“Daddy!” At the sight of her father, Estella ran up to Lucian’s side and pointed to the untouched food on the table. “You’re finally here. All of us are famished!”
As Lucian followed the trajectory of Estella’s gaze, he saw Archie and Benny at the dining table, looking at him while supporting their heads with one hand. Their eyes still reflected the resentment they felt for him.
As for the five sets of dinnerware on the table, they remained untouched. Evidently, everyone was waiting for him to have dinner together.
Realizing that fact, Lucian felt a complex range of emotions as he glanced at Roxanne, who had just come up to his side.
When their eyes met, she briefly froze before explaining by reflex, “Estella wanted to wait for you.”
Raising his brows slightly, Lucian looked down at his daughter, who nodded with a gleeful grin as if she was taking credit for it.
In response, Lucian stroked her head and apologized to Roxanne and the boys, “I’m sorry for holding you up. I didn’t realize you were waiting for me to have dinner.”
Roxanne pursed her lips. “It’s no big deal. Now that you’re here, let’s dig in and then continue with our rehearsal.”
After giving her a nod, Lucian washed his hands before taking a seat at the table opposite her.
When dinner was over, everyone began rehearsing.
After practicing a few times, Roxanne had come to accept Lucian’s lack of talent in acting. Therefore, she simply went along with the flow.
As for the three children, their acting skills were better than she had expected. Initially, she was worried that they wouldn’t even be fluent with their lines. However, they impressed her not just with their eloquence but also with their convincing expressions,
Once rehearsal was over, the confused Estella tilted her head as she stared at the two adults.
Noticing how she was looking at them, Roxanne crouched by her side. “Essie, what is
it? Is there a problem?”
Knitting her brows, Estella asked hesitantly, “Oh, Ms. Jarvis, does Sleeping Beauty sleep till the end? I remember…”
I remember that she was awoken by a kiss from the prince! However, the rehearsal always ends after the prince defeats the witch.
Roxanne didn’t have to wait for Estella to finish her sentence before she understood what the girl was going to say. She interrupted with a smile, “Of course not.”
A baffled look emerged on Estella’s face. “But the rehearsal always stops here.”
Having heard Estella’s question, Archie and Benny came over, for they too were equally curious.
Faced with the children’s confounded expressions, Roxanne furrowed her brows, at a sudden loss for words.
Even though Pippa had mentioned that they only needed to look like they were kissing and no physical contact was needed, Roxanne still wanted to avoid any intimacy with Lucian.
As a result, she had been neglecting that last scene on purpose.
To be honest, she hadn’t expected the children to notice.
Unable to find the words to explain, Roxanne turned to Lucian for help.
However, she saw a strange look on his face instead.
When his gaze met hers, his expression became indifferent once more. He then said something that disheartened her further.
“That’s true. I, too, am curious about it. Ms. Jarvis, why do you always skip the last scene? Isn’t that where the soul of the story lies?”
The children nodded in agreement.
Stumped, Roxanne took a while to regain her senses before walking to Lucian’s side and whispering, “Ms. Ward said that we can just pretend to kiss without making contact.”
“All the more reason why we should practice it.” Lucian cocked his brows while giving her a thoughtful look.
