Roxanne tensed up the moment their gazes met. She then retracted her gaze and tried to act like she was looking at something else in his direction.


    "Hurry up and dig in. The food is getting cold," Lysa urged them with a smile.


    Having been snapped out of her daze, Roxanne nodded absent-mindedly and began topping the kids'' tes up with food.


    Este simply stared at her food and refused to eat it.


    "What''s wrong, Essie? Do you not like the food?" Roxanne asked in confusion.


    I don''t recall her being a picky eater, though...


    Este cautiously nced at the living room before saying in an adorable voice, "Daddy..."


    V


    Roxanne''s expression froze as she knew what Este was going to say.


    "Daddy hasn''t eaten either. Can he join us?" Este asked with an expectant look in her eyes.


    Roxanne let out a helpless sigh when she heard that.


    I figured Lucian probably hadn''t eaten when I heard Este hade over immediately after school. Since he was already here, I thought of inviting him to the table to show him the most basic of hospitality. However, he only asked if I could let Este join us for dinner, so I couldn''t really bring myself to invite him. Besides, he didn''t seem like he wanted to join us anyway...


    "Ms. Jarvis?" Este tugged at her shirt sleeve.


    Roxanne let out a silent sigh and patted her on the head as she said, "Sorry, I didn''t know. I''ll go invite your daddy right now."


    She then turned toward Lysa and said, "Lysa, bring us another set of utensils."


    Lysa nodded and went off to fetch the utensils from the kitchen while Roxanne made her way to the living room.


    Lucian was scrolling through his phone on the couch when she walked up to him.


    Unsure if he was genuinely unaware of her presence or deliberately waiting for her, Roxanne said, "Essie told me you haven''t eaten."Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    Lucian then looked up at her and replied coldly, "Yeah."


    What the heck is with that attitude of his? It''s obvious that he was deliberately waiting for my invitation!


    Roxanne thought to herself with a frustrated frown.


    Since she had already initiated the conversation, she had no choice but to go through with it and asked reluctantly, "If you don''t mind, how about joining us for dinner?"


    Given how cold her tone was, anyone else would''ve known she was simply being polite and turned her invitation down.


    Lucian, however, arched an eyebrow at her and said, "I don''t mind at all, but I''m not sure if you would, Ms. Jarvis." Roxanne red at him as she forced the words out of her mouth. "No, I don''t..."


    Lucian then put his phone away and got up from the couch. "In that case, I shall graciously ept your invitation."


    Roxanne nodded and went back to the dining room.


    As if his n had worked perfectly, Lucian was smiling gleefully as he walked behind her.


    While Roxanne was oblivious to his expression, Archie and Benny saw it clearly from the dining table and exchanged surprised nces in response.


    Who would''ve thought Daddy was such a cunning guy?