Roxanne felt Jack’s tone sounded a little peculiar. Moreover, she also knew the kids weren’t fond of him, so she rejected him on the spot, “That’s not needed. Benny’s injury has almost recovered. Thank you for your concern, Mr. Damaris.”
Jack replied, “It’s better to take more precautions since he’s just a child. I have a special ointment passed down in the Damaris family. I’ll bring it over in a while to visit him.”
Sensing his insistence, Roxanne couldn’t bring herself to refuse him again, so she had no choice but to agree. After hanging up the phone, Roxanne summoned the children and informed them about Jack’s visit.
“Mommy, can you ask him not to come?” Benny was reluctant to meet with Jack. Roxanne felt helpless, listening to Benny’s words. “I did turn him down, but he was determined to come. He has your best interest at heart, so don’t blatantly show your dislike toward him later.”
With that, she turned to Estella. “And you, Essie. Do not repeat what you did previously. I’ll ask him to leave as soon as possible.”
Estella nodded reluctantly. Although Roxanne had punished Estella by asking the latter to stand in a corner, the little girl didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.
Roxanne could tell the children were unhappy with that arrangement. She let out a sigh of resignation. I don’t know what to do with these kids.
Not long after, Jack showed up at the mansion’s entrance. Roxanne opened the door and welcomed him into the house. “Hello, Mr. Damaris,” the three kids greeted him politely but none-too-enthusiastically.
Seemingly ignorant to their indifference, Jack strode up to Benny. “I heard that you were injured. Let me take a look.”
He reached out and grasped Benny’s wrist after saying that. Benny was averse to Jack. Although the wound on his wrist had almost recovered, he feigned agony when Jack touched him and swiftly retracted his arm. “Does it hurt a lot?” Jack gazed at the kid scrutinizingly.
Benny nodded as if he was indeed in pain. “It hurts even with the slightest touch.” Daddy is better, after all. He didn’t touch my wrist when he visited me the other day. Jack sized up Benny for a few more seconds before standing up and handing Roxanne the small tube of ointment in his hand.
“This is a special medicine passed down in the Damaris family. Apply this on Benny’s arm, and the injury will recover in no time.” Roxanne received the medicine and courteously expressed her gratitude, “Thank you, Mr. Damaris.”
Jack bobbed his head in response. Then, he casually swept his eyes across the three children. The kids had gathered around Roxanne and were eyeing him warily. They’re regarding me with that look in their eyes again! A hint of displeasure surged within Jack..
He couldn’t be sure if Archie and Benny were Lucian’s children, but it was evident that the boys were on Lucian’s side. That reason alone was sufficient to invoke Jack’s distaste toward the boys.
“I need to bring the kids out in a short while, so if there’s nothing else, Mr. Damaris…” Roxanne hinted at Jack for him to take his leave.
Fortunately, he didn’t insist on staying. “Take good care of Benny. There’s no hurry regarding the tasks at the research institute.”
Roxanne pursed her lips and smiled. “Thank you. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to finish the development of the new medicine within the given time frame.”
The two didn’t chat further as Jack swiftly left afterward. Roxanne felt slightly suspicious as she watched his car disappear from her sight. Jack’s sole purpose for making that trip was clearly to confirm whether Benny was truly injured.
She could not shake off the feeling that Jack seemed to have changed in some aspects compared to when they first met.
