The Abandoned Wife

Echoes of the Past

"Frieda has admitted her mistake, but I don't expect you to forgive her that quickly, Dr. Jarvis. However, as you said, my grandpa's condition is worsening. Can you please treat him first. We can discuss how we can make up for my sister's misdeed in the future."Jonathan's voice rang in her ears.Roxanne was still pretty upset, but when she thought about the research institute, she suppressed her displeasure.Besides, Jonathan was right. Alfred did need a doctor quickly, and he was innocent.When she thought about that, she calmed down and swept her gaze past the crowd in the room before ordering coldly, "I hope unrelated persons will leave this room before I restart my treatment."Frieda was about to say she was family before Roxanne added, "That includes Ms. Queen."Frieda's expression darkened, but Jonathan agreed and asked everyone else to leave.The only people left were Jonathan, Lucian, and a clingy Estella. Roxanne sat next to the bed and prepared her treatment.With no one disturbing her, Roxanne's treatment went much more smoothly.After a while, a dozen of silver needles were poked onto Alfred's chest.Throughout the entire process, Roxanne focused all her attention on treating him calmly and steadilyIn fact, she was so focused that she didn't realize Lucian was staring at her the whole time.When they were downstairs, he had already read through her credentials. It was absolutely flawless. That was enough for him to imagine how exciting her life had been for the past six years.However, it was his first time seeing this side of her.When she was doing her job, she was absolutely focused and didn't reflect any hesitation in her movements.It was something Lucian had never seen in Roxanne before.An indescribable feeling surfaced in his heart when he saw that.At the side, Jonathan had been observing her poking the needles on his grandfather and her expression as she was doing so.After a dozen needles were poked onto Alfred's body, he joyously found out that perhaps she would be able to save Alfred.Like everyone else, he thought it was ridiculous when she stabbed her first silver needle.However, recalling her expression as she was doing so, he somehow felt as though he could trust her.So, he insisted that she stayed.The more he watched her administer the needles skillfully and composedly, the more he was certain she was capable of treating his grandfather.He also noticed that the spots she stabbed with the needles were very dangerous acupuncture points. If she made even the tiniest mistake, not only would her effort be for nothing, but Alfred might also lose his life.It was his belief that Roxanne wouldn't risk Alfred's life unless she was confident.It looks like her research on acupuncture and acupuncture points had indeed reached the level of a master's!Thinking of that, Jonathan felt joyful and respected her from the bottom of his heart.Even though she looks younger than me, she's already much more capable than I am. Indeed,one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.The room remained silent for nearly twenty minutes before Roxanne stabbed one last needle onto Alfred. Her expression relaxed as she lifted her sweaty forehead. "All right, that will be enough. He'll be much better after I remove the necdles an hour later."She glanced at the two men beside the bed.Jonathan let out a long sigh of relief and carefully approached Alfred. Then he asked, "When will he wake up?""He should wake up when I remove the needles."Roxanne stood up and attempted to grab tissue papers to wipe her forehead.Just as she was about to do that, someone tugged the hem of her shirt.She paused and lowered her head in confusion. That was when she met up with Estella's sparkling eyes.Even though she knew it was a child Lucian had with another woman, she still couldn't steel her heart in front of such an angelic and cute face.Seeing how she was looking at her, Estella pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief and stood on her toes. Then she handed the handkerchief to Roxanne with anticipation in her eyes.Roxanne hesitated for a few seconds before smiling, "Thank you."Then she accepted the handkerchief and wiped her forehead with it.Estella smiled brightly and left to pour her a cup of water.Lucian stared silently at how Estella was walking around excitedly.His eyes turned dark.This is the first time she's taking the initiative to get closer to someone. Although... I suppose it's only natural, considering their relationship.Jonathan didn't know that, so he was surprised. "Looks like Essie likes you, Dr. Jarvis! It's my first time seeing her being willing to get close to another person!"Roxanne was slightly stunned before she turned to Lucian with a worried expressionShe hadn't been honest with him the incident when Estella was lost back then.I doubt I can hide it from him, though:And so, she hesitantly explained, "It's probably because I found her when she got lost last time."Jonathan didn't know that happened. His line of sight shifted between Estella and Roxanne. "I guess you two are destined to meet each other, then."Destined?Roxanne thought about Estella's identity and pursed her lip self-deprecatingly before replying plainly, "I suppose so."Jonathan didn't notice anything strange about her, so he stood up and suggested, "Since my grandpa still needs an hour, we should wait downstairs and drink some water. Thanks for your help, Dr. Jarvis."Roxanne secretly sigh with relief when he changed the topic and quickly agreed to his suggestion.Lucian walked away from his side of the bed, responding to the invitation through his actions. When he tried to hug Estella, the girl wasn't at all interested.After Estella handed the handkerchief to Roxanne, she had been staying at the latter's side. Upon hearing that they were heading downstairs, she immediately reached her hand out and grabbed Roxanne's hand, much like how they did it last time.Right before her hand touched Roxanne's, a phone rang.Roxanne promptly turned around to take the phone in her bag, and her fingertips brushed past the little girl's.It wasn't easy for Estella to build up the courage to hold Roxanne's hand, yet she failed at the last second. She blinked slowly as disappointment colored her expression, and she started fiddling with her fingers.Lucian saw how they almost held each other's hand. His eyes darkened in response.Roxanne picked up the phone and saw it was a call from Madilyn.She handed her kids to Madilyn tonight because of her appointment at the Queen residence.So, when she saw the call, she thought something happened to the children and speedily answered.As her finger swiped across the screen, she accidentally pressed the speaker icon."Hello?" Roxanne spoke without noticing her mistake.In the next second, she heard two cute voices ringing through the air. "When are you coming back, Mommy?"It shocked her and she quickly turned off the speaker mode..The children's voices vanished in an instant.Despite that, she could feel her heart beating like crazy. She worriedly and subconsciously shot a side glance at Lucian.Her first reaction was that she was afraid he would learn of her children's existence.Lucian's face was currently as dark as the sky before a thunderstorm. There was an icy look in his eyes.I heard the voices coming from the phone. It was a boy's voice calling her "Mommy." Did she get married again?When he realized that, rage flooded into his mind and heart.He gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down.That was the only way he could resist the urge to pin her to the wall and question her.Jonathan didn't detect anything wrong between the both of them and smiled. "Are you married, Dr. Jarvis?"Roxanne's mind was in so much chaos that she just nodded.When Jonathan saw that, he smiled. "I couldn't tell you already have kids."She apologized, "I'm sorry. Please excuse me while I take a call."When Roxanne walked out of the room, she lowered her voice and spoke to the children. "I'm still treating a patient right now, so I'll be back much later. Go play with Aunt Madilyn first."The children were used to her returning home late, so they agreed.Concurrently, inside the room, Lucian's expression was so cold that it was reaching the freezing point.Rage was boiling in his heart.Estella's attempt to reach Roxanne's hand and the "Mommy" he heard on the phone kept echoing in his mind.No wonder she acts so coldly toward Estella. It turns out she had already married someone else and given birth to new children! That's why she abandoned Estella back then!He stared at his daughter, who was still standing in her original spot.Despite her obvious disappointment, she still stared at the door, waiting for Roxanne to return.Watching her like that made his heart ache.So what if she has returned? She still doesn't want to take care of her child!The look on Lucian's face was terrifyingly dark as he approached Estella and carried her into his arms.The girl stared at him with confusion and tugged his collar, indicating that she didn't want to be carriedOf course, he didn't notice it as he coldly announced, "It's getting late, so I'll be taking Essie back home now. If Old Mr. Queen wakes up, give me a call. I'll stop by another day."Before Jonathan could reply, he left with Estella.Roxanne had just ended her call and was about to head back in.When she arrived at the doorway, she saw Lucian walking out expressionlessly.Her heart clenched, but just as she wondered what to do, he walked past her and left without glancing at her.She was a little stunned at his sudden departure, though when she returned to her senses, she laughed self-deprecatingly in her mind.It seems like he didn't care about the call at all.Six years ago, he didn't care about me either, not to mention I did that sort of thing to him when I left.Of course, he won't care about me now, nor would he care about the two children. To him, we're all strangers.Roxanne knew they lived in different worlds. She thought about the emotional roller-coaster she had just gone through earlier and felt like a joke.She stood outside the door for a long while before sighing gently. Upon tidying up her thoughts, she entered the room.Only Jonathan was left in the room.He had witnessed their interaction earlier.For some reason, I feel like their relationship isn't as simple as it seems.Lucian, especially, seems weird. It's the first time he showed so many emotions toward a woman.He was really curious about their history, but because it was their private matter, he didn't inquire further about it. Instead, he started talking about Alfred's condition with her.Estella was panicking as Lucian brought her out of the mansion and into the car. She quickly wrote a sentence in her notebook and tugged the hem of his shirt before showing it to him.The sentence read: I haven't talked to Ms. Jarvis yet. Can we stay a little longer?Seeing that, Lucian felt a surge of mixed feelings, and his eyebrows furrowed.Estella noticed her father looked kind of down, and a caring look appeared in her eyes. She then wrote two more sentences: What's wrong, Daddy? Why aren't you happy?Lucian's expression turned grim when he saw what happened. "What's there to talk to her about? Pretend that you don't know her the next time you see her and don't ever interact with her again."