Aubree, having been dismissed by Lucian that afternoon, arrived at the Farwell residence to look for Sonya.

Sonya, seeing Aubree, thought she had news of Estella and anxiously asked, "Why are you back? Has Essie been found?"

Aubree shook her head dejectedly.

Sonya chided, "Why are you here if Essie hasn't been found? Why aren't you helping to search for her?" Even though she generally favored Aubree, she felt the woman had gone too far this time.

Aubree answered remorsefully, "Mrs. Farwell, I'd love to help, but—"

"But what?" Sonya asked furiously.

Aubree, eyes teary, replied with a pitiful expression, "Lucian blamed me for not taking good care of Essie and asked me to leave. I didn't want to stay and be a burden to him; he was already anxious enough."

Sonya had only heard a brief account of the incident over the phone—that Estella had run away due to Aubree's perceived lack of care—and lacked the details. She didn't understand why her son would lash out at Aubree. "What exactly happened? Why did Essie suddenly run away?"

Aubree, on the verge of tears, explained, "When I arrived at the hotel, I discovered Lucian and Roxanne were sharing a room due to a lack of available rooms. I wanted to see if the hotel could make other arrangements."

She paused, glanced at Sonya, then continued, "So I told him I'd check with reception. After entering the elevator, Essie followed me. I didn't know what she wanted and didn't expect her to dash out the moment the doors opened. I was stunned and couldn't react in time."

Sonya's expression darkened. She suspected her granddaughter didn't want to leave Roxanne. "What spell did that woman cast on Essie? Even if they're mother and daughter, Roxanne hasn't cared for Essie since birth. Why is Essie so attached to her? Besides" Recalling Aubree's earlier words, Sonya furrowed her brows. "Lucian and Roxanne were staying in the same room?"

Aubree nodded, aggrieved. "The hotel had no spare rooms, but it wasn't appropriate for them to share a room. That's why I wanted to check with the front desk. I didn't expect Essie to react so strongly. It's my fault for not being more considerate."

Sonya invited Aubree into the living room. "It's not your fault. You did the right thing. You two are getting engaged soon; Lucian shouldn't have stayed with Roxanne!"

"But if that hadn't happened, Essie wouldn't have run away," Aubree cried. "It's so late, and there's still no news. I'm so worried something will happen to her. She's so young If something bad happens, I'll never forgive myself!"

Sonya's heart sank, but instead of blaming Aubree, she comforted her. "Don't worry. Lucian is looking for her. Essie will be fine."

Aubree sobbed. "Essie is missing because I didn't take good care of her. I'm scared Lucian won't forgive me. He was so furious earlier, I thought"

She had thought Lucian would hit her, as he had before, but he didn't. However, she didn't assume this was because he was less angry; she believed he was simply indifferent to her now.

Sonya frowned. "That won't happen. It's not your fault this time. He'll realize it once he calms down."

The extraneous promotional text at the end has been removed. The spelling of "Sonya" has been corrected throughout. Sentence structure and word choice have been improved for clarity and flow.