When Roxanne saw how persistent the girl was, she agreed to a game with the children. “I’m done!” Estella announced when she had found a hiding spot.
Even after rounds of the same game with Archie and Benny, the girl still shouted out loud whenever she was done hiding. Roxanne could not help laughing at that.
Right after Estella shouted, Roxanne heard Archie’s and Benny’s soft giggles from another corner.
“I’m coming!” Roxanne exclaimed, shaking her head. Then she walked toward where Archie and Benny were.
The boys were still feeling proud of themselves because they thought they had found a seemingly strategic place where no one could find them, but they were proven wrong.
They even planned on changing their hiding place to make it more difficult for Roxanne to find them. But just as they were crawling out from where they were, they bumped into the woman.
They looked up, only to see her smug smile. “Mommy, please give us another chance…” they mumbled, standing up in front of her.
Roxanne quirked her brows and turned them down blatantly. “No. You guys have to find Estella with me.”
When they knew they had no other option, the boys did as they were told and tried to recall the direction of where Estella’s voice came from earlier.
The girl had learned a few tricks from the previous rounds of the game. She would stick her head out occasionally to check the situation outside.
When she saw Roxanne and the boys coming over, she wanted to sneak away and go to another place, but it was too late.
Archie and Benny had already seen her the moment she got out.
“Mommy, we found her!” the boys screamed in excitement as they ran after Estella, who was trying to flee.
When Roxanne saw them running, she hurried up to Estella, worried that the girl would fall.
Seeing that she was about to get caught, Estella sprinted toward the couch while Archie and Benny pursued her.
“Slow down!” Roxanne shouted. Archie and Benny decelerated at their mother’s warning, but Estella did not.
She continued running toward the couch as if she did not hear Roxanne at all.
Because Estella could not stop in time, she tripped over the couch leg and fell forward onto the coffee table.
“Essie, watch out!” Roxanne’s heart clenched when she saw that.
She dashed over, hoping to cushion the impact for the girl.
Estella was horrified when she realized she could not stop herself from falling.
Suddenly, a strong arm appeared and blocked the sharp edge of the coffee table just as Roxanne managed to catch Estella on the forehead. However, because of the strong momentum, Estella still bumped right into the table.
Although Lucian and Roxanne managed to prevent the worst from happening, the knock was still painful for Estella.
She was stupefied for a few seconds until she finally looked up again.
Lucian’s palm was covering the edge of the table while Roxanne’s hand landed on his hand, bolstering the girl’s forehead. A frown slowly crept across Lucian’s face.
“Are you all right?” he asked anxiously. Just a few seconds ago, he was finishing up his work when he heard Roxanne screaming in fright. When he looked up.
Estella was already falling in his direction, so he swiftly extended his hand to help.
It took Estella a few seconds to get herself together. “I’m fine,” she replied softly.
Lucian sighed in relief. “Good. Get up, then.” When Archie and Benny heard that, they hurried over to help Estella up to relieve the weight on Lucian’s and Roxanne’s hands.
