Upon hearing Benny’s innocent comment, Roxanne couldn’t help but feel bad for Jack.
He was only concerned about the project, yet he had become the subject of everyone’s misunderstanding on her account. In fact, her attitude toward him had even sparked intense hostility from the children.
“There’s nothing going on between Mr. Damaris and me. I simply did all that out of courtesy,”
she explained patiently. With a frown on his face, Benny questioned further, “In that case, why are you rude to Mr. Farwell?”
Roxanne was at a loss for words. It’s true that I treat Jack differently from Lucian, but that’s because…
“You treat Mr. Damaris cordially, and yet you don’t like him. Does that mean you’re rude to Mr. Farwell because you like him?” Benny asked innocently.
Roxanne was stunned yet again. Their question was exactly the same as Estella’s from that fateful night. Through the eyes of the children, the world was as simple as black and white.
Just like that particular night, Roxanne was stumped for an explanation. All she could do was deny it adamantly. “I don’t like him too.”
“But I like Mr. Farwell!” Benny lowered his head. in disappointment. “And I like Essie too…”
“Mommy, please don’t dislike Mr. Farwell.” Devastated by Roxanne’s response, Benny tugged her sleeve pitifully. “Even though Mr. Farwell has made you mad, he still cares a lot about you. Every time you were sick, he would always be by your side.”
His words triggered a flicker in Roxanne’s eyes and tugged at her heartstrings. It was true that ever since her return, Lucian had always been by her side when she wasn’t feeling well Prior to that, Roxanne had never had anyone care for her other than the children doing their clumsy best. I can’t deny that Lucian has given me a sense of security, but…
Oblivious to what was going through his mother’s mind, Benny mumbled, “Mr. Farwell treats you very well, and he doesn’t let us tell-” It was then Benny felt a sudden poke from Archie.
Biting his tongue, he quickly tried to change the subject. “No matter what, Mr. Farwell is the best. Can you stop quarreling with him. already?”
However, Roxanne’s brows were already knitted. “What did you mean just now? What else did Mr. Farwell do?”
Benny lowered his head, brimming with guilt. The look on his face ended up intriguing Roxanne further.
At that moment, Archie knew that it was too late to salvage Benny’s slip of the tongue. Trying to hide it any further would only intensify Roxanne’s suspicions.
With that thought in mind, Archie spoke candidly. “It was Mr. Farwell who took care of you when you were drunk.”
His words inadvertently caused Roxanne to recall the events of that night. Back then, she had assumed that she was dreaming. Little did she expect the entire incident to turn out to be real. The thing is, when did he leave?
“Mommy, Benny is right. Can you stop fighting with Mr. Farwell already?” Archie casually changed the subject. “We really like playing. with Essie. Every time both of you quarrel, we won’t be able to see her.”
The mention of Estella caused Roxanne to set her thoughts aside as she gave Archie an apologetic look.
Can what’s going on between Lucian and me be described as a quarrel? It could be in the past, but given Lucian’s stance, it’s clear that he wants to sever ties with me.
It was a fact that Roxanne had no illusion about but didn’t know how to explain to the boys. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want things to turn out this way too, but not everything is as simple as you think.”
The pale-looking Roxanne eked out an explanation a short while later.
Archie responded with a sensible nod. “I can understand where you’re coming from, Mommy. It’s just that can you convince Mr. Farwell to allow Essie to return to the kindergarten?”
A conflicted look spread across Roxanne’s face. “Darling, Mr. Farwell is Essie’s father, and he has his reasons for transferring Essie to another kindergarten.”
Archie countered, “He doesn’t want Essie to see us because both of you are fighting.” Roxanne was surprised that Archie not only knew the reason but also dared to speak out about it.
“I feel that Essie shouldn’t have been placed in a new environment so abruptly. If Mr. Farwell doesn’t want her to see us, we’re willing to transfer out instead.” Archie’s childish voice rang out again.
Roxanne was surprised by her son’s words. She knew they had always been very sensible and had always taken good care of Estella However, what she didn’t expect was that they had been thinking about this even more than she did.
Benny chimed in sweetly, “Mommy, please talk to Mr. Farwell about this. We’re worried that Essie might get bullied, and we won’t be there to protect her.”
Roxanne felt her chest tighten at the mention of Estella being bullied. She recalled the incident when Estella had been bullied by her classmates when Archie and Benny first entered the classroom.
Back then, the boys had stepped forward to protect Estella and helped her to smoothen things over with her classmates.
However, now that Estella was in a new kindergarten, she no longer had any playmates she was familiar with. Roxanne was worried that if Archie and Benny weren’t beside Estella, the past would repeat itself.
There’s a possibility that it would be just like what the boys said. Estella would beostracized by the other kids.
Thinking about this, Roxanne relented and said, “All right, I’ll have a chat with Mr. Farwell regarding this soon. That being said, you guys need to prepare yourselves to transfer to another kindergarten.” The boys’ eyes lit up.
Mommy’s willing to talk to Daddy! It doesn’t matter what they’ll be talking about. At the very least, this will end the silent war they’re waging against each other. Besides, we’re the ones who brought up the idea of transferring kindergartens, anyway. This way, we’ll be able to keep Essie’s condition from deteriorating further.
With that thought in mind, the boys agreed to it without hesitation. Roxanne flashed a smile and tousled the boys’ hair. “It’s getting late now. Get some rest.”
Since they had achieved their goals, the boys nodded at her obediently in response. As Roxanne walked out of the boys’ room, words from their conversation earlier kept replaying in her mind, making her feel slightly guilty.
She had always thought that matters between adults should be kept between adults and children should not be involved in them.
However, because of her relationship with Lucian, all three children had their lives affected in some way or the other. The case was especially true for Estella, whose condition kept relapsing.
At the end of the day, Roxanne reckoned this was all because of her determination not being strong enough. All she wanted at first was to avoid Lucian, but somewhere down the line, she got involved with him again instead.
She wanted nothing more than to take care of Estella, but because of her relationship with Lucian, she had no choice but to treat the little girl indifferently.
Now that she thought about it, Archie’s and Benny’s words reminded her of something.
Since I’m involved with Essie now, and her condition is affected because of me, I should be firm with my decision. No matter what my relationship with Lucian is, I should prioritize Essie’s condition. At the very least, I should make sure her condition is stabilized. This way, I will not have any regrets.
Roxanne headed back to her room and hesitantly drew up Lucian’s number from her phone. She hadn’t contacted him ever since they fought that day. Naturally, Lucian did not take the initiative to contact her either.
Roxanne tapped into his contact detail and hesitated. Even though all she needed to do was to tap her finger down on her screen, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
After all, their interaction last time had ended on really bad terms. Roxanne had no idea how to start the conversation with him.
After hesitating for a while more, she glanced at the time and saw that it was near midnight.
Lucian should already be asleep at this time, right? Taking that into account, Roxanne eventually put her phone away Now that I think about it, there’s no need for me to go through Lucian in order to know about Essie’s condition.
I can always find out which kindergarten Essie goes to and go check on her during her recess. It’ll be even better if I can see that she’s getting along well with the other children so that I won’t be so worried.
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.