Filed to story: Leaving the Country After Divorce Novel (Lucian & Roxanne)
Close to an hour later, James stepped out of the room, looking quite exhausted.
Nothing had worked to the effect that he was hoping for, in spite of him having doled out every trick in the book that he knew of just to coax some manner of response from Estella.
“How did it go?” Lucian inquired anxiously.
James shook his head. “Essie has completely shut herself in. She has refused to communicate with anyone and is resistant even to me. My guess is that she must have been triggered by something. The only way to resolve this is by identifying the source of her trauma.”
Lucian’s expression dimmed when he heard that.
Seemingly unaware of the change in his friend’s mood, James continued to ask of the latter in earnest, “Has Essie encountered any situation recently that might have brought about this change in her emotional state?”
Memories of the kid breaking her silence because of Roxanne came flowing back to Lucian. The answer thus became obvious to him.
After a moment’s pause, Lucian recounted the events that transpired earlier that morning.
James was stunned after learning how that woman managed to bring about such a sharp fluctuation in Estella’s emotions. “Perhaps this woman may be the key. Essie’s condition may see some improvements if we could just get her to come over.”
Getting that woman to come to Essie?
Recalling the manner of the former’s departure that morning caused Lucian’s brows to bunch up in frustration. “Got it. I’ll try to talk to her about this.”
James nodded.
Elsewhere, Roxanne remained completely in the dark about Estella’s predicament.
Unsure whether it was owing to what Lucian said to her, she had been feeling rather unsettled since leaving the kindergarten premises behind.
As she reflected upon it, the man’s tone of voice and expression did not seem feigned, but she had logical cause to believe that Lucian must be somehow involved.
All the way home, Roxanne’s mood had been in the doldrums but driven by concerns that her children would notice, she did her best to collect herself.
The two wee ones had already sorted themselves out. When they saw her enter, they approached docilely. “Are you done with the paperwork, Mommy?”
Smilingly, Roxanne nodded as though nothing was wrong. She even mentioned her meeting with Estella. “It’s done. I’ve also spoken to Essie on your behalf.”
“Thanks, Mommy!” The children expressed their gratitude biddably.
Patting them on the head gave Roxanne a greater sense of rootedness.
Opposite them, the sight of the drama between the trio that was playing out in front of her pained Madilyn, who had become increasingly unhappy with Lucian.
Leading their mother by her hands, the two kids sat her down on the couch excitedly. “Since we can’t go to kindergarten but haven’t enrolled for tuition yet, would we be allowed to take a short break?”
The doting mother of the pair of boys consented to their stated request without hesitancy. “Sure. I can make arrangements for you to attend tuition after you’ve rested enough.”
“In that case, could you also take a break for a while?” Benny hugged Roxanne’s arm, appearing adorable. “It’s been so long since we’ve been here that we’ve gone out together. Take us out to play, won’t you, Mommy? Archie and I would really like to go visit Universe Park because Aunt Madilyn told us that it is lots of fun!”
In their discussion prior, they had come to the conclusion that their father’s decision to have them expelled from the kindergarten could have saddened their mother no less than it did them, so they thought about getting her to go out and take a load off.
Roxanne appeared a little apprehensive.
Guessing as much how they felt, she thus chose to accommodate them. “I haven’t been there in quite a while too. Seeing that I’m on leave today, why don’t we head there together?”
Coupled with the fact that there she had nothing pressing to do over at the research institute, Roxanne was in no mood to go in for work anyway. Hence, she dispensed with her own hesitancy and assented.
Gathering a few things, the four of them then set off for Universe Park together.
Soon enough, the four of them arrived at Universe Park.
Even though Archie and Benny wanted to make their mother feel better, they had also been wanting to have some fun since before they arrived and had already come up with a plan.
Right after they entered, both of them tugged at Roxanne’s hands, saying that they wanted to go to Jurassic Park to see the dinosaurs.
She agreed to it and brought them to the park. Both children were so engrossed in their surroundings.
Once they left Jurassic Park, they headed straight to the ET Adventure Ride for a trip to space on bicycles with the alien, ET.
Roxanne was already feeling a little tired after the two rides. However, Archie and Benny were still in high spirits, and they went on many other rides after that.
Each time they went on a new ride, they would insist on getting their pictures taken, and their mother would do as they wished every time.
All the negative emotions from the past few days were forgotten having been distracted by their antics.
After the discussion with James, Lucian still felt that it would be best if they called Roxanne over as soon as possible. Hence, he quickly gave her a call.
However, she never picked up the call.
His expression dimmed at that.
After spending some time with her, he had almost forgotten how ruthless the woman could be.
Not only would she not listen to his explanation, but she had also blocked his number on her phone too. It was as though she was trying to show him how resolute she was.
“How is it?” James’ heart sank when he noticed the man’s expression.
Time wasn’t on Estella’s side. The longer they waited, the worse her condition would get.
Lucian followed his gaze and glanced at the little girl’s room, his voice low as he said, “Please stay here and look after Essie. I’m going to go look for her now.”
Once he was done speaking, he headed straight for Roxanne’s house with Cayden tagging along.
The one who opened the door for them was the housekeeper from before. Seeing that it was them, she greeted with a smile, “Are you here for Ms. Jarvis? She’s not here right now. Do you want to head in and wait for her?”
Lucian’s face darkened at her words. “Where did she go?”
“I think she went to Universe Park. Is something the matter? Should I inform her of your visit?” Lysa said.
However, the man had already turned and left by the time she finished her sentence.
Cayden then said with a smile, “No need. We’ll head there to look for her.”
Then, he quickly followed closely behind Lucian.
“Mr. Farwell, where…” He had only made something up earlier as he did not know what the latter was thinking.
“We’re going to Universe Park,” Lucian said, his brows furrowed.