The Abandoned Wife

Unraveling Ties

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 leisure 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.Two 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 he 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.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 pa*sed.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 pa*sed.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 rea*sured."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.