“Mommy?” Getting no response from Roxanne, Benny tugged at the corner of Roxanne’s shirt. I need Mommy to convince Daddy to let us eat fried chicken in the future!
Only then did Roxanne regain her senses and glance at Benny. He looks anxious.
Roxanne suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and reached out to ruffle Benny’s hair. “What is it?”
“We had fried chicken for lunch,” Benny said in a piping voice.
Roxanne was slightly baffled when she heard that. Why is he telling me that? When we were abroad, I would always make lunch for them. But whenever I was busy, I would have no choice but to order takeouts for them. Those takeouts were mostly fast foods. They should be used to it by now.
Benny noticed her confusion, so he added, “Mr. Farwell said the food isn’t healthy, and we shouldn’t eat too much of it.”
Hearing that, Roxanne could roughly guess what was on his mind.
Just as she was about to console Benny, she remembered the fact that Estella was with the boys during lunch. Although Archie and Benny are used to it, Essie may not be. Lucian probably said that to Essie.
Roxanne caressed Benny’s head before raising her own to look in Lucian’s direction.
Lucian was still standing in the same place, while Estella was standing right beside him, looking aggrieved. At that moment, he was gripping her little hand. When Estella met Roxanne’s gaze, she greeted softly, “Ms. Jarvis…”
She had wanted to dash toward Roxanne along with Archie and Benny. However, Lucian had held onto her hand before she could do so, and she had no idea why.
Roxanne smiled at Estella before looking up to meet Lucian’s gaze. “Mr. Farwell.”
Lucian was exasperated when he looked at the flowers in her hands. Coldly, he said, “You’re an interesting woman, Ms. Jarvis. How could you go on a date when your children were here having fast food for lunch?”
Feeling guilty, Roxanne said, “I’m sorry. I forgot Roxanne was here, and I forgot to remind my friend about it. Archie and Benny are used to eating these when we were abroad. My friend might have—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Lucian interrupted, “Ms. Jarvis, you were busy dating. How could you have remembered anything?”
Roxanne’s expression froze when she heard Lucian mentioning her going on a date again. “You should’ve told me if you were busy, Ms. Jarvis. I would’ve come to bring Essie home,” Lucian added.
Hearing his tone, Estella knew he was pissed. “Daddy!” she said anxiously. Lucian’s eyes darkened. He looked down at Estella, and only then did he realize how cold he had sounded. I got angry when I saw those flowers. But Roxanne may not think I have the right to be angry.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come back earlier to accompany you, Essie.” Roxanne ignored Lucian and cast Estella an apologetic look.
Estella quickly shook her head when she heard Roxanne apologizing to her. “It’s all right, Ms. Jarvis. You’re back now. Besides, those fried chickens were delicious! I love them!”
With that, Estella shot her father a discontented look. Forget that he forbade me from eating delicious food. Now, he even got angry at Ms. Jarvis! I’m not happy with that!
Lucian merely frowned and kept mum. He was afraid that he would lose his temper if he were to talk again.
Roxanne knew Estella didn’t want her to put too much blame on herself. She smiled appreciatively and said, “I’ll make you something yummy tonight, okay?”
Ms. Jarvis is making me dinner! Estella’s eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly. “Okay!”
After that, Roxanne walked into the living room.
Only when she walked past Archie and Benny did they notice the bouquet in her hands. They instinctively turned toward Lucian.
As they expected, Lucian’s expression was as black as thunder.
Although they weren’t pleased when Lucian told them to stop eating fried chicken, they chose to side with him because his effort to pursue Roxanne could be jeopardized.
“Mommy!” Archie cautiously tugged at the hem of Roxanne’s clothes.
Roxanne looked down at him in confusion.
Archie glanced at Lucian before pulling Roxanne into the kitchen. He whispered next to her ear, “Did Mr. Damaris give you those flowers?”
Roxanne was stunned for a few seconds because she didn’t expect Archie to ask about the flowers. Is he asking this because he thinks I’m going to let Jack become their father?
Holding that thought, Roxanne smiled and explained, “It is from Mr. Damaris, but it’s not what you think it is. I did him a favor, so he gave me these flowers to express his gratitude.”
Archie and Benny weren’t convinced. Who gives others flowers to express their gratitude?
Noticing the puzzlement on their faces, Roxanne said patiently, “These are lilies. Go on and find out what these flowers symbolize, all right? If you guys want to thank someone in the future, you can give them lilies.”
Archie and Benny shared a look and nodded dubiously.
“All right, I’m gonna go tidy things up in the living room. You guys keep Essie company.” Roxanne smiled and ruffled the boys’ hair.
Archie and Benny nodded obediently.
They went out of the kitchen and brought Estella to the room, and the first thing they did was find out what the flowers symbolized.
When they found out that lilies were given to express gratitude, they heaved a sigh of relief.
After cleaning up the coffee table, Roxanne got up to go and throw away some trash when she found Lucian standing in the doorway, blocking her path. “Could you please let me through, Mr. Farwell?”
Lucian frowned when he heard her voice and turned sideways to let her pass. He watched her walk away and could not stop his gaze from flicking toward the flowers she had temporarily left on the couch. His eyes flashed with anger.
After returning from throwing the trash, she heard him ask in a low voice, “Didn’t you say you were going to treat me the same as the others?”
Roxanne halted her footsteps at those words and raised her gaze to meet his with a quizzical expression. Furrowing his brows, Lucian asked, “Why did you send back all the flowers I sent you previously, yet bring home the flowers other people give you?”
Before Roxanne could respond, she heard him press further. “So who are the flowers from? Larry? Or is it Jack?”
“They’re…” She started to answer his question without even thinking about it. The next moment, however, she noticed his awful attitude and stopped herself abruptly.
Lucian thought she was about to respond, but to his surprise, she fell silent after beginning her sentence.
After waiting for a while and still not getting an answer from her, Lucian looked even more displeased.
All Roxanne wanted was to ignore the man in front of her. She continued walking further into the house, but he grabbed her wrist.
“Why aren’t you answering?” Lucian gazed at her darkly, his suspicions about her relationship with Larry and Jack deepening.
Roxanne stopped walking and glanced back at him. She was also feeling frustrated and furious, and her gaze was cold.
“I’ve explained to you my relationship with them many a time. If you insist on misunderstanding the matter, there’s nothing I can do about that. Also, what you said earlier was something you came up with yourself. I never agreed to it.”
Lucian’s gaze grew even more sullen after he heard her reply. After a while, his lips curled with sarcasm as he remarked, “Indeed, I’ve deluded myself.”
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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