The Abandoned Wife

The Wounded Innocence

Roxanne had nowhere to go after fleeing the room, so she hid in the stairwell.As she leaned against the wall and panted, she reached up to touch her aching lips. It felt as if the man's warmth was still lingering on them.A moment later, Roxanne lowered her eyes self-deprecatingly.It had been many years, and she thought she had no feelings for Lucian anymore. Yet, after just one meeting with him, the man was wreaking havoc in her mind again.After a while of recomposing herself later, Roxanne returned to the room.The workers inside were still partying away, and they only became a little quieter when she entered.Noticing that her mood seemed to have changed since she left the room, Colby furrowed his brows. "Why did you leave for so long? Did something happen? It's... like something's off with you."Roxanne gave him a nonchalant smile and shook her head. "It's nothing. I gave my son a call."With that, she took a seat, not letting Colby ask her anything else.Roxanne had left for quite a while. Not long after she returned, most were almost done with their partying.Roxanne was not in the right mood, so she decided to end the party.They all went downstairs together, and everyone bid goodbye to Roxanne and Colby.Soon, only the two of them were left.Colby softly suggested, "I'll send you back if you don't mind. You've drunk quite a lot tonight, and I'm worried about you."Roxanne inclined her head, not disagreeing with his offer. "Thank you."She had yet to buy a car after returning to the country.It seems like I have to hurry up and get a car soon."It's my pleasure."Colby opened the car door for her.After thanking him again, Roxanne went into the car.In the meantime, by the entrance of the restaurant, Cayden was fearfully looking at his employer's back.H-How can things be so coincidental? I can't believe we're watching Roxanne entering another man's car.As Cayden watched the car slowly drive off, he cautiously raised his head to observe his employer's expression.Lucian had a grimace on his face as he fixed his gaze on that car.A beat later, he looked away and gritted out, "Check who that man is and what kind of relationship he has with her."Cayden hastily said yes to him.By the time Lucian returned to the Farwell residence, it was already nine. After sweeping his gaze across the living room, he realized Estella was nowhere to be found. A slight frown crept onto his face at that. "Where's Essie?"Catalina, who took care of Estella, was on her way down the stairs. "Mr. Farwell, Ms. Estella is done with her shower and is now in her room. Would you like to go upstairs to see her?"Lucian gave her a slight nod and began walking toward the stairs."Mr. Farwell, there's something else I'd like to tell you about..."Catalina hesitantly continued, "When Ms. Estella came home tonight, she had a bruise on her wrist. I asked her about it, but she refused to tell me anything. I'm not sure if she has been bullied at kindergarten. I think this is something important you should look into.Lucian narrowed his eyes. "I understand. I'll go upstairs and take a look at her."With that said, he quickened his footsteps to Estella's room before knocking on the door.Soon, Estella opened it for him. She did not have much reaction after realizing that Lucian had come home. After opening the door, she turned and walked back to where she came from.Lucian followed her. Then, he saw the girl going back to her table and returning to her drawing.He did not disturb her, for he noticed how focused she was. A while of waiting by the side later—when he saw her put down her pencil—he uttered, "Catalina said that you're hurt. Let me take a look at you."Estella obediently reached out her injured hand to him.When he saw the wound on her hand, he knitted his brows. "What happened? Were you bullied by the other kids?"Estella stiffened for a second before shaking her head vigorously.She wasn't bullied?Lucian was confused. "Then what happened?"Estella then picked up her pencil and slowly wrote a few letters on her book—"treeped".She then cocked her head to the side, a little dubious of what she had just written.It was too difficult for her to spell it out.Whenever she could not spell out a word, she would usually try to spell it according to how it sounded, or she would just skip the word.However, she did not often write out that word, so she was unsure if she actually spelled it right or not."Did you trip?"Lucian asked after looking at the word she wrote.Estella nodded.Lucian then let out a sigh of relief and gently touched the spot she hurt herself at. "Did the teacher treat your wound?"Estella nodded again.Lucian nodded before his eyes drifted toward her fair little hands again. "This will take days to heal, and you need to treat the wound. I'll help you, okay?"Estella did not reject him.Immediately, Lucian crouched down and lifted her into his arms before going down the stairs.Once they reached the living room, he placed her on his lap and sat on the couch. At the same time, he said to Catalina, "Bring the medical kit over."Catalina nodded in response. It did not take her long before she brought the kit over.Lucian then took out a spray from inside and sprayed it at her bruise. Then, he ma*saged the area for a while.It was quite a bad bruise. Even though it had been hours since the initial impact, it still hurt.Nevertheless, Estella did not kick up a fuss. She just pursed her lips as her brows furrowed.Lucian turned to study her expression every once in a while to see if he was hurting her.He lost himself in his thoughts when he saw her frowning face.She looks a little like that woman when she's solemn.Sensing her father's gaze, Estella looked up at him, baffled. Instantly, she spotted his injured lips, and she pointed at them with a look of confusion.It was easy to understand what she meant. She was asking him how he had gotten hurt.Lucian held her hand and replied, "It's fine. A wild kitty bit me."A wild kitty?Estella became even more confounded. She grabbed the pencil and paper on the coffee table and wrote: Where did the cat come from?Lucian's eyes darkened a little. "From overseas."That was all he was willing to say. He was afraid that he would not be able to suppress his fury around his daughter.When he noticed the perplexed look on her face, he reached out to take away the pencil and paper in her hands. "Let's not talk about this anymore. It's almost time. I'll bring you to bed now."Estella was still curious about the matter, but she decided not to prod further at her father's words. Obediently, she let her father carry her upstairs.The two children were still awake when Roxanne went home. Madilyn was keeping them company as they watched the television.The moment she entered, the two children looked away from the screen and ran over to her. "Mommy!"Roxanne smiled and patted their heads."Did you drink?"Archie smelled the alcohol on her and scrunched up his nose. "I'll make a hangover remedy for you now. That way, your head won't hurt when you wake the next morning."With that said, he turned and went into the kitchen.Benny brought her all the way to the couch and made her sit before he climbed onto his mother's lap. As he solemnly ma*saged her temples, he asked, "I'll ma*sage your head for you so that you won't feel that bad."Madilyn could not help but feel jealous at how sensible the children were despite their young age. "Why are my godsons so sweet?"Roxanne smiled and looked at her. "Do you like them? Have one yourself."Hearing that, Madilyn quickly shook her head. "Forget it then. The one I give birth to might not be as sensible as Archie and Benny. I just want to steal the ones from you."As Benny continued to ma*sage his mother's temples, he consoled his godmother, "Aunt Madilyn, there's no need to steal us. If you're drunk, Archie and I will surely take care of you in this way too!"Hearing that, Madilyn wanted to carry the boy up and kiss him. However, the two boys were busy, and she could only squeeze out, "You boys are the best! I love you two to death!"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.