Lucian replied to every single one of the children’s innocent questions. Although he had already expected those. questions, and it was not hard for him to answer them, he still felt exhausted after doing SO.
When faced with the children’s naive and innocent expressions, it required a lot of energy on his part to come up with lies.
“Daddy, can’t we go look for Mommy?” Estella suddenly asked. She and Roxanne had only reunited not long ago, so she was unwilling to be apart from the woman, especially after knowing that Roxanne had left for such a faraway place..
Lucian’s expression stiffened when he heard her question. He almost could not hold back and let his sadness burst out. Yet he stayed silent for a few moments. Suppressing those emotions, he pretended everything was fine as he looked at the children.
“I’m quite busy these days, so I can’t take you. Your mommy will probably be gone for only at week. She’ll be back when you go on break.”
With that, he quickly averted his gaze and pretended to be focused on eating dinner, afraid the children would see through his lie. Luckily, the children did not think too much about it. They were just a little disappointed.
“Why does Mommy have to be gone for so long? I hope she’ll already be waiting for us at home when we come back on Friday night…
The emotions that Lucian had tried his best to suppress stirred within him once more. The pain he felt was too great that it made him breathless.
He gulped before replying. “She will. When you come back, your mommy will definitely be waiting at home for you.”
The children thought he was tired, so they quieted down and helped to put food on his plate. Lucian felt his heart grow heavier. The food he ate was now unappetizing. After dinner, the children clung to him and wanted him to play with them for a while.
However, Lucian could not bear to face the children a moment longer. Steeling his heart, he handed the children over to Catalina and prepared to head out.
“Daddy, where are you going?” Archie asked in confusion when he saw Lucian heading for the door. “Are you not going to rest at home tonight?”
A pained look flashed across Lucian’s eyes when he heard Archie’s question. He stopped and rubbed his temples to control his expression before turning to look at the young boy.
“I have something to discuss with Mr. Queen, so I’ll sleep over at his place tonight. Be good, listen to Ms. Catalina, and go to bed early.”
Archie stared at his father, taking in the latter’s expression. Daddy is acting weird. “Daddy, did something happen at the company?”
He recalled Roxanne’s previous behavior and thought Lucian had met with a problem at work. Lucian went along with the flow and answered, “Yeah, but it’s not a big problem. I can handle it. myself. It’s just that I’ll be a bit busy these two days.”
Lucian still remembered how the children cried. their eyes out when something happened to Roxanne the last time. There’s no need for them to know about it this time. They only need to be obedient, stay home, and wait…
The children pushed away their thoughts of having fun, and their expressions turned serious when they heard that something had happened at Lucian’s company.
Estella stepped forward and hugged Lucian, encouraging him in a sweet voice, “Good luck, Daddy! You are the best!”
Archie and Benny hugged him too. Lucian wrapped the three children in his embrace as he slowly calmed down. “I got it. I’ll do my best.”
With that, he ruffled the children’s hair and asked Catalina to take them to play. Then, he got in his car and left.
