As Roxanne looked at her seemingly sparkling eyes, she simply couldn’t bring herself to turn her down.
“Essie, Ms. Jarvis is very busy with work, so she probably has no time.”
Out of the blue, Lucian’s scornful voice drifted into their ears.
At his words, Roxanne’s pupils constricted. Snapping her eyes up, she glared at the man in front of her with an absurd look in her eyes.
I found it unnecessary to explain his misunderstanding toward me earlier, but I never thought that he’d remember it for so long and even mock me!
At that, the light in Estella’s eyes dimmed, and she dipped her eyes in disappointment.
Helplessness deluged Roxanne as she eyed them both. She had no other choice but to suppress the disgruntlement within her and first coax Estella.
“I promise I’ll bring you camping with Archie and Benny next week.”
It wasn’t until then that Estella raised her head once more. But still, skepticism lingered in her eyes.
Archie and Benny hurriedly chimed in, “Mommy never lies!”
Estella had always trusted them unconditionally, so the smile entered her eyes again since they had said as much.
Bobbing her head obediently, she held her little finger out at Roxanne.
Roxanne was startled for a moment, not quite sure what Estella wanted to do.
“A pinky promise,” Estella urged in her cute voice.
At that, understanding dawned upon Roxanne. She found it rather amusing, yet her heart melted at the same time.
A moment later, she held her little finger out and hooked it around Estella’s outstretched finger in a pinky promise.
Only then did Estella relax completely.
“It’s late, so I’ll be going home with Archie and Benny first. Rest earlier, Essie.”
Before leaving, Roxanne bid her farewell with a smile.
Waving at her obediently, Estella saw them off.
Lucian stood behind her silently with a dark and indecipherable gaze as he watched Roxanne, Archie, and Benny disappear into the distance.
“Daddy.” When Roxanne, Archie, and Benny had disappeared from sight, Estella lifted her eyes and stared at her father.
At her voice, Lucian slowly retracted his gaze and lowered his eyes to meet her gaze. “Yes?”
Puffing up her cheeks, Estella demanded in a huff, “Did you make Ms. Jarvis mad again?”
Tonight, Ms. Jarvis didn’t talk much to him. No matter how hard Archie, Benny, and I tried, she hardly glanced in his direction.
Following that line of thought, frustration swamped her.
He has already promised me that he’d forgive her and never make her mad again, but he didn’t keep his word!
Discerning her thoughts, Lucian frowned and was just about to answer when he abruptly remembered James’ advice in the next heartbeat.
Thus, he went silent for a few seconds before replying, “We have some conflicts at work.”
As soon as Estella heard the word “conflicts,” her face fell.
Lucian regarded her with his brows furrowed. “Both of us have to work, so it’s inevitable that we have conflicts at work. You must understand that.”
Nevertheless, Estella scrunched her face in anger. “But why must you bring home your conflicts at work?”
Her question had words eluding Lucian.
“Could it be that you haven’t forgiven Ms. Jarvis?” Estella was all dubious.
When Lucian heard that she was placing the blame on him, his brows creased.
Some time passed before his lips twitched cryptically, and he asserted, “You know I never bring work stress home.”
Blinking hesitantly, Estella solemnly cast her mind back to the past.
That seems to be true indeed. He’s very busy, but he’s still exceedingly patient with me every time he returns home. So, was it Ms. Jarvis who brought work stress home?
She couldn’t understand why adults couldn’t draw a line between work and private life, much less fathom the fact that the person who did so was none other than Roxanne.
But even then, she’s always in the right!
Adamantly siding with Roxanne, she furiously shot daggers at her father. “Even so, you’ve got to coax her!”
Dumbstruck, Lucian felt utterly exasperated.
I’ve already spelled things out, but she’s still siding with Roxanne!
Meanwhile, Roxanne hailed a taxi by the roadside and brought Archie and Benny home.
She was really exhausted after interacting with Lucian earlier, so she didn’t speak much throughout the drive.
However, Archie and Benny thought that she was angry at them. Thus, they looked at each other guiltily.
Benny tugged at Roxanne’s shirt pitifully. “Mommy… Don’t be mad anymore, okay?”
Hearing that, Roxanne forcefully perked up and met their gazes in puzzlement.
“We shouldn’t have sneaked out and made you worry,” Benny whispered in apology with his head penitently hung low.
The instant Roxanne heard that, she inexorably recalled Lucian’s words earlier.
I can understand that they sneaked out, but I really can’t fathom why he framed it as a deliberate ploy on my part.
At that thought, a headache started assailing her.
Conversely, Archie and Benny thought that she was livid, so they gave explanation after explanation.
“We only went to see Essie because we were really worried about her.”
“Besides, we were afraid that she’d be even sadder when she didn’t see you upon waking up, so we wanted to make her happy.”
Roxanne could tell that the children were getting anxious, so she did her best to suppress her emotions. “I’m not mad. In fact, I want to thank you for comforting Essie.”
Even though the kids’ actions did cause a misunderstanding with Lucian, Roxanne knew Estella’s mood would not have improved had it not been for them.
The children breathed a sigh of relief after hearing their mother but remained somewhat cautious.
“Sorry, Mommy. We won’t run off by ourselves again,” promised Archie after crawling into her embrace.
Despite how dim the light in the car was, the exhaustion on Roxanne’s face was plain to see.
The boy was convinced that he did not do anything wrong before, but at that moment, he was filled with guilt.
Benny, too, crawled into his mother’s arms and apologized.
Then, Roxanne gave her children a big hug before patting them on the head. “I know you were just worried about Essie.”
In response, the kids nodded in agreement because they were indeed concerned about Estella.
However, they also had another reason they dared not tell Roxanne.
On the way home, Roxanne could not help but tense up when she saw from afar that the lights in the mansion were on.
After reaching the door, Roxanne was about to ask the children to stay there while she went inside to have a look when someone suddenly turned the doorknob from the other side.
“You’re finally back!” Madilyn felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she saw the three.
After leaving the Farwell residence, she went straight to Roxanne’s house and waited for them to return.
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.