From then on, Roxanne lived with her children, Archie and Benny, while Lucian took care of Estella. The family proceeded to lead separate lives for six years. At present, Roxanne had returned to Horington for almost a year. Aside from the past ten years, Roxanne had never mentioned to Madilyn about knowing Lucian earlier.
“Well, it’s a long story. Maybe I shouldn’t say anything. Roxanne’s teasing tone sounded casual. She seemed totally unfazed by the purple wish bottle.
Hearing her friend’s impish voice, Madilyn protested loudly, “No! You must tell us. I’ll go get Jonathan, and we’ll come over to listen to your story.”
Meanwhile, at the manor, Roxanne smiled. “Fine. You two lovebirds can come over. I’ll tell you everything.”
When Roxanne returned home after sending the three kids to school, Madilyn and Jonathan had already arrived. Jonathan was holding the purple wish bottle, which was still sealed. The two looked at Roxanne suspiciously, unconvinced she had written the letter.
“Roxanne, no matter how you put it, this wish bottle was buried by Lucian and me the year before we went to university. I don’t remember having known you back then.” Jonathan had repeatedly explained that to Madilyn in the car.
Back then, Jonathan, Lucian, James, and Elektra would often hang out together on weekends, even though they attended different schools. Jonathan remembered that although they hung out together, everyone was engaged in different activities.
Lucian spent his time studying various business cases and acquiring business knowledge whenever he had the chance, while James had already developed a strong interest in psychology. Now, it seemed to Jonathan that James’ mother, Yennefer, had already fallen ill at that time.
Elektra, on the other hand, paid attention to various fashion trends and celebrity clothing every day. Jonathan was the only one who truly focused on his studies. He had no choice but to rely on rote memorization, as he wasn’t a natural talent.
Roxanne nodded, the expression in her eyes becoming somewhat distant as she reminisced about the past.
“Indeed, under normal circumstances, I would’ve never met Lucian. The high school he attended, being a renowned art academy in the country, was not only an excellent private school but also a place teeming with children of the social elites. Jonathan, like you, I only attended an ordinary high school.”
Jonathan nodded in agreement. She elaborated, “However, you were just being stubborn too. Your family had the means to send you to the same school as Lucian. He told me this himself back then.”
“Yes, that’s true. Lucian even told you that? In that case, you two must’ve been very close at that time, right?” asked Jonathan..
Unexpectedly, Roxanne shook her head. Nonetheless, a faint, contented smile appeared on her face.
“Actually, we weren’t close. Fate is really quite fascinating. Do you remember the custom of student exchanges between many schools in the past? That’s right. Lucian was an exchange student who came to my school. He was only there for a short month, but he left a lifelong imprint in my heart!”
As Roxanne relayed the story from her memories, the scene from decades ago played out in their minds. Lucian was unqualified as an exchange student because the objective of the exchange program was for the student to experience the school life of a normal high school and compare it to that of an art academy, including the common practices and order.
However, he was merely sixteen years old back then, so he couldn’t care less about those. He would occasionally skip classes because the curriculum for regular high schools was probably too boring for him.
One typical day, Lucian, James, and Jonathan planned to sneak into a trade show, so Lucian only stayed for the first class after lunch break before skipping the rest.
Back then, the school’s security was tight with guards stationed at all the gates, so he had no choice but to scale the wall near the library.
Unexpectedly, nails were scattered atop the walls that day. His hands were pierced and he fell to the ground, spraining his ankle in the process. Roxanne, being a top student, usually spent all her free time at the library.
She was rushing to her classroom that day after missing more than an hour of class due to being too engrossed in her reading. That was how they met.
Roxanne had never seen a more handsome young man than Lucian in her life, much less one in such a sorry state. Lucian was in so much pain as he examined his ankle and his bloody palms.
“Hey, are you okay? Do you need help? What hurt your hand? We need to stop the bleeding immediately and ensure you don’t contract a tetanus infection!” Roxanne remembered those words vividly because those were the first words she said to Lucian.
Lucian nodded before glancing at Roxanne. His gaze didn’t linger on her for long. Roxanne told Lucian not to move before running back to the library and getting a small medical kit containing all kinds of first-aid supplies. She then helped Lucian disinfect his wound and stop the bleeding.
However, his ankle was badly sprained. Never in his wildest dreams would he expect at high school girl to be familiar enough with the massage technique in traditional medicine to push the tendon in his calf back to its originall place.
At that moment, he vividly remembered how her side profile looked and how a tendril of her hair swayed in the light breeze.
“All right, done! You need to get a tetanus shot next. It’s best if you don’t move your leg for the next twenty-four hours.” She flashed him a faint smile before picking up the medical kit and heading back to the library.
Lucian thought she would be back. Instead, she hurriedly rushed back to class. However, Lucian’s features were deeply ingrained in her memory after that encounter.
After all, he was too good-looking. It would be hard to forget a face like that. Following the incident, Lucian waited for her at the library several times, but she didn’t show up.
It wasn’t until the day Lucian planned to skip class with Jonathan and James to bury his wish bottle that they finally met again. When he passed by the library, he ran into Roxanne again.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Lucian asked casually. Roxanne’s gaze, however, was focused on the empty wish bottle in his hand. “I know who you are, Mr. Farwell. May I ask what is that?” she asked, pointing at the wish bottle.
“You know me?” A faint smile curved Lucian’s lips at that knowledge. His smile accentuated his charm, causing Roxanne to avert her gaze in bashfulness.
Roxanne nodded with certainty at his question. Heaven knows how many times I wrote his name on my notebook. After finding out he was an exchange student from the art academy, she knew she would never get to become friends with him.
“This is a wish bottle. After writing down your wish, you put it in the bottle and bury it deep in the ground. Several years later, you dig it up and see if your wish came true. But I don’t know what I should write,” he said with a look of boredom.
“I see. That’s too bad.” Roxanne did her best to remain calm, but just the sight of him standing right in front of her made butterflies flutter furiously in her belly.
“Yeah. How about this, then? Do you have a wish? Why don’t you write yours and put it in this bottle? I’ll help you bury it. I’ll tell you where it is in the future, and you can dig it up. What do you think?”
Lucian appeared serious as he suggested that. Roxanne was stunned by his offer. However, she was naive back then, so she didn’t consider the possibility that someone might sneak a peek at what she wrote.
Hence, she nodded in agreement before rummaging around her bag for her diary. She then tore a page from it and swiftly folded it. The pages of her diary were purple in color.
“Is that it? Aren’t you going to write anything else?” Lucian asked curiously. Roxanne shook her head. “Yes, that’s all. All my wishes are written on that page. I have a lot of wishes, so I wonder if they will ever come true.”
“Okay. Put it in then.” When Lucian inched closer, a breeze blew past them, carrying the pleasant scent from his body. As the scent enveloped her, the intimacy. between them colored her cheeks red. She carefully slid the paper into the wish bottle.
Lucian instantly plugged the bottle’s opening with a cork. “I’ll go and bury your wishes now. The earth represents never-ending hope, so I believe that by burying it beneath the earth, your wishes will definitely come true.”
In a split second, the expression on Roxanne’s face froze. She would forever remember that scene. Lucian tilted his head slightly askew, and the smile on his face was both dashing and charming at the same time.
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.
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