He walked up and sat next to the bed. Then, he looked at Roxanne with a tender gaze. “Besides, how can I leave you all alone at the hospital? I’m sure the kids wouldn’t let me do that.”
Roxanne gave him a puzzled look. What has that got to do with the kids? With a smile, Lucian told her what the kids had told him in the car earlier. Roxanne felt a warm sensation in her heart after she knew how protective they were of her. “I was afraid they would be scared after knowing it. I never thought…”
As she spoke, she smiled and glanced at Lucian. “They weren’t scared because you were with them, and that’s why they were confident.”
Perhaps this was the power of paternal love. With that, they looked at each other and grinned. Roxanne made room for him and said, “It’s getting late now. Come and get some rest. You’ve got huge dark circles under your eyes!”
“There’s no rush. Since you can’t fall asleep, I want to seek your permission for something,” Lucian said while he remained seated.
Roxanne got serious when she saw his darkened expression. “What is it?” Lucian’s brows furrowed slightly, thinking of how to deliver the news. After a few minutes, he finally broke the silence.
“Jack’s second demand is for your research institute to work with them again. I’ve already drawn up the statement of unilateral termination of the contract so that I can get the antidote. I only need to release-”
Roxanne interrupted before he could finish. “No way.” Lucian stopped talking and looked at her helplessly. “You don’t have to worry about the funds. Farwell Group and Queen Group will pay you a large sum as the termination fee. You can use the money to increase employee benefits. It won’t matter if you take the money from the Damaris family.”
Roxanne said solemnly, “I’m the person in charge of the research institute. If you want to terminate the contract with us, I’ll try to look for another business partner. But I’ll never consider working with the Damaris family!”
After knowing the man that Jack was, Roxanne decided not to get involved with him in any way. She wouldn’t let Jack threaten them with this and let him have his way.
Lucian fell silent after seeing her firm attitude and hesitated. “I know how you feel, but now is not the time for you to burn your bridges with Jack.”
He knew if the research institute formed a collaboration with the Damaris Group, Roxanne would still hold value to Jack. In that case, there would be hope for her to get the antidote from Jack if they couldn’t develop it.
I will develop the antidote.” Roxanne sounded determined. “I’m sure he’ll make excessive demands from us every time we ask for an antidote from him if we do as he says this time. Do you really want to agree to his demands?”
She was displeased. “Didn’t you say you trust me? I’m sure I can do it!” Naturally, Lucian knew Jack would make more excessive demands in the future. However, he had no choice but to accept it for Roxanne’s sake.
When he saw Roxanne’s determination, he gradually gained confidence in her. The two gazed at each other for what seemed like forever before Lucian compromised, “Okay, I got it. We’ll do as you say. I’ll annul the statement, and we can continue to work together.”
A smile crept onto Roxanne’s face after he gave in. Lucian finally stood up after they decided on what to do. Roxanne thought he was going onto the bed to rest, so she made space for him.
With a deep gaze, Lucian said, “I’m thankful for your invitation, darling. But you just recovered, and the bed is too small. I don’t want you to feel squeezed, so I’ll take the couch.”
Before Roxanne could respond, Lucian turned and walked to the couch by the door. Roxanne belatedly realized what he had called her and started to blush.
Watching him lie down on the couch, she also slowly lay down. Lucian turned off the light, and the ward was plunged into darkness.
The two kept their silence, each with their own thoughts. Early the following day, Jack opened the social media app and looked up news about Farwell Group and the research institute.
According to his agreement with Lucian, the latter should have already released a statement about the termination of the contract on the internet at that hour.
He waited for an hour, but there was no sign of Farwell Group releasing the statement. Jack couldn’t help but think of the marriage that. hadn’t been announced so far, and his expression turned cold. “Lucian Farwell! How dare you?”
How dare you mess with me when Roxanne’s life is in my hands! At the thought of that, Jack gave Kevin an instruction with a darkened expression. “Give Lucian a call!”
He wanted to know what Lucian was thinking. Frightened by his gloomy aura, Kevin quickly took out the phone and called Lucian.
In the meantime, Lucian and Roxanne couldn’t fall asleep all night. They opened their eyes and sat up when the sun had barely risen.
Roxanne continued to think about the composition of the antidote while Lucian finally had time to handle Farwell Group’s affairs. A loud ringing broke the silence and disrupted their concentration.
Lucian came back to his senses and glanced at the caller ID. His face darkened, and hesitation. flashed across his eyes. “Is it from Jack?”
Roxanne looked over and saw Lucian’s change. in expression. Immediately, she knew who had called. Lucian scrunched his eyebrows in tacit vindication.
Upon seeing that, Roxanne put away her thoughts and said in a low voice, “I’ll call him back. I have something to tell him.”
Hearing that, Lucian hesitated for a moment but eventually declined the call. On the other end, Kevin looked perplexed when Lucian declined the call. “Mr. Damaris, Mr. Farwell is not picking up the call.”
“That jerk!” Jack was enraged. “How dare he mess with me! I’ll never let him off the hook!” Kevin lowered his head and kept his breath quiet after seeing his fury.
The atmosphere inside the office abruptly turned tense. All of a sudden, Jack’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and furrowed his brows when he saw the caller ID.
Roxanne? Isn’t she with Lucian now? Why is she calling me back instead of Lucian?
Jack was skeptical and finally answered the call after a while. “Ms. Jarvis, you’re awake?” On the other end, Roxanne’s voice was full of anger.
“I’ve overestimated you, Jack. Being the Damaris family’s heir and a doctor, I can’t believe you used your knowledge to poison me! Don’t you think you’ve failed the Damaris family’s name?”
Hearing her reprimand, Jack’s eyes flashed hostility as the corners of his lips slowly curled up. “You still have the time to criticize me. It seems that you are very energetic!”
“It’s all thanks to you,” Roxanne responded coldly. Narrowing his eyes, Jack sneered, “Since you know I did it, you should be clear that your life is in my hand. Watch your attitude!”
Then, he questioned coldly, “Where’s Lucian? Pass the phone to him!” Roxanne rejected without hesitation, “He has nothing to say to you! This is between us. Jack, don’t you dare threaten him with me again!”
She would never allow herself to be anyone’s weakness. Seeing her aggressive demeanor, Jack was so mad that he burst into laughter. “Very well. Why do you think you regained consciousness? Hasn’t Lucian told you? He only got the antidote from me after agreeing to three conditions.”
He thought Roxanne wasn’t aware of it, so he said arrogantly, “In order to get the antidote for you, Lucian has agreed to terminate the cooperation with your research institute. Moreover, he got married to another woman!”
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.
Leave a Reply