The Abandoned Wife

Estella's Unexpected Visit

Roxanne didn't know how to answer her at that moment.Yesterday, the boys' teacher did tell me Estella liked following the boys around. However, I neverthought she'll be bold enough to take a cab to my house alone just so she can play with them. Moreover, she can't speak. If she met some bad people on the way here...Roxanne didn't dare to think about what would happen."Mommy?" Archie and Benny had been waiting inside for a while and didn't see Roxanne come back in, so they came out to have a look.When they saw the little girl at their front door, they had the same reaction as Roxanne. "What ... are you doing here?"Estella was about to scribble in her notebook when Roxanne explained on her behalf, "Essie just wanted to play with you guys."Archie looked around at Roxanne's explanation, thinking he would see his dad, but there wasn't an adult man anywhere."How did she get here?" Archie flitted his gaze to Roxanne.Roxanne replied resignedly, "She took a cab here alone."Even I have a hard time believing the words that just came out of my mouth.However, the two boys accepted the truth readily.Benny looked at Estella with a puzzled look. "You came here yourself? Did you run away from home again?"If I remember it correctly, the first time we met Essie was when she ran away from home.On the contrary, Estella didn't think her behavior was strange and nodded.Seeing her calm demeanor, the boys exchanged a look speechlessly.Why does this daughter that Daddy raised keep running away from home? More importantly, why is she always coming to our house?At the same time, Lucian was working in the Farwell Group CEO's office when suddenly his private phone started ringing.The second the call connected, the butler's voice came through the phone urgently."Mr. Farwell, Ms. Estella is missing again."Lucian's hands paused. "I'm coming back now."Hanging up the phone, he drove back to the Farwell residence."What happened? There's so many of you watching her, so how can she go missing?" Lucian questioned once he stepped foot in the mansion.In the living room, all the household staff stood nervously. Lucian's anger was burning so brightly that they didn't dare to lift their heads.The butler answered cautiously, "We're not sure. Ms. Estella had gone back to her room after having breakfast this morning. When Catalina went upstairs a few hours later, she couldn't find Ms. Estella anywhere."Lucian's brows furrowed with displeasure. "What about the surveillance cameras?"The butler responded with a defeated look on his face, "Mr. Farwell, the surveillance cameras... we're not sure when they turned off. Coincidentally, there's no recording of this morning."Hearing that, Lucian's expression had darkened tremendously.The living room fell into dead silence.The staff all bowed their heads with dread, hunching their shoulders, making themselves as small as possible. They even hoped they could hide within the crack of the tiles.Who could've thought we would lose Ms. Estella twice in such a short period. Furthermore, she slipped away right under our noses. If anything happens to Ms. Estella, Mr. Farwell will fire us.Lucian looked up and saw the bodyguards he sent to protect Estella were among the staff. The sight just fueled his rage. "What are you guys standing there for? Get moving and search for her! If you can't find her, then all of you are fired."The bodyguards immediately obliged and strode out of the mansion urgently without a backward glance.Distress filled Roxanne as she looked at the little girl in front of her.It's getting late. I should be taking the boys to the research institute, but Estella's sudden appearance has messed up my plan. Furthermore, she took a cab here by herself. I can't exactly send her back on her own.After a short silence, Roxanne huffed out a resigned sigh as she stood to let Estella into the house. "Come on in."Estella's eyes sparkled as she nodded fervently and followed Roxanne into the mansion."Have you had breakfast?" Roxanne asked.Estella sat on the couch and nodded obediently.Roxanne and the boys took a seat beside Estella. After a brief hesitation, Roxanne asked. "Can you tell me if you're really here to play with Archie and Benny? Or are you running away from home like last time? Does your family know you're here?"Estella tilted her head to the side and scribbled on the notebook.Archie's and Benny's faces were staid. "Do you know someone can kidnap you if you meet a bad person when you take the cab? Didn't our teacher teach us not to leave the house alone?"By the time they finished speaking, Estella had already done writing and showed the notebook to them.She wrote a sentence across the blank page: I want to meet Ms. Jarvis, Archie, and Benny.Roxanne frowned. "You... you ran away from home because of us?"Estella nodded her head firmly before she started to write in her notebook again. She scribbled:Like.Roxanne was confused this time.Like? Like what?"You like us?" Archie guessed.Estella nodded again.Roxanne's heart softened at Estella's admission.This little girl is so sweet. Honestly, I really like her. Even though she is Lucian's child with another woman, I can't bring myself to hate such an obedient child after getting to know her for the past few days. However, it's still too dangerous for her to do what she did."Thank you for liking us, but it's wrong for a child to run away from home. Your dad must be worried sick. Is it okay if I inform him?" After contemplating, Roxanne asked for Estella's opinion softly.Even though I really don't want to have any contact with Lucian, it's a fact that his child is with me. As a parent, I knew he must be terribly worried.Estella cast her eyes downward, hiding the unwillingness that rose within her.Daddy is a big meanie. The beautiful Ms. Jarvis, Archie, and Benny are all so good to me, but Daddy doesn't let me talk to them. What am I going to do? Ms. Jarvis' voice is so gentle.A few seconds later, Estella finally nodded obediently.Roxanne looked up Lucian's number from her contact list.She had saved it only because she didn't want to miss his call back when Estella had wandered off from home.It was now that the woman remembered she had saved his contact name as just "A."After changing it to his actual name, Roxanne dialed the number.Lucian was about to head out and look for Estella on his own when his phone rang.Seeing the name on his screen, his eyes narrowed as he answered the call."It's me." Roxanne's voice came from across the line.