“Finish your meal. Ms. Pearson will send you to the kindergarten later.” Without giving the child an opportunity to ask further questions, Lucian retracted his gaze from her.
Though Estella was puzzled, she did not dare ask any further at the sight of her father’s scowl. Instead, she ate her breakfast obediently. By the time she finished her breakfast, she was running late.
Aubree greeted Lucian before picking the child up for school. Lucian frowned as he gazed at the pair’s departing silhouettes before calling, “Wait a minute.” Aubree froze abruptly in her tracks at the sound of his voice. Her heart clenched.
Lucian isn’t having second thoughts, is he? Despite her fears, Aubree maintained her cheery smile. “Is there anything else, Lucian?”
With her hand held by Aubree, Estella gazed with her bright and clear eyes up at her father, also under the impression that her father had changed his mind and consented to allow her to skip school.
Lucian hesitated for a moment as he met their gaze.
After several seconds, his brow relaxed as if he had come to a decision.
“Don’t resist your teacher and your new classmates like you did the last time, Essie. I will be in touch with your teacher from time to time to find out how you’re doing in school.”
The child puffed her cheeks reluctantly. “I understand.” Aubree heaved a huge but secret sigh of relief. The smile on her face also became more genuine.
“I will speak to her teacher soon. Is there anything else? If not, I’ll be heading off with Essie. She’s running late.”
Lucian nodded indifferently. With a smile, Aubree led the child away. Upon getting in the car, Estella sat warily in the back seat and kept her lips pursed, refusing to utter a word.
Aubree tried to speak in an effort to build a rapport with the child. “Do you remember what your new teacher looks like, Essie? I’ve never met them.”
Estella nodded quietly. Aubree was pleasantly surprised to see the child reacting to her words. “Do you have any friends you like in your new class, Essie?”
Estella shook her head. With only the two boys in her mind when she came to school, she never noticed the other students. However, she remembered that she had been startled.
The other students must think that I’m a weirdo. That’s fine. I don’t plan to stay long in that kindergarten, anyway. I will be back to be with the boys when Daddy and Mommy get back together!
Throughout the journey, Aubree kept casting. about for new conversational topics to engage the child, who uncharacteristically responded to all of them.
As a result, she was in a splendid mood. Upon arriving at the kindergarten entrance, Aubree led the child out of the car. She was about to ask Estella to point out her new teacher when the teacher recognized Estella first.
“You’re here, Essie!”
The teacher approached them with a smile, greeted Estella, and turned to the adult beside her. “And you are?”
Aubree smiled as she inclined her head at the teacher. “Hello, I am Lucian’s fiancée, Aubree.” The teacher’s employment at the prestigious institution was a testament to her qualifications.
The marriage between the Farwell family and the Pearson family was common knowledge in Horington. Naturally, the teachers in the kindergarten would know about it.
Thus, she could guess without another word from Aubree that the second half of her sentence was to proclaim that she was Estella’s future mother.
With that in mind, the teacher’s attitude became much more respectful. “Hello, Ms. Pearson. I am Pamela Yaxley. You could call me Ms. Yaxley.”
