Roxanne’s brows furrowed in reflex. Right as she was about to say something, Benny, as if he could read her mind, changed his request. “You don’t have to do it every day; just until the anniversary celebration will do.”
In response to Benny backing down, Roxanne sighed in relief and agreed, “All right.” Her answer filled the children’s faces with elation.
Meanwhile, displeasure flashed across Lucian’s face when he noticed Benny wavering in his stance He was cognizant of why Benny did it and the reason why Roxanne could readily agree.
Since they were going to be rehearsing for the play, there was no point in her avoiding him for the time being.
Once the anniversary celebration was over, she would then stay as far away from him as she could
Given that Roxanne had come back late, it was already well past eight by the time dinner was done. With limited time left, they could only rush through the rehearsal before it was time for Lucian to take Estella home.
When she was reluctant to leave, Roxanne coaxed her with a smile, “Be a good girl, Essie. I’ll be collecting all of you from school tomorrow, and we can have fun then, all right?”
Only after hearing Roxanne’s reassurances did Estella nod in compliance.
Just as Roxanne looked up to bid Lucian goodbye, his phone suddenly rang.
Holding her tongue tactfully, she watched as Lucian answered the call with an emotionless expression.
As it was related to work, Lucian stopped to inform Roxanne before heading off to the balcony to take it, leaving her alone with the three children in the living room,
When the kids saw Lucian going off to answer his call, their eyes lit up at the opportunity to play,
Thus, the three of them ran off before Roxanne could even say a word.
Roxanne, smiling in resignation, went along by playing hide and seek with them.
As their house wasn’t big, Archie and Benny would always end up hiding in the same few places. Once Roxanne found them with little effort, the three of them set off in search of Estella
“Mommy.” Benny gave Roxanne’s sleeve a gentle tug.
Trailing the trajectory of his gaze, Roxanne saw a dainty pair of legs underneath the curtain. In fact, it was still trying to wiggle its way toward the corner.
Unaware that she had been discovered and clueless about how obvious her hiding spot was, Estella was still trying to get into a better location.
After watching Estella’s adorable movements, Roxanne instinctively looked at the man on the balcony.
Lucian, with his back facing them, was still on the phone. Looks like it will be a while before he finishes.
Retracting her gaze, Roxanne gestured at Archie and Benny to be quiet so that they could continue the game with Estella for a little longer.
The boys, aware of their mother’s intention, played along by calling out Estella’s name while walking back and forth in the house.
As the figure behind the curtain moved a little, Roxanne could hear the sound of a faint giggle. Nonetheless, it was quickly suppressed by Estella.
When she saw how happy the little girl was, Roxanne treaded silently toward her.
“I found you!” Upon reaching Estella’s side, she gently pulled the curtain away.
Estella was momentarily stunned before running away and laughing at the same time.
Tickled by Estella’s response, Roxanne calmly followed behind her. “I’m going to Catch you now!”
At that moment, Archie and Benny joined in the fray by surrounding Estella.
Left with no way out, Estella fled toward the balcony in her panic,
Meanwhile, Lucian had just ended his call and was oblivious to what was going on, No sooner had he turned around than he saw his daughter crashing into him while panting heavily. As if by instinct, he managed to get a hold of her.
