Quiet settled in the car again. Lucian had thought Roxanne would offer him an explanation or words of reassurance after he had shown understanding, but she remained silent for a long time.
That ticked him off, but he couldn’t go back on his words and could only keep his emotions in check. Thankfully, Benny had notified him of this earlier, or he would have flipped his lid thinking about Roxanne and her indulgent demeanor working together with Jack.
“You could take a break on this trip, too,” Lucian continued, not meaning a word he said. “The stories circulating online these few days must have affected you. I should have handled it better. I wanted to take you away for an excursion after my trip, but it seems that the medical consultation came at the right time.”
Roxanne came back to her senses and seemed to remember something. “Sorry for troubling you with the comments online.” Lucian frowned. “I was the one who put you in this situation. I should be the one apologizing. to you.”
Roxanne hesitated before continuing, “But it should be me who files the defamation suit. People will misunderstand if you do it for me…”
They appeared to be a family in the eyes of everyone else, which was the desired effect Lucian wanted. He feigned confusion. “Misunderstand what?” A hint of resignation flashed in Roxanne’s eyes, and she stared at him without answering. He clearly knows what I mean, yet he acts clueless.
Lucian knew that she knew, and he was unfazed. “Let them misunderstand, then. It works in my favor because everyone knows to stay away from you.”
He was very satisfied with the idea of announcing to the world what belonged to him, and he had no plans to retract the claim. Roxanne knew she couldn’t change his mind and gave up, pretending the conversation didn’t happen.
The car ride continued in silence until she heard a strange sound, followed by the vehicle lurching.
“Tire’s busted.” Lucian glanced at the dashboard with furrowed brows, wearing a solemn expression. “Buckle up. I remember there’s an expressway exit in front. I think we can still make it.”
Then he checked the roads before merging to the outermost lane..
This was Roxanne’s first experience, and she checked the rearview mirror from time to time for anyone tailgating them or deviation from a blown tire.
Thankfully, Lucian kept the vehicle speed moderate, and they were close to the exit. They could get off the expressway in no time.
“That was a scare, huh?” He gave Roxanne an apologetic look after pulling over to the side of the road. “The car was fine when we started the journey. Maybe we drove over something just now.”
Her heart was still beating a little quicker, and she breathed a sigh of relief when the car came to a stop. “It’s fine as long as nothing happened. Luckily, we were near the exit.” Remembering something, she took out her phone to check the time. Her face creased in frustration. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it to the medical consultation.”
“If it’s an emergency, you can wait here while I send someone with another car to us,” Lucian answered. Roxanne immediately asked, “What about you? Don’t you have business to attend to in Jadeborough?”
