“Daddy!” Downstairs, Catalina was serving the three children breakfast. When the children saw that Lucian had come downstairs, they all greeted him in unison. Subsequently, Estella asked morosely, “Where’s Mommy, Daddy? My dress is spoiled.”
Upon hearing that, Lucian scrutinized her with a frown. Estella was wearing the dress Roxanne put on her last night, but the wings at the back had come off at some point in time.
“Where are the wings?” he questioned in a baritone voice. Wearing a recriminating expression, Estella turned to Benny beside her. Benny proceeded to raise a hand apologetically. “I accidentally tore them off. I’m sorry. I’ll help Essie fix them!”
His voice dripped with remorse. Patting Estella on the head in consolation, Lucian crouched and took a closer look at her dress.
He remembered that the wings at the back of her dress were indeed detachable. Regretfully, he didn’t pay much attention to the actual mechanics of it.
After studying the dress for a long time, he stood up and declared, “It isn’t spoiled. The wings can still be reattached. But then, we’ve got no time for it now, so have your Mommy help to do it tonight.”
Estella eyed him dubiously. Mild exasperation flooded Lucian when he saw that his daughter had so little faith in him.
Hmm, on second thought, she’s more attached to Roxanne, so this is nothing usual. Hence, he nonchalantly changed the subject. “The clock is ticking. We’re going to be late if we tarry any further.”
At once, all three children sped up. After breakfast, Lucian drove them to kindergarten and gave Cayden a call before heading back to the manor.
To his surprise, Roxanne was already downstairs, eating breakfast with her brows knitted together when he returned. “Why didn’t you sleep in?”
Throwing a look at Catalina, he strode over to Roxanne and sat down beside her. He naturally placed his hands at her waist and started massaging with the perfect pressure.
As the pain at her waist subsided, Roxanne glowered at him in aggravation. “It’s not the weekend today, so I’ve still got to work.”
Following the incident with Jack, she realized that she needed to interact more with the employees, especially right then..
Otherwise, a single slip might result in Jack. poaching them away. Consequently, it might lead to the core of the medicine’s research and development being leaked. A frown marred Lucian’s countenance. “Jack has replied to you?”
At the mention of the man, a headache assailed Roxanne. “No. I think he’s reluctant to accept my terms.”
Judging from his attitude, he’ll likely fight us to the bitter end. Anyway, the only repercussion for Damaris Group at the end of the day is making less money. Unlike them, we can’t sign a contract with other companies before Damaris Group breaches the agreement. Even when this batch of medicine is successfully developed, we won’t be able to do anything with it.
The more she brooded over it, the more she felt that the situation was disadvantageous to them. On the contrary, Lucian’s only concern was her health. “Since he hasn’t come around, it’s okay if you don’t go to the research institute today. You might as well rest at home.”
However, Roxanne shook her head in disagreement and told him about her concerns. “I can’t shake off the feeling that I can’t allow this matter to drag on. To this very day, the research institute hasn’t found a suitable medicinal herbs supplier. As such, now isn’t the time to have a falling out with the Damaris family.”
At the sight of her in a bind, Lucian’s expression likewise turned somber. He had promised to teach her management, so it went without saying that he would do so wholeheartedly.
“The actual reason for curtailing the percentage of the Damaris family’s profits previously is to lower their expectations of the profit split. At the same time, when we make concessions later, it’ll also reflect the research institute’s utmost sincerity.”
