Upon seeing that Roxanne was still in a daze, Lucian couldn’t resist lifting his hand and caressing her face. “You…”
Roxanne was stupefied for several seconds before she belatedly snapped back to her senses. Mild embarrassment showed in her eyes.
While the man had sneaked up on her countless times when they were in Miralaea, she could more or less postulate the reason after the fact. But this time, I didn’t do anything. Why did he simply kiss me? Innocence was written all over Lucian’s face. “Sorry, I lost control.”
At that answer, Roxanne’s eyes went wide in fury. However, she couldn’t really censure him. either. All she could do was turn around as though nothing had happened and put the washed tableware aside..
The two of them spent some time doing the dishes. When they exited the kitchen, Archie, Benny, and Estella pestered Lucian to play with them for a while. Only when it was rather late did Lucian drive home. Needless to say, Roxanne saw him off with the three children.
When they had gone back into the mansion, she watched as Archie and Benny got into bed before making her way to her bedroom to take care of Estella.
“Essie, would you like to go home with your grandpa and grandma tomorrow?” Lying on the bed, Roxanne only started coaxing Estella after spending a long time bracing herself mentally.
As soon as Estella heard that, her initially smiling face fell. She clutched at Roxanne’s arm tightly. “No! I want to be with you, Mommy!”
Roxanne hugged her comfortingly. “I want to be with you too, Essie, but your grandpa and grandma miss you. Why don’t you go back and. keep them company for two days? Then, I’ll go over and bring you back here again. How about that?”
It took a lengthy persuasion before Estella was finally less averse to that idea. Early the following morning, Roxanne sent all. three children to the kindergarten. When she was planning to leave, Estella clung onto the hem of her clothes, unwilling to loosen her grip.
She patiently cajoled the little girl for a while before the latter entered the kindergarten at long last. Nevertheless, Estella remained morose the entire day as her mind was occupied with the fact that she had to go back with her grandparents later in the day.
In the afternoon, the kindergarten hosted a mini sports competition. Only then did Estella’s spark of life gradually return. Under Archie and Benny’s lead, she got along smashingly with the other children. At the sight of the children all fired up, Jeffrey and the other teachers wore expressions of gratification.
“I never expected Ms. Jarvis to be Essie’s biological mother,” Jeffrey lamented. It wasn’t until he had spoken that the others dared comment on that subject.
“Exactly. I didn’t expect Essie to be Archie and Benny’s biological sister. No wonder she always clung to the boys when she used to like to keep to herself.”
Likewise, gladness shone in Pippa’s eyes as she regarded the three children. She had been teaching Estella for a long time, so she was happier than anyone else to see the little girl’s personality turning bubbly.
Hearing that they were clearly favoring Roxanne, Ophelia was disgruntled. Even so, she went along with the flow. “I know, right? The world of the rich is really complicated.”
The instant those words rang out, Pippa eyed her strangely. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that Ophelia’s words carried an underlying meaning to them. Sensing Pippa’s gaze, Ophelia chuckled blithely. “But then, they’ve got a happy ending. The fact that the kids have a whole family is far more important than anything else.”
Following that remark, the sense of incongruity within Pippa finally dissipated. She bobbed her head in agreement. No sooner had she retracted her gaze than a chilly gleam glinted in Ophelia’s eyes.
Hah! Isn’t Roxanne and her family’s so-called happy ending thanks to that b*tch stealing my best friend’s man? If it weren’t for her, Aubree wouldn’t have ended up in such a state today! I’ll definitely teach this family a lesson on Aubree’s behalf!
