Back at the hospital, Roxanne was still awake. Lucian quickened his pace when he saw the lights in her ward were still on. “Why are you still up?” He was worried when he saw Roxanne sitting on the bed in a daze.
Roxanne returned to her senses after she heard his voice and smiled. “I’ve slept too much for four days straight, so I can’t fall asleep now.”
Then, she asked about the kids, “Where are the kids? Are they asleep?” “I’ve tugged them in bed before coming here,” Lucian replied.
Roxanne felt more at ease hearing that. Soon after, she started worrying about him. “You look pale. You should get a good rest at home.” People might think Lucian was the one who was sick after seeing his face.
Hearing that, Lucian ran his hand down his face instinctively. Then, he forced a smile. “I had the experience of being unable to sleep for days for work so it’s no big deal.”
He walked up and sat next to the bed. Then, he looked at Roxanne with a tender gaze. “Besides, how can I leave you all alone at the hospital? I’m sure the kids wouldn’t let me do that.”
Roxanne gave him a puzzled look. What has that got to do with the kids? With a smile, Lucian told her what the kids had told him in the car earlier. Roxanne felt a warm sensation in her heart after she knew how protective they were of her. “I was afraid they would be scared after knowing it. I never thought…”
As she spoke, she smiled and glanced at Lucian. “They weren’t scared because you were with them, and that’s why they were confident.”
Perhaps this was the power of paternal love. With that, they looked at each other and grinned. Roxanne made room for him and said, “It’s getting late now. Come and get some rest. You’ve got huge dark circles under your eyes!”
“There’s no rush. Since you can’t fall asleep, I want to seek your permission for something,” Lucian said while he remained seated.
Roxanne got serious when she saw his darkened expression. “What is it?” Lucian’s brows furrowed slightly, thinking of how to deliver the news. After a few minutes, he finally broke the silence.
“Jack’s second demand is for your research institute to work with them again. I’ve already drawn up the statement of unilateral termination of the contract so that I can get the antidote. I only need to release-”
Roxanne interrupted before he could finish. “No way.” Lucian stopped talking and looked at her helplessly. “You don’t have to worry about the funds. Farwell Group and Queen Group will pay you a large sum as the termination fee. You can use the money to increase employee benefits. It won’t matter if you take the money from the Damaris family.”
Roxanne said solemnly, “I’m the person in charge of the research institute. If you want to terminate the contract with us, I’ll try to look for another business partner. But I’ll never consider working with the Damaris family!”
After knowing the man that Jack was, Roxanne decided not to get involved with him in any way. She wouldn’t let Jack threaten them with this and let him have his way.
Lucian fell silent after seeing her firm attitude and hesitated. “I know how you feel, but now is not the time for you to burn your bridges with Jack.”
He knew if the research institute formed a collaboration with the Damaris Group, Roxanne would still hold value to Jack. In that case, there would be hope for her to get the antidote from Jack if they couldn’t develop it.
