Speaking of Estella, Roxanne couldn‘t help feeling somewhat distressed. The smile on her face turned a touch forced.
Estella was unhappy because of her, yet she could only have Archie and Benny mollify the girl on her behalf.
As Archie and Benny clocked her expression, their eyes dimmed. Self–reproach was written all over their faces. “We‘re sorry, Mommy.”
Roxanne‘s brows furrowed in bafflement when they apologized all of a sudden.
Benny muttered weakly, “We shouldn‘t have thrown a tantrum with you because of Essie. You must also be very tired every day, Mommy. Don‘t worry. We‘ll do our best to make her happy henceforth!”
“Just focus on your work, Mommy. We‘ll take good care of Essie!” Archie echoed.
Roxanne beamed in gratification. “Thank you, Darlings.”
“But it‘ll be far better if you can go and visit Essie, Mommy,” Benny added in a whisper.
After saying that, he was afraid that Roxanne heard him, so he smilingly announced, “It‘s okay even if you can‘t visit her. We‘ll help take good care of Essie on your behalf, Mommy!”
Roxanne smilingly patted him on the head. She watched as the two children went to bed before she stood up and returned to her room.
Meanwhile, at the Farwell residence, Estella had been down in the dumps ever since
she came home from kindergarten.
Lucian‘s brows knitted together.
Her mood has improved significantly after learning that Roxanne isn‘t going abroad so soon, but she‘s abruptly depressed again today for some inexplicable reason.
“What‘s wrong?” He regarded her in bewilderment.
“Ms. Jarvis…” Estella admitted sullenly.
Sure enough, Roxanne is the only person who can cause her such emotional turmoil.
Lucian‘s gaze darkened a shade. “Isn‘t she no longer going abroad? Why are you still sad?”
Pouting, Estella glowered at him in displeasure. “I haven‘t got to see her!”
She had thought she would have the opportunity to see Roxanne when the latter wasn‘t going abroad, but Roxanne had never once appeared in the past few days.
Every day she went to kindergarten and back, she was hopeful beyond words. Alas, she ended up disappointed each day.
After a few days, she couldn‘t help feeling dejected to the point that she was irate about seeing Lucian.
It‘s because of Daddy that Ms. Jarvis is avoiding me!
Lucian had no idea about her thoughts. It merely occurred to him out of the blue that the look in her eyes as she gazed at him was somewhat similar to Archie‘s and Benny‘s.
Ever since Rozanne‘s showed up, all three kids seem to detest me.
At that realization, he felt a headache building. Nonetheless, he patiently mollified her, saying, “You‘ll get to see her eventually since she isn‘t going abroad.”
Conversely, Estella shot daggers at him, making it evident that she didn‘t believe him.
Lucian massaged his temples. “I‘ll figure out something for you. Now, go and sleep, okay?”
Estella eyed him skeptically for a long time. Then, she slowly extended her little finger at him and urged in a sweet voice, “Pinky promise.”
Lucian stretched out his hand and hooked pinkies with her before she relented.
He sent her back to her room, but recalling her relentless wails when she had a nightmare back then, he didn‘t dare leave immediately. Instead, he waited until she was deep in slumber before getting to his feet and leaving.
As he stood at the door, his expression was frightfully grim.
She‘s so dependent on Roxanne, yet that woman is so cruel to her that she’s unwilling to visit her even once. If she were to know what Roxanne told me that morning, she‘d probably cry buckets.
