Replay of the previous chapter
Roxanne shuddered from the cheesiness.
She then took the hangover remedy that Archie gave her and slowly sipped on it.
By the time she was done with the concoction, it was already late at night.
"All right, I'm fine now. Hurry upstairs to rest."
Roxanne kissed the foreheads of her two sons.
The two boys nodded and bid Madilyn good night before they went up the stairs.
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Continuing of the chapter
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ROXANNE JARVIS, AUBREE, LUCIAN FARWELL
Once the two boys were upstairs, the smile on Roxanne's face slowly faded. Madilyn turned off the television and inched over to ask in concern, "What's the matter?Something on your mind?" After a moment of hesitation, Roxanne told Madilyn a lighthearted version of what happened earlier.
"I met Lucian when I was having dinner just now." There was no one but Madilyn who Roxanne could talk to about what happened six years ago.
Upon hearing that, Madilyn froze. Then, she whispered, "What kind of fate is tying you both together? Horington is such a big city, and I thought the chances of the two of you meeting would be close to zero if you're not actively seeking each other out."
Roxanne lowered her eyes, seemingly deep in her thoughts. "So, what are you thinking about after meeting him?" Madilyn continued querying.
The corners of Roxanne's lip turned down. "What can possibly be on my mind? My relationship with him has ended six years ago. We're nothing but strangers now. I won't be affected by him anymore. All I want to do for the rest of my days is to take care of Archie and Benny and have a good life with them." It seemed like she had thought things through.
Madilyn sighed in relief before patting her good friend's shoulders. "That's good. You're an excellent woman, and there are plenty of people courting you. Take your time to make your pick. Let's leave that douchebag in the past." Roxanne gave her a slight nod, not wanting to continue with the topic.
She then said, "By the way, I haven't had the chance to buy a car after coming back here. I had to get rides from my coworkers for the welcome party today, and it seems rather inconvenient. Are you free next morning to pick a car with me?"
Madilyn's attention was shifted to the next topic, but she was confused as to why Roxanne wanted to buy a car.
"Why do you want to buy a car? I have a few in the garage. Just pick one." Roxanne chuckled as she arched a brow.
"Are you really that generous?"
After sharing a look, Madilyn wrapped her arm around Roxanne's neck and uttered, "Of course. After all, you're my godsons' mother! What's mine is yours!" "Thank you, then," Roxanne said to her. The two chatted away for a while longer. When they glanced at the time again, it was already quite late. It was then Madilyn reluctantly went back to the house next door.
After Roxanne washed up, she lay on the bed. However, she could not sleep.
It took her a long while of tossing and turning before she entered the dreamlands.
In her dream, she returned to the empty room at The Waterfront.
In the room. Lucian was pinning her against the wall. He was narrowing his eyes and coming closer and closer to her.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Roxanne jolted awake, completely drenched in sweat.
After waking from that dream, she could no longer sleep.
Thus, the next morning, Roxanne had obvious dark eye circles as she sat by her children's side at the dining table while they were having breakfast.
"Mommy, did you not sleep well last night?" Archie asked in concern as he stared at his mother's dark circles.
Roxanne tensed up a little as she thought about that dream. A few seconds later, she flashed them a fake smile. "Yes. I lost track of time reading documents last night." Her children were observant individuals, and Roxanne was afraid that they would prod her for more information.
Hence, she quickly lowered her
head and pretended to focus on eating breakfast.
At that, the two boys exchanged a look but asked nothing else. All they said was, "Don't tire yourself out too much, Mommy. You have to take good care of yourself." Roxanne's lips curved as she bobbed her head in agreement.
After breakfast, she brought the boys to Madilyn's place again.
"Choose anything you like. Don't worry about anything." Madilyn brought them to her garage as she held onto the whole bunch of car keys in her hands.
The boys were young, but they could recognize quite an amount of luxury cars.
Therefore, once they laid eyes on the cars in the garage, they applauded and cried out, "Aunt Madilyn, you're amazing!"
After walking around the garage, Roxanne chose a mid-ranged priced Mercedes-Benz that was worth over a million.
Madilyn gave her the keys without any trace of hesitance. Once Roxanne got the car, she drove the two to their kindergarten.
"Bye, Mommy! Don't overwork yourself!" the two said to her after they went down from the car. Roxanne ruffled their hair. "You too. Be good at school. I'll come and pick you up at night."
The two boys nodded obediently and walked into the kindergarten together.Roxanne only left after watching the two disappear from her line of sight.
She then started the car and slowly drove away from the kindergarten's gate.
One minutes later, a Rolls-Royce rolled up in front of the kindergarten's entrance.
Cayden came down from the car before opening the door to the backseat. Then, he carefully carried Estella down.
Once Estella's feet were on the ground, she turned to wave at her father.
"Go in now," Lucian softly said to her as he patted her head.
Estella nodded in response before turning to leave.Suspicion crept into Lucian's eyes as be watched Estella leave the car. Estella seemed much happier than usual.
Maybe she's letting down her guard after interacting with the kids in the kindergarten. It seems like the psychiatrist was right.
Her autistic symptoms will improve if I let her interact more with her peers.
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Lucian only took his gaze off Estella after the teacher picked her up.
He then said to Cayden, "Let's go." Cayden bobbed his head and drove toward Farwell Group's office.
Once Lucian arrived at his destination, he hurriedly went to join the executive meeting.
By the time the meeting was over, more than an hour had passed. Lucian went straight back to his office.
"Lucian, you're back." Just as he stepped into the room, he was greeted by Aubree's voice. Hearing her made him knit his brows. Then, he saw that Aubree, who was in a black suit, was standing in front of his office desk with a smile.
It seemed like she had been waiting for a while. "When did you come?" Lucian strode to the other side of his desk before letting his eyes drift past the documents on the table. Finally, he landed his gaze on Aubree's face.
Aubree sat down when she saw him sit, the smile on her face never once wavered. "Not long ago. I heard from Cayden that you were in a meeting."
Just then, she spotted the scab by the corner of Lucian's lips, and her heart lurched. "Did you... hurt your lips?" A flash of displeasure danced across Lucian's eyes at the reminder of the incident the night before, and his tone turned colder. "I accidentally bit it. There's no need for you to freak out over it." Aubree nodded with slight hesitance.
She consoled herself by telling herself that there were no other women around Lucian but her for all those years. Therefore, her suspicion was just paranoia.
With that thought in mind, she finally felt a little more at ease. "So why are you here?" Lucian asked in a flat tone.
Hearing that, Aubree recomposed herself and smiled again. "I have some work matters. The project our families were working on is only missing the last step of signing the contract. So I've come to ask if there are any other terms. Also, my parents were asking if they can invite you for a meal tonight. Your parents will be there too, so I was wondering if you're free for that." They invited my parents too.
Without a doubt, they must want to urge us to hurry up with our wedding Lucian glanced at her before muttering icily, "Please tell your parents that I need to meet someone tonight, so I won't be free." The smile on Aubree's face froze. For a moment, she did not know how to respond to him. Indeed, their aim for the dinner was to urge them to quicken their marriage.
It was something that should have been done a few years ago. She finally managed to hold out until Roxanne was gone, but Lucian kept delaying the matter with work matters. After that, he used Estella as an excuse to delay the wedding further.
By then, six years had already passed. And Aubree had been waiting for so long, but the conclusion had yet to come.
How could she possibly not feel anxious? Even now, Lucian was still postponing the matter.
The corners of Aubree's lips tilted downward as she looked bitterly at the man in front of her. "Lucian, I've been waiting for six years. How many six years can a woman have? I don't mind waiting for you, of course, but if it's fated that the two of us will be together, why do you still not want to do the wedding? At the very least, the elders in our families will feel reassured."As she spoke, Aubree carefully watched Lucian's expression.
When she noticed that he seemed unfazed, she steeled herself and added, "We've been planning for the wedding since the start, so why..." "I did make a promise to wed you," Lucian coldly interrupted her. "But you, of all people, should know why I ended up promising you that." Fear pulsed through Aubree when she registered his expression.
"I think the Farwell family has made more than enough compensation to the Pearson family throughout all these years. As a matter of fact, the compensation made has far exceeded the worth of this engagement. Even if we did not proceed with this engagement, no one will say anything about it."Lucian's voice was neutral the entire time.
Evidently, it was a speech he had long prepared.
When Aubree heard that, she widened her eyes in disbelief as fresh terror reared up within her. Clearly, Lucian wanted to break off the engagement.
After Lucian said those words, he looked away from Aubree's face.
He had decided to marry Aubree back then to repay the favor her grandfather had done for them.
That was why he interacted with the Pearson family so closely. That was also why he had agreed to marry Aubree when the elders of the families suggested it. In fact, for a while, Lucian was sure that Aubree was his first crush.
That lasted until six years ago when that woman left without saying anything. It was then he realized that the feeling he had for Aubree was not love as he initially assumed.
After that, the elders of both families kept urging him to marry her, but he had found all kinds of excuses to delay the wedding.
In those six years, he had also done everything he could to assist the Pearson family and agreed to all kinds of business requests they made to repay them for the kindness back then.
Now, it seemed like he had done more than enough to repay them for that favor back then.
At the very least, it was enough for him not to proceed with the wedding.
"Lucian..." Aubree's voice trembled as she looked at his expressionless face. She wanted to find out if her guesses were right.
Lucian lifted his hand to massage the bridge of his nose. Then, he cut her off, "Put down the file. I'll look at it later. I still have work to do, so if there isn't anything else, you can leave." Aubree bit her lip and stared at him for a moment.
When she realized that he was not going to change his mind, her eyes slowly reddened. Still, she forced the upset and sorrow down her throat, put down the file, and left.
Aubree's mood was grim as she exited the Farwell Group's office. She had been waiting for six years, but Lucian never once gave her a proper answer. Now, he was telling her that he was planning to call off the wedding.
Fortunately, Aubree was certain that there were no other women around Lucian. In other words, she still had a chance with him.
With that thought in mind, Aubree's grave expression lightened up a little.
Yes, I still have a chance. The wedding is only unsalvageable if I make Lucian frustrated with me.
I have to stay calm. As Aubree consoled herself, she entered the car. "Are you heading back to the company?" Her assistant, Charles Lampton, was tentative as he spoke to his employer, for he noticed the look on her face.
Aubree glanced at him. "No, I'll be having lunch outside. Haven't we agreed to meet VR Research Institute to sign the contract in the afternoon? We're going back only after signing the contract." Charles nodded.
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two in the afternoon, Roxanne and Colby departed from the research institute to the destination where they had agreed to meet the crude drug supplier.
On their way there, Roxanne abruptly recalled that she had yet to find out the details about their business partner.
Thus, she asked Colby, "Can you tell me the details about the crude drug supplier that we're about to sign with?" She was the person in charge of the research institute.
If she knew nothing about the crude drug supplier, the other party might think that she was not serious enough about the deal when they met later.
In that case, her ignorance might affect their collaboration. Knowing what was on Roxanne's mind, Colby explained in detail, "This crude drug supplier is massive in Horington. Their family established itself by running crude drug businesses. Moreover, the prices that this crude drug supplier has are reasonable. Furthermore, after they found out that our research institute has a certain level of influence in the market abroad, they became interested to work with us. They seem sincere, so don't worry about that." Hearing that, Roxanne inclined her head in understanding.
Simultaneously, she breathed out an inaudible sign of relief. "I know the few major crude drug suppliers in Horington. According to your explanation, the one we're signing with should be one of them. I wonder which one is the one we're about to meet with." Colby replied, "The Pearson family."
Roxanne stiffened immediately.
The Pearson family? As far as she knew, there was only one Pearson family in Horington who was in the crude drug industry Coincidentally, that was the family she had some issues with.
At that though, Roxanne creased her forehead and prayed that she would not be unfortunate enough to encounter the one she did not want to meet the most. Soon, they arrived at their destination-a café. The people from the crude drug supplier had yet to arrive.
Colby and Roxanne took a seat first. They then ordered two cups of coffee and waited for the other party to arrive.
Dozens of minutes later, someone knocked on the door of the private room.
lobby straightened up and said to Roxanne, "They're here." Roxanne gave him a quick nod. Rising to her feet, she then said, "Please come in." Soon, someone pushed the door open, and a male voice traveled into their ears. "Sorry that we're late."
The moment Roxanne lifted her head, she locked eyes with Aubree. Instantly, Roxanne sighed in her mind. 'Speaking of the devil.'
Unlike her, Aubree widened her eyes in shock. As she was overwhelmed by surprise, she screeched out, "You— Roxanne? Why is it you? Didn't you disappear a long time ago? Why are you here now?" Colby and Charles were baffled by Aubree's response.
Colby then asked in a curious but friendly tone, "Ms. Pearson, do you know Dr. Jarvis?" Aubree's eyes flitted toward Colby. "Dr. Jarvis?"
"Roxanne Jarvis is the person in charge of our research institute. When she found out that we're signing a contract with you, she has asked to come along as a sign of our sincerity," Colby introduced However, Aubree's expression only turned even darker.
All she wanted to know was when Roxanne had returned. 'It's Lucian's first time telling me that he's thinking of calling off the wedding this morning. Is this because of Roxanne? Has he... found out that Roxanne's back? Have they met each other?' The more Aubree dwelled on it, the more anxious she became: As she stared at Roxanne, her expression darkened and paled.
On the other hand, Roxanne was much calmer. It was as if it was her first time seeing Aubree.
She glanced at her and frowned before straight forwardly asking, "Ms. Pearson, are you not planning to continue with our collaboration?" Hearing her, Aubree swiftly tucked away her emotions and looked at her for a moment.
As her expression turned icy, the look in her eyes changed into an amused one as well. "Of course I'm planning to continue. Dr. Galloway has been working on this contract for such a long time. I won't let his efforts go to waste." With that, she summoned the waiter and ordered another four cups of coffee.
While they were waiting for the coffee, Aubree's darkened gaze lingered on Roxanne. Despite her unwillingness to admit it, Roxanne had changed a lot after six years.
in the past, she had a cautious demeanor, but now, all she needed to do was sit there, and anyone could feel how intimidating she was. Her looks and presence were overpowering Aubree. On the other hand, six years had gone by, and Aubree had never changed.
The man she nearly had was now getting further and further away from her. When she realized that, Aubree's hands under the table tightened into fists as jealousy coursed through her veins. "I truly wish to work with your institute, but I don't think the price we negotiated previously is a suitable one. Since Dr. Jarvis is here, I think we can discuss the price again." Even though Aubree had a professional smile on her face, the look in her eyes was a glacial one. Upon hearing her, Colby parted his lips, about to speak, but Roxanne stopped him.
"Ms. Pearson, what do you mean..." she calmly asked, "I hope we can have an increment of two percent of the original price," Aubree uttered.
"An increment of two percent?" Colby stiffened.
"Ms. Pearson, haven't we come to an agreement the other time? We're now about to sign the contract, so why are you increasing the price all of a sudden"
At his shocked response, Aubree folded her legs and replied, "Indeed, we've agreed on it, but almot everything in the crude drug market has risen in price this year. If we were to sign the contract with the price we previously agreed on, we'll be suffering a loss too great. Dr. Galloway, please forgive us." She made it seem so rational.
Colby's expression tensed. Just as he frowned and was about to say something else, Roxanne stopped him again. "Ms. Pearson, you must want to suddenly raise the price because you saw me. I know the prices in the crude drug market well. We can have a negotiation if you want to increase prices, but raising it by two percent right here and now is far too unreasonable." Roxanne wanted to be professional, but clearly, Aubree did not. Hence, there was no need for her to endure her antics.
Aubree knitted her brows in displeasure. She then coldly asked, "Regardless of what the reason is, that is our current price. If you don't think that's suitable, we won't mind letting this business deal go." Roxanne agreed to it. "In that case, let's take this as time wasted. A company that doesn't stick to its words isn't a company we'll be at ease working with." With that said, Roxanne stood up and said to Colby, "Let's go."
Colby nodded, and the two exited the café. "Is there something between you and Aubree?" Colby could not help but ask when they left the place.
He could sense Aubree's clear hostility toward Roxanne during their meeting earlier. Not wanting to dwell on what happened back then, Roxanne simply said, "In a way." Noticing that she did not want to talk much about the topic, Colby did not prod her for more. I instead, he began talking abou the crude drug supplier matter. "If we're not going to work with Pearson Group, we'll have to find another crude drug supplier." Roxanne bobbed her head.
"Then that's what we're going to do. Horington is a big place. I'm sure there are other crude drug suppliers who will work with us." "Okay," Colby answered with a nod. He would rather deal with the trouble of looking for a new crude drug supplier than to see Roxanne targeted by someone.
Meanwhile, in the café, once Roxanne was gone, a cold look crept onto Aubree's face. She ordered Charles, "Tell all of the crude drug suppliers in Horington that, if they dare to work with VR Research Institute, they'll be enemies of Pearson Group!"
Charles did not know what happened between his employer and the doctor carlier, but he could sense that his employer was in an exceptionally foul mood after meeting Roxanne.
A shudder wracked his body upon hearing Aubree's tone.
Without daring to delay any further, he replied, "Of course. I'll work on it right away." With that said, he stood up and left. Soon, Aubree was the only one left in the café.
When she thought about the attitude Lucian had earlier in the morning and the frightening demeanor Roxanne had a while ago, Aubree panicked.
Regardless of whether or not Lucian had rejected her because of Roxanne, it was a fact that Roxanne and Lucian were married in the past.
Aubree could not be certain what Lucian thought about Roxanne. If things continued to be delayed, she dared not imagine what else would happen.
I can't wait any longer.
Meanwhile
at Farwell Group... "Mr. Farwell, I've found out information about the man Ms. Jarvis was with last night." Cayden entered the room and stood in front of Lucian