Lucian had left in such a hurry that he did not even close the door to Estella’s room, which only made things easier for Aubree.
Using the glow from her phone screen to see what she was doing, she switched out a few things inside Estella’s bathroom. After scanning the room carefully and ensuring nothing appeared out of the ordinary, she left quietly.
Back in her room, the thought of the distressed look on Estella’s face filled her heart with glee.
That little brat… Let’s see if she dares to go against me again!
Meanwhile, Estella’s condition did not get any better as they made their way to Roxanne’s house. She could not refrain from occasionally reaching out to rake her nails wildly over her skin.
Lucian could see what she was doing through the rearview mirror, and his brows knitted together. While they stopped at a traffic light, he took the chance to call Roxanne again.
Roxanne had already prepared her medical kit and was anxiously waiting for them to arrive.
When she saw that Lucian was calling her, she answered her phone immediately.
“I’m on the way to your house, but Essie can’t stand the itchiness and keeps scratching. You should chat with her for a little while.”
Lucian was subconsciously thinking of Roxanne as Estella’s biological mother. He spoke in a way that sounded as though that was the most natural thing for Roxanne to do.
As for Roxanne, since the matter concerned Estella, she did not notice anything odd about his tone and agreed without hesitation.
Over in the rear passenger seat, Estella stared at Lucian’s phone as soon as she heard Roxanne’s voice. I want to talk to Ms. Jarvis!
A second later, Estella saw him toss his phone over to her.
She quickly grabbed it. Then, holding the phone in both hands, she proceeded to voice her grievances to Roxanne. “Ms. Jarvis, it’s so itchy! The mosquitoes keep biting me!”
Upon hearing Estella’s miserable voice, Roxanne felt a pang shooting through her heart. “Be good and don’t scratch, okay? I’ll take a look later and make you all better.”
Estella sadly mumbled a response.
To distract Estella, Roxanne started chatting to her about arts and crafts again.
It seemed to work as Estella’s hands stopped moving after a while.
Lucian heaved a sigh of relief and began driving even faster.
Soon, the car slowly pulled up in front of the entrance to Roxanne’s residential area.
“We’re here.”
Roxanne vaguely heard Lucian’s voice over the phone. Then, the intercom in her house started ringing.
She hung up and went to the intercom to open the gates of the residential area for Lucian and Estella to come in. After that, she opened the mansion door and waited in the yard.
In the dark of the night, she watched as a car slowly drove toward her and stopped in her yard.
Lucian alighted from the car. His shirt was only a thin, ashy gray one. He turned to open the rear passenger seat door and carried Estella out of the car.
“Ms. Jarvis!” From afar, Estella stretched out her hands toward Roxanne while still in her father’s arms, wanting Roxanne to carry her.
Roxanne hurried forward to carry Estella. However, Lucian dodged away.
Roxanne was taken aback. Her thoughts flew to their rather unpleasant conversation earlier that evening, and she guessed that he was still annoyed by her relationship with Jack.
However, Lucian frowned and simply said, “We don’t know if it’s contagious.”
When Estella heard her father’s remark, her eyes flickered, and she retracted her hands. I’m already feeling horrible, so I don’t want Ms. Jarvis to suffer as well.
Roxanne was inevitably stunned for a few seconds, surprised that Lucian was purely concerned about her. Oh God, I misunderstood him…
Pursing her lips, she smiled and looked at Estella reassuringly. “It’s okay. Come here and let me hug you.” While saying that, she held her arms out to the little girl to carry her into the house.
She could tell that Estella was scared to death then and yearned for her embrace. Alas, her outstretched arms grasped empty air once more.
Estella wriggled into her father’s embrace, dodging Roxanne’s outstretched arms. She then shook her head at the latter. “Daddy will carry me in.”
Roxanne’s heart promptly melted, knowing that Estella was afraid she would be infected. In the end, she relented and followed them into the living room.
“Place her in my room,” she offered gently upon noticing the man faltering in his tracks.
Nodding, Lucian headed upstairs directly with Estella in his arms and went to Roxanne’s room.
After stepping foot into the room, however, he hesitated because he wasn’t sure where to place her.
If it’s really contagious, Roxanne might be infected if I were to place Essie onto her bed.
Entering right after him, Roxanne perceived his worry. She snagged a large blanket from the side and spread it over the bed before motioning for him to place Estella down.
Only then did Lucian step forward and place Estella onto the bed.
Subsequently, Roxanne stepped forward and carefully removed the blanket wrapped around Estella.
The lighting outside was rather dim earlier. That aside, Estella was wrapped up like a burrito, so she merely knew that the girl had red spots all over her body. She had no idea of the specific situation.
Estella docilely allowed her to do as she pleased.
When Roxanne had removed the blanket, a glimmer of shock flittered across her eyes at the red spots blanketing Estella’s body.
Although she had expected her condition to be exceedingly severe long before Lucian arrived, she never imagined it would be that bad.
It’s fortunate that he timely stopped Essie from simply scratching her body. Otherwise, her condition would be even more severe.
“So? Is it serious?” Lucian asked with a frown, restraining Estella’s wrists in order to prevent her from moving around.
At his question, Roxanne turned and cast him a look. The expression on her face was somewhat solemn. “I still need to check her over.”
She could roughly tell the cause of Estella’s symptoms, but she still needed to take her pulse to be sure.
As soon as Lucian glimpsed her outstretched hand, the crease of his brows deepened. Ultimately, he admitted, “Essie’s condition is contagious.”
During the drive over, his arm had also started itching. As time passed, the feeling soon grew increasingly intense. On top of that, the affected area was seemingly expanding as well.
He hadn’t had the time to check himself over yet, but he was inwardly certain that he had already been infected by Estella.
To avoid having her blame herself, he had been holding himself back and saying nothing. Nor did he exhibit any irregularity.
Nonetheless, he still stopped Roxanne timely when she wanted to touch Estella.
Unexpectedly, contact between them both still ended up unavoidable.
Hearing that, both Roxanne and Estella were startled.
Snapping back to her senses, Roxanne instinctively swept her gaze over the man’s exposed skin, only to be greeted by the sight of a few inconspicuous red spots looming at his collar.
The back of his neck, where Estella touched earlier, had also turned into an expanse of red spots.
Whoa! I wonder how he managed to endure it that he didn’t give anything away all this while.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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