Roxanne’s eyes brimmed with helplessness as she watched Lucian’s leaving silhouette. Meanwhile, the three children were playing happily outside when they saw Lucian emerge with a scowl on his face. The sight instantly caused their smiles to freeze.
“Daddy…” Estella warily grabbed hold of Lucian’s sleeve. “Did you argue with Ms. Jarvis again?” Given how hard it was for Lucian and Roxanne to mend ties, she didn’t want to see them on bad terms again. Archie and Benny, too, gave him a look of concern.
Made aware of his glowering expression, Lucian quickly regained his composure and tousled the children’s hair. “It’s nothing. We just have different opinions about work.”
Since Roxanne had often used the same excuse every time they quarreled, his words served to deepen the children’s suspicions.
Cognizant of what was going through their minds, Lucian comforted them, “I’ll come and see you again tomorrow.” That was his way of promising that he would return.
Only then were the children’s concerns eased as they bid him goodbye. Over the next few days, Lucian would have dinner at Roxanne’s house under the pretext of visiting Estella.
Whenever Roxanne wanted to turn him down, he would then claim that there was progress in the investigations to report. Consequently, the former had no choice but to accommodate him.
Throughout that period, Estella stayed in Roxanne’s house and had entirely forgotten about the new kindergarten.
Pamela, who still felt guilty over the bullying incident, didn’t dare call Lucian to inquire about her absence. Hence, she had no choice but to contact Aubree instead.
“Ms. Pearson, is Essie not feeling well the last few days?”
Aubree was puzzled by the question. “What? Why did you say that?” A sense of hope began to swell within her. If Estella was really sick, she could pretend to visit the former just to approach Lucian.
However, Pamela was equally clueless. “She hasn’t come to school recently, so I thought she was sick, isn’t she?” The words caused Aubree’s face to darken.
Over the last few days, she had been scheming on how to break Roxanne and Lucian up. Although she had contacted him a few times, he would quickly brush her off. Thus, she had no idea what was going on with Estella.
Little did she expect the latter to have missed kindergarten for a few days.
Based on Lucian’s previous attitude, sending Essie to the new kindergarten was his way of declaring that his relationship with Roxanne has ended. Now that Essie isn’t going there anymore, does it mean that he has changed his mind?
The thought filled Aubree with frustration. Meanwhile, when Pamela didn’t receive a response, she carefully called out, “Ms. Pearson?”
Regaining her senses, Aubree desperately suppressed her anger despite wearing a scowl on her face. “Essie is feeling under the weather. I’m sorry that I forgot to inform you about it.”
Pamela didn’t think too much about it. “That’s a relief. I thought-”
She subsequently let out an awkward chuckle before changing her words mid-sentence. “In that case, she should take her time to recuperate at home. There’s no rush to come back to school.”
After grunting in acknowledgment, Aubree ended the call before Pamela could say anything else. She was afraid that she would lose her temper if the conversation were to drag on any longer.
After all, the scene of Estella crying her eyes out when she saw Roxanne hadn’t slipped Aubree’s mind. Roxanne must be the reason that little b*tch didn’t go to school!
