The next day was a weekend, so the children didn't have to go to kindergarten. Roxanne planned to take the boys to the research institute. Just as she finished packing and was about to leave, the doorbell rang.
Thinking it was Madilyn, Roxanne answered the door. Her brows furrowed in confusion when she saw Estella. "Essie? What are you doing here?"
Roxanne instinctively glanced around, expecting to see Lucian. Shockingly, Estella was alone.
Roxanne knelt to Estella's eye level. "Estella, how did you get here? Did your father send you?" (She mentally added: Judging by Lucian's attitude at kindergarten yesterday, I highly doubt he'd let Essie see me, but there's no other explanation.)
Estella, wearing a white dress and her kindergarten backpack, reached for her notebook, opened it, and wrote: I came here myself.
Roxanne was stunned. "Yourself? How did you find your way here?"
Estella wrote: I took a cab.
Roxanne remained suspicious but, after checking her surroundings, finally believed her. Lucian's daughter had taken a cab to her house alone that morning! This was giving her a headache.
She suppressed her mixed emotions and asked gently, "Why are you looking for me?"
The girl wrote: I wanted to be friends with Archie and Benny, so I came to play with them. Is that okay? She held up her notebook, gazing at Roxanne expectantly.
Just for that? Roxanne didn't know what to say. (Yesterday, the boys' teacher mentioned Estella liked following them, but I never imagined she'd take a cab to my house alone! And she can't speak; if she'd met anyone dangerous) Roxanne dared not consider the possibilities.
"Mommy?" Archie and Benny, having waited inside, came to investigate Roxanne's delay. Seeing Estella, they echoed Roxanne's initial surprise: "Whatare you doing here?"
Estella started to write, but Roxanne interjected, "Essie just wanted to play with you."
Archie looked around, expecting his father, but saw no adult male. "How did she get here?" he asked Roxanne.
Roxanne replied, resignedly, "She took a cab, alone." (Even I find that hard to believe.)
The boys, however, readily accepted this. Benny looked at Estella quizzically. "You came here yourself? Did you run away from home again?" (I recall meeting Essie the first time when she'd run away.)
Estella calmly nodded. The boys exchanged speechless glances. (Why does Daddy's daughter keep running away, and why is she always coming to our house?)
Meanwhile, at the Farwell Group, Lucian's private phone rang. The butler's urgent voice filled the line: "Mr. Farwell, Ms. Estella is missing again."
The extraneous website promotion has been removed. The narrative is improved with smoother transitions and more concise phrasing. Parenthetical thoughts have been added where appropriate, instead of disrupting the flow of the dialogue.