Expressionlessly, Lucian nodded at her and turned to look at his mother. As for Estella, after she saw Aubree, she timidly hid behind her father and didn’t even greet Sonya.
Holding Estella’s hand, he wordlessly comforted the child as he asked in a deep voice, “Why are you here with Aubree, Mom?”
Upon hearing her son’s question, Sonya’s scowl grew more intense. “You’re still wondering why the two of us are here? I entrusted Aubree to you, yet you refused to let her stay at home. To make matters worse, you didn’t even check up on her when her injury relapsed!”
Annoyed, Lucian felt his head throb. “I already asked someone to send her to the hospital, but she didn’t want to go.”
He was telling the truth, but the person he sent informed him that Aubree refused to go to the hospital. Now that I think about it, she was probably waiting for Mom to go over. Mom certainly didn’t disappoint her and directly brought her here.
“Aubree is injured and is in trouble with her family again. How can you expect her to go to the hospital alone with no one to talk to and no one to take care of her?” Before Aubree could explain her decision, Sonya had already provided a reason for her.
Aubree was delighted, but she still pretentiously put on a piteous look.
“Then what do you want me to do?” Lucian couldn’t be bothered to continue this pointless argument with his mother.
After all, Sonya always put Aubree’s interests above everything else whenever the matter concerned the latter.
Any further arguments about the matter would just be a waste of time.
Sonya glanced at Aubree before turning to face him. “Let Aubree stay at your place for now.”
Estella frowned and tightened her grip on her father’s hand as a sign of protest. I only want Ms. Jarvis to live with us! I don’t want to stay with this bad lady!
Naturally, Lucian knew what was on his daughter’s mind. He patted her head before speaking to his mother. “I can ask Catalina to take care of her in a hotel. Just forget about letting her live here.”
Aubree’s lashes trembled before she tugged on the corner of Sonya’s shirt pitifully. “I think I should go back to the hotel, Mrs. Farwell. I can take care of myself.”
Aubree’s sensibility further reinforced Sonya’s idea of letting the younger woman stay. “I’ve already checked out of her hotel room. Aubree’s arm is injured. Why are you making things difficult for her? You spend your entire day in the company, so what’s the difference between her staying here and the hotel?”
Before Lucian could retort, Sonya stood, turned to Aubree, and reminded, “I’ll be going back now. You stay in the manor. Catalina will take good care of you.”
Aubree stared at Lucian cautiously before nodding at Sonya with a troubled expression.
Sonya approached her son and asked, “You’re not going to walk me out?”
With a frown, Lucian asked Catalina to take care of Estella before exiting the house with his mother. “Is there anything else?”
He knew she had something to say to him if she specifically asked him to walk her out.
Slowly, Sonya turned around and glared furiously at him upon hearing what he said.
Lucian more or less knew what she wanted to say, so he furrowed his eyebrows silently and waited.
With a serious expression, Sonya uttered, “I’m still going to say the same thing, Lucian. Aubree has waited for you for six years, and things have been hard for her. No matter what happens, you can’t disappoint her!”
They had had that same conversation many times before, so much so that it gave him a headache every time he heard it. It also made him lose the drive to argue with her.
She continued to speak as he listened silently.
Inside the mansion, Estella stared at the woman sitting on the couch and timidly grabbed the edge of Catalina’s shirt while wearing a wary expression.
Upon noticing the girl’s aversion toward her, Aubree felt displeased, but she still pretended to be nice. “Look, I brought you a gift, Essie.”
Then she pulled out a doll from her bag. “Do you like it?”
Without hesitation, the girl shook her head. I’m not going to like anything this bad lady gives me!
When Aubree saw the girl shaking her head, the expression on her face froze for a moment before returning to normal. “It’s fine if you don’t like it. I’ll take you out next time to buy whatever you like.”
In response, Estella cowered behind Catalina wordlessly.
“Ms. Estella just returned from school, Ms. Pearson. She’s probably tired. You should wait here in the living room while I send Ms. Estella back to her room first.” Catalina watched Estella grow up, so she understood the girl’s emotions very well.
She could tell Estella was afraid, so she immediately stood in front of Estella and shielded the little girl as she spoke to Aubree politely.
The moment she finished speaking, Aubree frowned. “I’ll send Essie upstairs. I have something I want to talk to her about.”
Then, Aubree stood and approached the girl.
Estella grabbed onto the edge of Catalina’s shirt even tighter when she saw Aubree getting close. Defiance was written all over her face.
Catalina was distressed when she saw Estella’s expression. However, due to her identity, she couldn’t say anything. She could only watch as Aubree approached and stretched out her hand toward Estella.
“I’ll send you upstairs, Essie.” Aubree put on her most amicable smile with the intention of changing the girl’s attitude toward her.
To her surprise, Estella still didn’t take her hand even after she waited patiently for a while. Instead, the little girl cowered further behind Catalina.
In response, Aubree’s eyebrows creased imperceptibly as she suppressed the rage in her heart. Patiently, she squatted down and stared into Estella’s eyes apologetically. “I can understand why you don’t like me, Essie. I didn’t know how to deal with children in the past, and I wasn’t patient enough with you. I hope you can forgive me. Let’s learn how to get along with each other, okay?”
Pursing her lips, Estella still shook her head.
Aubree had to dig her nails into her palm in secret to stifle her raging fury. This little b*tch! How dare she reject me when I’m asking her to get along with me nicely! It seems like she has forgotten how I used to punish her! If Catalina weren’t around right now, I would’ve shown her the consequences of disobeying me!
Children were usually sensitive to adults’ emotions. Despite Aubree’s attempt at suppressing her emotions, Estella could still sense her anger. Thus, the girl promptly and cautiously tightened her grip on Catalina’s shirt.
Sensing the girl’s emotions, Catalina could only protect her silently. She didn’t have the nerve to say anything.
“Be a good girl, okay, Essie? I’m going to be your mommy in the future. Don’t you want to get along with your mommy?” Biting the bullet, Aubree used the ace up her sleeve.
She thought that would make the girl cooperate, but to her surprise, the moment she ended her sentence, Estella’s detestation became even more obvious.
Initially, Estella only hid behind Catalina, but after she heard what Aubree said about being her future mother, her expression instantly changed. She glared at Aubree angrily before running upstairs by herself.
Aubree’s face fell as she watched the girl leave. Catalina breathed an inward sigh of relief when she saw Estella running away. “Ms. Estella’s emotions are often unstable. I hope you’ll forgive her, Ms. Pearson.”
In response, Aubree flashed her a forceful smile. Amidst her frustration, she heard sounds at the mansion’s entrance. Subsequently, she saw Lucian stepping back into the building.
“Has Mrs. Farwell left already, Lucian?” Aubree made swift adjustments to her expression before staring at the person at the entrance pitifully.
After shooting a glance at her, Lucian nodded indifferently and turned to Catalina. “Where’s Essie?”
He asked Catalina to take care of Estella before he went out, which was why he was wondering where his daughter had gone to.
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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