As they were racking their brains to come up with an answer for Estella, someone knocked on the door.
Estella retracted her gaze from them and got up to open the door.
“Hi, Daddy!” Estella smiled and greeted obediently when she saw the person standing at the door.
Right then, Lucian was looking right back at her as he stood at the door while holding a plate of snacks and drinks.
“Mr. Farwell.” At the thought that they had almost given their father’s lie away earlier, Archie and Benny stood up and greeted Lucian guiltily.
Inclining his head a fraction, Lucian swept a dark look over them both. A sense of warning seemingly hit Archie and Benny through the air, upon which the expressions on their faces turned much more docile.
They could surmise that he was cautioning them against saying something they shouldn’t be saying. Seeing that they had grasped his meaning, Lucian nodded slightly and placed the snacks meant for them on the table.
“Just tell Ms. Catalina if you need anything. I’m going to settle some things.” All three children bobbed their heads in unison.
Without saying anything further, Lucian whirled around and left.
He was so absorbed in brooding over Roxanne’s thoughts just now that he forgot to remind Archie and Benny to be mindful of their words.
For that reason, he offered to do it instead when Catalina said she was going to take some snacks upstairs.
Watching as the bedroom door closed once more, Archie and Benny inwardly breathed a long sigh of relief.
Phew! Daddy was really scary earlier!
Following Lucian’s interruption, Estella forgot all about their conversation just now. She proceeded to share the snacks with Archie and Benny.
Soon, they all played together while munching on the snacks.
The matter about Roxanne was thrown at the back of Estella’s mind.
…
Meanwhile, Roxanne had finally forced herself into working mode after much effort. Engrossed in work, she accidentally lost track of time.
By the time she came out of the study, it was already growing dark.
Recalling the failed lunch at noon, she thought of making it up to Archie and Benny by going downstairs early to prepare dinner.
She initially reckoned that they would be playing downstairs, but there were no signs of them when she went to the floor below.
“Archie? Benny?” she called in a raised voice, giving their absence little thought.
When a while passed without any response, her heart sank.
She swiftly went upstairs and peeked into Archie and Benny’s room by the door, but they weren’t there. Neither were they in the backyard.
Only then did she realize that they had left at some point in time.
For a moment, sheer panic swamped her.
They had just returned to the country not long ago, so she couldn’t figure out where Archie and Benny could have gone.
After racking her brain for some time, she took a chance and knocked on Madilyn’s door.
Her best friend’s house was the only place she could think of where Archie and Benny might have gone.
Coincidentally, Madilyn was on leave at home. She happened to be napping when she heard the knock, so she was still pretty groggy when she opened the door.
“What is it, Roxanne? Are you here to invite me to dinner? I’ll pass since I still want to sleep.”
Having said that, she made to close the door without standing on ceremony with Roxanne.
Roxanne, on the other hand, frowned. “Did Archie and Benny come over to look for you?”
At that, Madilyn screeched to a stop in her tracks, her drowsiness disappearing into thin air. “No. Have they gone missing?”
In truth, Roxanne had a sinking suspicion of the answer the moment she laid eyes on her best friend earlier.
She only went ahead with that question because she still harbored a shred of hope within her.
Her hope finally died when she received Madilyn’s negative answer. Consequently, her heart sank even further.
Realizing that something had happened, Madilyn hurried back into the house and snagged a coat, draping it over herself. “I’ll look for them with you!”
Archie and Benny aren’t familiar with the environment in the country. I really hope they didn’t get lost!
Worried beyond words, Roxanne didn’t decline the offer.
They first searched around the neighborhood. When there were no signs of Archie and Benny, they climbed into the car to look somewhere farther.
Unfortunately, they were both at a loss after doing so, for they had no idea where Archie and Benny could have gone.
“Were they wearing their watches when they left?” Madilyn, who was calmer than Roxanne, asked with a frown.
At once, a light bulb went off in Roxanne’s mind. At the same time, regret and frustration inundated her.
Too many things had happened today that everything else fled my mind when I realized that Archie and Benny had gone missing, leaving panic all that remained. Luckily, I went over to look for Madilyn!
Following Madilyn’s reminder, she called Archie and Benny without delay.
Alas, Archie didn’t answer even after a long while had passed.
She then called Benny, but still, no one picked up.
As Roxanne and Madilyn listened to the ringing tone drifting out of the phone, their hearts sank to the bottom.
There were too many reasons that Archie and Benny weren’t answering the calls.
The worst possibility flashed across their minds…
Roxanne dug her nails into her palms to force herself to remain calm. Unlocking her phone, she checked the GPS location of Archie and Benny’s watches.
Only when she saw the two tiny green dots on the screen did a sliver of relief creep into her.
Phew! Fortunately, I can still track them!
“I’ll drive.” Likewise, having seen the GPS location, Madilyn immediately started the car engine.
Roxanne nodded weakly while staring at the two tiny green dots that were seemingly overlapping, not daring to take her eyes off for even a second.
Fortunately, the two tiny green dots remained stationary. Thus, they wouldn’t have any trouble tracking Archie and Benny down.
An inexplicable sense of familiarity flooded Roxanne as she scrutinized the distance between her current location and the tiny green dots. But on second thought, she found that absurd.
…
In her bedroom at the Farwell residence, Estella tilted her head in puzzlement at the sight of Archie and Benny’s watches flashing incessantly.
“It seems that someone is calling you, Archie.”
Archie glanced at the caller ID before he shook his head guiltily. “No, it’s just my alarm.”
After saying that, he hid his wrist away.
Mere moments later, Benny’s watch started flashing.
Similarly, he brushed it off with the same lie.
As their watches kept flashing, Archie and Benny exchanged a look brimming with craftiness.
Mommy will definitely come looking for us according to our GPS location when we fail to pick up her calls! At that time, she’ll undoubtedly meet Mr. Farwell!
Twenty minutes later, Madilyn brought the car to a stop at the gates of the Farwell residence.
At the sight of the grand building and door plate above, her expression changed, and she instinctively cast a look at her best friend.
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.