Lucian’s eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at the twins next to her. “We’re going to stay with Mommy!” Both of them held Roxanne’s hands tightly.
Roxanne had no other choice but to let her children stay with her. She then said to Lucian, “You can go on ahead and take Estella home, Mr. Farwell. The kids and I will go back after a while.”
Lucian could notice Estella tugging the ends of his shirt strongly. It was clear that she did not want to leave as well. However, Roxanne had already turned around to leave with Archie and Benny.
“Ms. Jarvis…” Estella looked at Roxanne sadly. Lucian’s gaze darkened. In the end, he still worried for the three of them, but he knew that Roxanne would not want him and Estella to tag along. Hence, he decided to take Estella to a nearby restaurant to wait for them.
Roxanne, on the other hand, brought Archie and Benny over to a place that was not as crowded. She took off her shoes and sat down on the sand.
With the refreshing sea breeze blowing on her face, she soon started to calm down.
Archie and Benny remained by her side. As they could tell that Roxanne was not in a good mood, they did not dare to play around and instead sat down quietly next to her.
It was after a long while that Roxanne had calmed down finally. She then stood up and rubbed the boys’ heads. “Let’s go.”
Realizing that their mother looked much better, they both breathed a sigh of relief. They held onto Roxanne’s hand and made a move to stand up.
Roxanne was about to pull them up when she suddenly felt a sharp pain underneath her foot. She made a sound of pain when something seemed to have scraped her foot.
Both Archie and Benny were shocked at her sudden reaction. They quickly stood up and patted the sand off their clothes before helping Roxanne to sit back down on the beach.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?”
Roxanne tried her best to endure the pain as she looked down at the spot that she had been standing on. All she saw was a shell silently laying on the sand. There were traces of her blood on the sharp edge of the shell.
Archie and Benny looked at where their mother was staring and instantly noticed the blood-stained shell. “Mommy, you’re hurt!”
Realizing that she had worried her children, Roxanne forced a smile. “It’s all right. Help me up,” she tried to comfort them. However, both Archie and Benny promptly declined, “You’re hurt. How are you going to stand up?”
The twins did not know what to do. In the midst of their anxiousness, Lucian was the first person that popped into their minds.
Archie lightly tugged at his brother and whispered next to his ear, “I’m going to find Daddy. Take care of Mommy.”
Benny nodded.
“Mommy, I’m going to get someone to help us!” Archie said to Roxanne before running away without looking back.
Roxanne worriedly tried to stop the young boy from leaving, but the latter did not even turn back as he walked away. “Don’t worry, Mommy. Archie won’t get lost. We’re very smart,” Benny comforted her.
Since Archie had already run too far off, Roxanne could only calm down and direct Benny on how to do some simple disinfection. On the other hand, Lucian was staring in the direction of where Roxanne and the boys had left. An uncomfortable feeling rose in his heart.
Suddenly, Estella tugged at his shirt and exclaimed, “It’s Archie!”
She pointed toward the crowd as she spoke. Lucian looked in the direction of her finger and noticed Archie running toward the hotel.
Seeing that, Lucian’s gaze darkened. He picked Estella up with one hand and strode over to the young boy. “Why are you alone? Where are Benny and your mother?”
Archie skidded to a stop, panting. He grabbed onto Lucian’s clothes and started explaining in a tense voice, “Mommy… Mommy’s hurt! Hurry up and come with me, Mr. Farwell!”
