella looked up at her father with sparkling eyes that were brimming with innocence. “When are we going to see Ms. Jarvis again?”
When school was over earlier, it was Lysa who picked the brothers up.
Having heard of Roxanne’s injury, Pippa asked Lysa about it out of concern.
When Estella, who had planned to visit Roxanne in two days, overheard their conversation and learned of the latter’s injury, she wanted to go to Roxanne’s side at once.
Initially, she planned to get Lucian to take her when he picked her up from school but didn’t expect to not see him at all.
Thus, she waited up for him so that she could tell him her plan.
Upon hearing her request, Lucian fell deep into thought before a gentle glint flashed in his eyes. “I’ll take you there once I’m done with work.”
With her lips pursed, Estella gave him a reluctant look. “But Ms. Jarvis’ injury would have healed by then.”
Thinking about Roxanne’s wound, Lucian felt his heart sink as a grim expression descended upon his face.
Given how enraged she was during the day, I wonder if it had affected her recovery.
“Daddy…” Estella gave his sleeve a wary tug.
Lucian reached out his hand to tousle her hair. “Essie, do you trust me?”
She fell into a brief silence before giving him a slow nod.
Seeing her response, Lucian sighed in relief discreetly.
“Ms. Jarvis needs to rest for a few days. Also, she’ll be tired from taking care of the brothers. Therefore, we’ll just be interrupting her rest if we visit her now. If you really want her to recover as soon as possible, then listen to me. Once I’m done
with my work, we’ll visit her together.”
Despite nodding half-heartedly, Estella’s longing for Roxanne caused a pitiful look to appear on her face.
Stroking her puffy cheeks, Lucian leaned down to hold her hand. “If you’re really worried, you can also ask the boys about her condition.”
Just to reassure her further, Lucian made a remark that he himself didn’t believe in. “Now that Ms. Jarvis is no longer avoiding us, I’ll take you to see her whenever you want once I have finished my work.”
Finally convinced, Estella nodded obediently.
As Lucian watched her fall asleep, his expression gradually darkened.
Standing by her bedroom, Lucian wore a solemn expression on his face. Regardless of how his relationship with Roxanne was now, he had already made a promise to Estella. As a result, time was of the essence for him to win Roxanne back.
The next morning, Lucian sent Estella to kindergarten early and ran into Lysa by coincidence. “Essie!” the boys greeted her from afar.
Replying to them with a hum, the beaming Estella shook off her father’s hand and walked over to join them. Lucian didn’t stop her. Instead, he simply reminded, “Slow down.”
Estella nodded in compliance. Meanwhile, when the brothers noticed Lucian’s presence after hearing his voice, they raised their heads and gave him a hesitant look.
Locking gazes with them, Lucian broke into an indiscernible frown as his eyes reflected his complex emotions. All this while, the boys resented him just as much as their mother did.
Therefore, he wondered if they had noticed Roxanne being infuriated by him the day before.
After all, given how difficult it was to get the boys to change their attitude toward him, Lucian didn’t want to risk having it go back to the way it was.
Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the brothers’ squeaky voices rang out.
“Good morning, Mr. Farwell.”
As Lucian looked in the direction of the voices, he saw Archie and Benny bowing politely at him. By the time they straightened themselves, their eyes had strayed somewhere else.
At that moment, Lucian was puzzled by their attitude toward him.
When the children were avoiding him previously, it was as though he didn’t exist.
However, today, the boys greeted him of their own volition.
Logically speaking, their attitude toward him had improved, but their reaction upon greeting him caused Lucian to doubt his own supposition.
Taking their mother’s feelings into account, the boys restrained their desire to see their father and chatted with Estella instead.
On the other end, a strange look was painted all over Lysa’s face.
The moment she saw Lucian, she was reminded of the roses from the day before and didn’t know how to react.
Fortunately, the boys greeted him first, giving her enough time to gather her wits. “Mr. Farwell…” she finally uttered.
Even then, the tone Lysa greeted Lucian with still sounded awkward.
Knitting his brows, he gave her a puzzled look.
He wondered if it was just his imagination but felt as if Lysa still had something to say.
Lysa, who felt her heart skip a beat when she made eye contact, smiled at him as if nothing had happened. “What a coincidence to see you drop Essie off at school today.”
Nodding slightly, Lucian could see from her eyes that she seemed to be scrutinizing him.
With her mind filled with images of the roses and her speculation about his relationship with Roxanne, Lysa couldn’t hide her uneasiness from his gaze, regardless of how hard she tried.
When her strange expression didn’t escape Lucian’s notice, he asked with a raised brow, “Do you have something to say?”
Wiping the sweat off her hand on her pants, Lysa forced a smile. “No, not at all.”
Even though she had met Lucian plenty of times, this was the first time she felt the intimidating pressure from his gaze. Filled with guilt, Lysa was worried that the incident about the roses would slip her tongue.
After giving it some thought, she figured Lucian probably wouldn’t want an outsider like her to know about this.
Even though Lysa tried her best to maintain her front, Lucian could still guess what was going through her mind, but he
didn’t comment. Instead, he simply said, “Please take good care of Ms. Jarvis.”
Lysa acknowledged at once.
After watching the children enter the kindergarten, Lucian drove to the florist from before. “Mr. Farwell…” The florist couldn‘t help but greet him upon learning his identity from the previous day‘s events.
Lucian nodded with a frown, guessing that the florist knew who he was when the flowers were returned. In response to his acknowledgment, the florist grew visibly nervous. “Is there anything else you need? What do you think of the flowers yesterday?”
No sooner had the words rolled off her tongue than she remembered that the flowers were returned. Quickly realizing her faux pas, the anxious florist zipped her lips and wondered if Lucian had come to hold them accountable.
At the mention of the flowers, Lucian threw the florist a grim look. Lowering her head fearfully, she didn‘t dare utter another word.
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.