As Archie did not get a response to his question, he raised his voice in panic and urged, “Let’s go, Mommy!”
Regaining her composure, she took a deep breath to calm herself and assured him, “I’m okay. Please take care of Benny and Estella.”
With that, she lowered her gaze and tried to start the engine. To Roxanne’s dismay, the car engine rumbled before shutting off again. Her heart sank, and she tried to start the engine again.
However, it was to no avail. After a few tries, the car engine failed to even respond. Roxanne had no choice but to give up. It seemed like the car crash had damaged the engine.
In the backseat, Estella and Benny were still sobbing uncontrollably. Upon listening closely, Roxanne could even hear their voices wavering.
Roxanne’s heart wrenched along with their sobs. “I’m getting off the car to take a look,” she said. As soon as she finished speaking, she exited the car to see if she could try to fix it.
However, Roxanne didn’t know much about car mechanics. She tried to search online and examined her vehicle for a while, but she couldn’t figure out how to fix it.
As time ticked away, Roxanne shut the hood of her car dejectedly. She then turned and walked toward the backseat door.
Archie’s heart sank when he noticed his mother’s despondent mood. However, he opened the door calmly. “Mommy, how are things?”
Estella and Benny’s sobbing traveled into Roxanne’s ears again the moment the car door was pushed open. Her eyelashes quivered when she heard their crying.
The children were already feeling unwell. If she were to show any sign of panic, it would only frighten them even more. With that in mind, Roxanne took a deep breath and smiled at them comfortingly.
“There’s some problem with the car, so it doesn’t work anymore. I’ll go make a call first.”
Archie nodded obediently in response and assured her, “I’ll take care of Benny and Essie.”
Seeing his mature and understanding behavior, Roxanne was touched. “Thank you, Darling.”
If it weren’t for Archie, Roxanne wouldn’t be able to stay calm in a situation like this.
It was not as if she had not been through thrilling situations like this in the past few years.
However, it was different this time. The thought of Benny and Estella being in pain made her lose her mind, and she was unable to keep her cool.
Roxanne shut the door and gave Madilyn a call. It took a while before Madilyn answered. “Roxanne? Didn’t you go camping? Is there something you need?”
It seemed pretty noisy on the other end of the line, so Roxanne asked, “What are you doing?”
Madilyn sounded pained. “Don’t mention it. I was forced to work overtime again.”
As soon as she said that, the noise increased. Before Roxanne could say anything, Marilyn hurriedly added, “I need to get back to work. I’ll call you later.”
She then hung up right away. Roxanne’s gaze turned dark as her phone screen dimmed. She didn’t call Marilyn back. After a brief hesitation, she tried calling Larry.
Larry picked up pretty quickly, but he was in another state and couldn’t be of help in time. Roxanne didn’t tell him anything despite his concern. She dismissed him with a few cursory words and hung up.
There was no time to explain things. Besides, she didn’t want to trouble them further. As her friends couldn’t be of help, Roxanne couldn’t stop panic from rising in her heart.
At the same time, Archie observed her side profile and recalled the two calls she made earlier. He could somehow guess their current situation.
Mommy must have tried to ask for help but failed. With that thought in mind, Archie’s expression grew grim. “Daddy…” Estella was groggy from the pain, so she instinctively sought comfort.
Hearing his sister’s voice, Archie had a thought in mind. He sneaked a look at his mother outside the car. Roxanne was scowling unhappily.
A brief moment later, Archie looked away and called Lucian using his smartwatch. In Farwell Group, Lucian was seated in the conference room, his face devoid of expression. A group of managers was sitting in front of him.
Herbscape Group’s acquisition was a success, so it was time to plan their collaboration with Queen Group. They had been holding meetings for the past two days to discuss this matter.
When the meeting was about to come to an end, Lucian’s phone suddenly vibrated. The conference room descended into silence as everyone turned their attention to the vibrating phone.
Lucian’s brows snapped together. He grabbed his phone and was about to reject the call when he noticed the caller ID. Archie? Why is he calling at this hour? Didn’t they go camping?
“Mr. Farwell, should I continue my presentation?” the manager who was presenting asked sheepishly.
Lucian’s gaze swept over him. “Go on.”
Hearing that, the manager nodded and did as told.
He had barely said a few words when his CEO interjected, “Stop. I need to take this call outside.”
Lucian was still worried, so he cut his employee short and strode out of the conference room without hesitation.
After watching him leave, the others in the conference room shared a look.
Previously, work was always Lucian’s top priority.
During meetings, if someone’s phone were to ring, kicking the person out of the conference room was considered a light punishment.
No one knew Lucian’s phone would ring when he was in the middle of a meeting one day.
The matter had happened more than once recently, but their CEO would head out to answer the call every time without fail!
They couldn’t help but wonder who the person on the other end of the line was.
Outside the conference room, Lucian answered the call with a frown, oblivious to his employees’ thoughts.
“Mr. Farwell!” Archie’s voice rang out the moment the call connected.
Lucian thought he might be hearing things as Archie’s voice seemed to be trembling.
His heart sank when the realization hit him. “What’s wrong?” Archie glanced at Benny and Estella. “Are you free now? Can you come and pick us up?”
Lucian’s frown deepened. “Where is your mommy? What happened to you?” His first assumption was that something had happened to them. Otherwise, there was no reason for Archie to make that request.
A few seconds of silence ensued before Archie replied, during which Lucian heard someone sobbing in the background. This further affirmed his suspicion. “Our car hit a tree, and—”
Before Archie could explain Benny and Estella’s condition, Lucian cut in, “Are you all right? Are you badly hurt? I’ll come to you right now!”
As he spoke, he strode toward the elevator quickly. Archie hurriedly explained, “We didn’t get hurt, but Benny and Essie are sick.”
Lucian was already inside the elevator when he heard that. Archie wanted to clarify further but thought he couldn’t make things clear. Thus, he said, “I’ll ask Mommy to talk to you!”
He opened the door and hopped out. Dashing over to Roxanna, he removed his smartwatch and handed it to her.
When Roxanne saw Archie appearing beside her without warning, she instinctively took one look at the car. Archie’s here. That means Benny and Essie…
“What happened to them?” Suddenly, Lucian’s deep voice pulled her out of her reverie. Roxanne stiffened in shock. She belatedly noticed the smartwatch that Archie was offering her.
Archie had turned on the speaker mode, so Lucian’s voice sounded especially loud. She didn’t know what to reply after hearing his voice suddenly.
“Mommy!” Archie tugged at the hem of her clothes urgently.
Only then did Roxanne snap back to her senses. She tamped down the peculiar sensation in her heart and took the smartwatch from Archie. “I’m sorry for not taking good care of Essie,” she said apologetically.
Lucian’s gaze darkened a shade when he sensed something was amiss. Slowly, he probed, “What happened? Archie told me Benny and Essie are sick. Is that true?”
Strangely, Roxanne felt herself calming down upon hearing his voice. She explained, “They contracted a type of bacteria that caused them to suffer from severe abdominal pain. I was about to bring them back to the research institute to prepare their medicine, but I was too hasty and drove the car into a tree.”
Lucian’s voice was still calm. “Are they in a serious condition?”
Roxanne inclined her head. “I gave them herbs to ease their pain, but it isn’t working well.” She added, “I know how to treat them, but the medicinal herbs are at the research institute. I need to bring them there.”
Lucian’s brows scrunched up. “Where are you?” Roxanne told him their location.
“It’s too far away, so it will take at least four hours to travel to and fro. Don’t forget you’ll have to brew the medicine, too. Can they hold on for that long?” Lucian inquired. The same thought had also crossed Roxanne’s mind.
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.