Roxanne furrowed her brows. “Where is he now?”
Catalina replied, “He’s downstairs.” As they were talking, the two reached the stairs. Roxanne could hear the children playing downstairs, and she couldn’t help but feel slightly uneasy.
Will Elias have a negative impression of the children if he is downstairs and the kids are playing so vociferously?
Roxanne instantly quickened her pace at that thought. Suddenly, she heard Benny say in a childish voice, “Grandpa, you did it wrongly here! You should put it like this! You should look at the instructions!”
Elias’ voice followed right after. “Oh, I see. I have never done this before, so I’m not very familiar with it. I understand it now.”
Upon hearing their conversation, Roxanne was befuddled and she quickened her footsteps. When she finally made her way downstairs, the scene of Elias playing Lego with the three kids greeted her.
When Roxanne saw Benny hugging Elias, it sent her into a panic. She quickly called out, “Archie, Benny!”
Even though they heard Roxanne’s voice, the children still had no intention of leaving Elias. Instead, they just turned to smile and greet her. “Mommy! You woke up so late! I had no one to play with me! Luckily, Grandpa was up!”
Roxanne’s cheeks turned pink when she heard the children say this in front of Elias. She tried to make up an excuse. “I woke up a long time ago, but I was on a call upstairs!”
Then, she turned to greet Elias meekly, “Mr. Farwell, good morning.”
Elias smiled and nodded at her.
Roxanne was touched when she saw how kind Elias was to her but swiftly put her guard up in case she lost her composure. “Did you not get a good night’s sleep yesterday? You look pale?” Elias asked out of concern.
Roxanne stiffened as she recalled yesterday night’s events. “I’m still getting used to this place since I just returned. I didn’t manage to get a good night’s sleep yesterday, plus, work has been busy. I’ll be fine in the next two days.”
Elias nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Work is important, but your health matters too, Young Lady.” With that, he lowered his head and gave Estella, Benny, and Archie a look. “Come and eat. Stop playing.”
The kids obediently nodded their heads. “Okay, Grandpa!” Elias smiled in delight when he heard the kids calling him Grandpa. Even though Sonya was always complaining about Archie and Benny to him, he thought they were cute and likable.
Roxanne heaved a sigh of relief when she saw how fond Elias was of Archie and Benny. “Who said you can call him Grandpa?”
Sonya suddenly came down the stairs and glared at them petulantly. The faces of Roxanne, Archie, and Benny clouded over. Sonya wouldn’t even spare them a glance as she made her way down and toward Elias.
“You should set some boundaries no matter how fond you are of the kids. Grandpa Farwell. is still an option. But how could you allow them to call you Grandpa? Only Essie is entitled to that. We only have one granddaughter in the Farwell family, and that’s Essie.”
She made it clear that she was displeased with Elias condoning such behavior. However, Roxanne knew that she was actually reprimanding Archie and Benny for crossing the line. She clenched her fists when she saw how disappointed her two kids looked, and she wanted to object.
Nevertheless, she held back when she recalled the reason she had agreed to stay, and instead, she simply pulled Archie and Benny over to her side.
Elias, on the other hand, defended Archie and Benny, saying, “They’re still young. You’re being too hard on them. It’s just a form of address. They can call me whatever they want.”
Sonya stared at him in disbelief. “What do you mean it’s just a form of address? You know very well what this means!”
Elias effectively ended the conversation as he sat down at the dining table, saying, “The food is getting cold. Come and eat.”
Sonya had to swallow her frustration as she sat down beside him with a scowl. When she noticed Roxanne, Archie, and Benny sitting across from her, she couldn’t help but mutter to herself, “Why are we treating them like family when they clearly aren’t? They’re just going to fight over our inheritance when they grow up.”
Sonya had lost her composure and was acting out during the meal, displaying her anger as if she was afraid no one knew she was upset.
Roxanne couldn’t help but speak up in response. “Rest assured, Mrs. Farwell, that the three of us won’t spend a single cent of the Farwells’ money while we’re here. If you don’t mind, I can transfer the money over to you right away.”
Sonya felt as if she was being ridiculed and responded, “Do we look like we care about such a meager amount of money?”
Roxanne met her gaze and said, “I know you’re not that petty, so just treat us like your guests while we’re here. I’m pretty sure this is not how you would normally treat your guests.”
Despite her attempt to tone down her tone, Roxanne’s voice remained cold and harsh when it came to matters related to Archie and Benny. Sonya was left speechless, her fork hanging.
mid-air as she paused to process what was said. Finally, she spoke up, “Well, I hope you’ll look after your sons and ensure they don’t address Elias however they want.”
Benny looked at Roxanne before turning to Sonya and defending his mother without any hesitation. “But Grandpa is very happy when we address him as such. We can address you in another way since you don’t like us calling you Grandma.”
Sonya turned red with anger at Benny’s remark, knowing he was right. The dinner table was suddenly heavy with tension.
Roxanne was taken aback by Benny’s comment but acknowledged that he was right. After all, Elias and Sonya were their grandparents in reality.
Instead of calling Benny out for ridiculing his grandmother, she gave Elias an apologetic look. Elias nodded reassuringly, “Let’s calm down. and enjoy our meal. We’re adults, so we shouldn’t let kids’ words get the best of us.”
After that, Elias served some food to Sonya’s plate to calm her down. “Relax. After breakfast, I’ll take you out shopping. Didn’t you mention that you liked a particular bag last time?” A combination of different emotions played across Sonya’s face as she stared at the food Elias served her.
“Hmph. You’re taking their side,” she grumbled. “I can’t eat this meal anymore. You can continue eating if you like.”
She then shot Roxanne a cold glare before heading upstairs. After a while, Sonya came back downstairs dressed in different clothes and quickly left the house.
“I apologize for interrupting your meal, Mr. Farwell, Roxanne said apologetically. Elias waved her away and turned to Catalina. “Send someone to look after Sonya. Buy her anything she wants and keep me informed of her whereabouts at all times.”
Catalina nodded and immediately assigned tasks to the staff. “Don’t mind her. She’s just stubborn. She’ll treat you well eventually when she comes around. Just look at how she treated Aubree in the past six years.”
After making sure Sonya was taken care of, Elias spoke up for her. Roxanne acknowledged Elias’ words with a nod. “I understand.” She just didn’t know when Sonya would see them in a different light.
“Gran…” Benny stopped mid-sentence and gave it some thought before asking in cautious tones. “Grandpa Farwell, can we still address you as Grandpa?”
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.