Chapter 1749: It Was My Fault

Roxanne collected her thoughts the moment she sensed the jealousy in Lucian's voice. Certain he wasn't truly upset about her withholding the truth—he pampered her too much to find fault—she turned the tables. "Come on," she argued, "Do you think we would have stayed hidden if we didn't need to? I figured you'd recognize them; they look so much like you. That's why we never came back."

Caught off guard, Lucian was speechless. Roxanne's words struck a chord; Archie and Benny did resemble him. "Well, I was so caught up in getting you back, I didn't notice," he admitted, guilt surfacing. "I thought someone else was their father. I even told myself I'd teach that irresponsible man a lesson if he looked for you, but it turns out I am that guy."

The hatred he'd felt toward the children's unknown father had morphed into self-recrimination since learning the truth. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that," he said. "None of this will happen again. I promise I'll make it up to you all."

"It sure was tough," Roxanne complained playfully, "I wouldn't have tried so hard to hide them if I'd known you couldn't tell who they were."

"It's all my fault," Lucian confessed. "I should have found out who they were earlier and spared you all these years of hiding." The guilt in his heart intensified, the room growing tense as he imagined a different life for them.

Noticing his remorse, she quickly added, "It's okay. I should have known a busy man like you wouldn't have time to pay attention to people's looks. In fact, I doubt you even know what you look like now."

His expression confirmed her words' accuracy; he'd never paid much attention to his appearance. Roxanne's surprise turned to laughter. "Estella actually looks a lot like you, too," she revealed.

His brow furrowed deeper. "Well," Roxanne continued, shaking her head, "Estella might have my eyes, but the rest of her features are yours. Plus, you were with Aubree then, and your mother kept saying Estella's mother was someone else, so I didn't think much of it." She left unspoken the weight of her daughter's presumed death, letting the implication add to Lucian's guilt.

"It's all my fault," Lucian repeated. "I should have told you I found out."

He could only apologize, but Roxanne smiled forgivingly. "It's okay. What matters is we found each other, even without knowing about the children. They're happy now. That's the most important thing."

Reconciled and having opened their hearts, Lucian and Roxanne gazed lovingly into each other's eyes, chatting until midnight. Finally, Lucian coaxed her to bed before leaving to see off their visitors.