“You’re a good girl, Essie. I’ll bring you to shop for pretty dresses and dolls, okay?” Sonya tried to distract Estella, but it did not work at all.
Estella was still crying just as loud.
Sonya had no choice but to change her tactic and coax the little one along the way home.
“I want Daddy…” Estella sobbed, her face full of tears.
Sonya had no choice but to give in. I would rather her ask for Lucian than Roxanne!
Thirty minutes later, Sonya’s car slowly came to a halt at the entrance of the Farwell residence. By then, Estella, who was sitting in the back seat, had gone quiet.
Sonya heaved a sigh of relief inwardly because she thought Estella was finally done crying after crying throughout the journey home. To her surprise, she saw that Estella’s face was still covered in tears when she opened the car door.
Estella had gotten tired from all the crying, but she was still crying silently. Upon seeing Sonya opening the door, Estella didn’t even bother turning her head toward Sonya.
Sonya’s heart ached when she saw her granddaughter sobbing silently. She reached out to lift Estella into her arms and consoled helplessly, “Why are you still crying? Do you really like Roxanne that much? Do I not treat you well enough?”
Estella shook her head. Sonya’s heart sank when she saw that. Is Essie turning rebellious because of Roxanne? This little girl doesn’t even want me anymore.
Her anger toward Roxanne intensified. Right when Sonya was about to say something, Estella suddenly wrapped her arms around Sonya’s neck.
She was using her actions to show Sonya that she was still fond of her. Noticing the gesture, Sonya felt better, and her expression softened.
While wiping the tears off Estella’s cheeks, Sonya said, “Listen to me, okay? Since she doesn’t want you, we’ll also shut her out!”
Back then, Roxanne’s cruel decision to abandon Estella had always been a thorn in Sonya’s side.
Estella didn’t know what Sonya was talking about. She thought Sonya was badmouthing Roxanne, and she started crying once again.
At that moment, Sonya felt utterly helpless and frustrated. All she could do was carry Estella into the mansion.
“Mrs. Farwell, Ms. Estella,” Catalina greeted respectfully when she saw them walking in. She had been upstairs telling Lucian to head down for a meal.
As soon as she finished her sentence, she noticed Estella’s face was drenched in tears.
Before she could react to it, Sonya demanded, “What are you waiting for? Go and prepare the dishes Ms. Estella likes to eat! Quick!” Sonya then patted Estella’s head and coaxed in a gentle tone, “What would you like to eat, Essie? I’ll get Catalina to prepare for you…”
Sonya spoke while carrying Estella toward the couch in the living room.
“Daddy…” Estella suddenly called out and let go of Sonya’s neck.
Sonya was stunned.
In the next second, she heard a set of heavy footsteps approaching her.
After that, she heard her son saying unhappily, “Didn’t you say you give up?”
Lucian furrowed his brows and reached out to carry Estella.
Sonya didn’t react in time, so she didn’t let go of Estella immediately. At the same time, she was feeling guilty.
Soon, Estella’s sobs grew louder, and she started struggling to break free.
Finally, Sonya regained her senses and saw her granddaughter struggling in her arms. Upset, she sat down on the couch with Estella still in her arms.
“I want Daddy!” Estella cried and stared at Lucian.
Lucian stood where he was and said, “No matter how angry you are, you can come at me. Essie is feeling uncomfortable, so I suggest you give her to me.”
Needless to say, Sonya’s heart wrenched in pain.
She could let go of Estella, but she couldn’t accept the fact that her granddaughter was fighting so hard to break free from her embrace. The thought of Estella’s attachment to Roxanne brought her anger to new heights.
“Be good, Essie. Let me carry you. Don’t cry,” Sonya comforted patiently. Unexpectedly, the more Sonya consoled Estella, the harder Estella cried. Estella was crying so hard that she could barely catch her breath.
Upon noticing that things had gotten out of hand, Sonya reluctantly passed Estella to Lucian. Estella’s wails soon grew weaker again and gradually turned into whimpers after she got into Lucian’s embrace.
The moment Lucian noticed how aggrieved Estella looked, he knew exactly what had happened. I wonder what ruthless things my mother did in order to bring Essie out of Roxanne’s house.
“You’ve spoiled her.” Sonya was dissatisfied. “Don’t you remember how heartless that woman was back then? Why do you still want Essie to get near her? I told you countless times to stay away from her! Why wouldn’t you listen? Are you happy now? Essie doesn’t even want to return to her own home anymore!”
Estella didn’t know what Sonya meant, but she could feel that Sonya was badmouthing Roxanne to Lucian.
Knowing that, Estella tugged at Lucian’s shirt and whined, “I want Ms. Jarvis…”
Sonya was infuriated when she heard that. “Why would you want her? She didn’t even want—”
Before Sonya could finish her sentence, Lucian interrupted, “Catalina, bring Essie upstairs.”
Catalina hurried toward Lucian and reached out to carry Estella.
Considering how hard Estella had been crying earlier on, Catalina didn’t know if Estella would allow being carried away.
Fortunately, Estella was sick of Sonya’s complaints. When she saw Catalina reaching out to her, she immediately leaped into Catalina’s embrace.
Catalina couldn’t help feeling helpless and heartbroken when she felt Estella sobbing silently in her arms. This is obviously an issue among adults. Why did they have to drag Ms. Estella into it?
Sonya was startled by Lucian’s aura, and she ended up stunned for a few seconds. She only regained her composure after Catalina brought Estella upstairs. It’s so obvious that Lucian doesn’t want Essie to hear our conversation after this.
Sonya’s expression turned increasingly grim by the second.
“Shouldn’t Essie know about it as well? Why did you ask Catalina to bring her upstairs? Are you going to hide the truth from Essie forever? You can only keep her in the dark for so long. Don’t you think once Essie grows up she’s going to find out that the woman she’s so in love with is the same woman who abandoned her after giving birth to her? Do you think she’ll be able to accept it?”
Sonya’s stubbornness was giving Lucian a headache. “As I said, there must be some misunderstandings. I just haven’t figured it out yet.”
As soon as those words fell, he heard his mother speaking those usual prejudiced words. “What misunderstandings are you talking about? What lies before our eyes is the truth! Unlike Roxanne, Aubree—”
“I’ll judge Aubree on my own,” Lucian interrupted coldly. If I let her continue talking, she’s only going to talk about how great Aubree is.
Sonya frowned, and she wanted to continue talking. However, she quickly noticed the change in Lucian’s aura.
Lucian stared at her with a grim expression and said, “How about you? You knew about Essie’s condition, but you still used extreme means to take her away from Roxanne. Have you ever considered that Essie’s condition may deteriorate at any time?”
When Sonya was at Roxanne’s, she had heard something similar from her, but she didn’t take it seriously.
Perhaps Sonya just didn’t want to accept the fact that Roxanne cared about Estella.
Evidently, Sonya only felt guilty for her actions when she heard Lucian mentioning it.
Lucian noticed the guilty look on his mother’s face. “I’ll handle my own marriage and Estella’s life. What you think is best may not be the best in others’ eyes.”
In other words, he was telling her to stop meddling in his personal affairs. Sonya felt angry and guilty at the same time. “Whatever I did, I did it for your own good.” Lucian refused to respond to her because he knew how stubborn his mother was. Whatever I say is pointless.
“Essie is my granddaughter, so obviously I care about her. I wanted to bring her back with me, but she was crying for you. In the end, I still brought her back here, didn’t I? Even if Essie has accepted Roxanne, Roxanne still has two more kids. If you were to be with her in the future, what would happen to those two kids of hers? Are you going to give the Farwell family’s inheritance to those… children?”
With much effort, she managed to stop herself from calling Archie and Benny a pair of illegitimate children.
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.