Chapter 121 What Went Wrong
Roxanne walked in that direction, and she saw Estella curled in the corner with her knees tucked in, and her eyes looked empty like a soulless doll.
Recalling how Estella used to welcome her with a sweet, bright smile, Roxanne’s heart was wrenched in pain, suffocating her.
This morning, Estella grabbed her skirt with a pair of twinkling eyes, but she descended into such a piteous state so unexpectedly.
Roxanne tiptoed into the room and squatted down beside her. With a soft and gentle voice, she called out to her, “Essie, I’m here.”
Estella, however, had no response.
Roxanne was taken aback by Estella’s condition.
Behind Roxanne, James reminded softly, “Ms. Jarvis, Estella is now completely shut off from the outside world. You need to keep talking to her, in order to lure her back into reality. Patience is necessary to achieve that.”
Roxanne calmed herself down and nodded.
She started talking to Estella again, “Essie, look who is here too! Archie and Benny are here! They’re all here!”
Archie and Benny strode over to join Roxanne and Estella. Benny started making faces at Estella. “I’m here to visit you! Don’t you cry!”
Archie frowned and stared at Estella’s eyes. “You can just zone out for a short while, okay? We’re waiting for you to play together. Would you like to join us?”
Previously, when they said this, Estella would burst into laughter.
However, this time, Estella did not respond. She sat motionlessly on the same spot and did not even lift a finger.
The smile on Benny’s face slowly faded, and it quickly turned into a frown. “Hey, we’re talking to you. Are you unhappy that you’re going to school? Archie and I are joining you soon. We can bring you anywhere that you want, and we can do everything together! Doesn’t that sound nice?”
With a sullen expression, Archie threatened, “If you don’t talk to us, we don’t want to play with you anymore!”
Be that as it may, Estella still did not respond.
Archie and Benny took a deep breath and changed their methods. Instead of anticipating a response, they started babbling incessantly about all sorts of topics, even mentioning what happened at Universe Park. They also promised to bring her there once she recovered.
In spite of their relentless attempts to get her to talk, Estella didn’t even blink once.
Their eyes started to well up, and they used Roxanne’s sleeves to wipe their tears. “Mommy, Essie doesn’t seem to be able to hear us. What should we do?”
Their voices started to break.
Roxanne’s eyes were also slightly red. She kept her composure and patted Archie and Benny on the head. “Essie will surely recover. Why don’t the two of you take a break? I will speak to her.”
Archie and Benny struggled to resist crying, at least not in front of Estella. Quietly, they retreated behind Roxanne.
Roxanne extended her hand gently and carried Estella in her arms. Roxanne started talking about everything under the sun, irrespective of whether Estella could hear her.
Estella was also like a doll, leaving herself to the whims and fancies of Roxanne.
That very sight pulled at Lucian’s heartstrings.
He was even more certain that Roxanne did not know that Estella was her daughter.
Otherwise, Roxanne would not have treated Estella that kindly, given that she purportedly abandoned her own daughter.
What went wrong?
