Chapter 12

The next time she woke up, she was lying on her bed.

Next to her bed was a big full-length window and the sky outside looked cloudy and greyish. The rain was hitting hard on the glass window, blurring out the scene outside the window.

“Stellie, you’re finally awake!”

Listening to the familiar voice, Estelle lifted the corners of her lips. “Aunt Frances, why are you here?”

Aunt Frances was an old staff to the Flynn family. She always liked growing plants, hence she stayed with the Flynn family as their gardener.

With a hot bowl of soup in her hands, Aunt Frances walked toward the bed where Estelle laid. She had a pitiful look on her face. “If it hadn’t come, no one would’ve known that you fainted! Come and have some of this red dates soup. It’s good for blood loss.”

Struggling to sit up, Estelle received the bowl from her and she drank the hot soup bit by bit.

“What exactly is going on with you, Stellie? I saw you covered in blood when I tried to help you get changed. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Estelle smiled lightly and shook her head. “I’m not hurt. Aunt Frances, don’t you...blame me for what happened?”

Aunt Frances was greatly indebted to Aunt Flynn and Uncle Flynn. They kept Aunt Frances around the family to work for them for almost ten years. When the tragedy happened, the Flynn family broke apart and most of the staff and maids had then left the family. Only Aunt Frances stayed behind because she was concerned about Skyler.

Letting out a sigh, Aunt Frances had an unsettling expression. “To be frank, I resented you for sir and madam’s death. But I’ve watched you grow up Stellie and I know you better than anyone else. I’m sure that you couldn’t have done that.”

Tears started to swell up in Estelle’s eyes. “Aunt Frances, are you willing to believe me?”

“My dear child, I’ve gotten older now and I might not be that clear-minded as I used to be, though there are times that I often wonder. If you and your family had plans to harm the Flynn family, you could’ve gone back to the Sander family. Why else would you still have stayed by Skyler’s side then?”

Upon listening to her words, Estelle wanted to cry. “Exactly. Why can’t Skyler understand my intentions when you can.”

“It’s not that he doesn’t understand. It’s just that he doesn’t dare to make sense of the situation. These few years, Skyler was blinded by resentment and hatred. Now he’s got that Camilla by his side. Your Aunt Frances’s older than you both and I have an eye for people like Camilla. She’s not as naive as Skyler thinks she is.” Aunt Frances comforted her gently while wiping away Estelle’s tears with her warm hands.

‘Yet, there’s no use in all these words anymore,’ Estelle thought to herself while smiling bitterly.

“Stellie, why were you on the rooftop in the rain by yourself? Did you fight with Skyler?”

Shaking her head, Estelle uttered, “There’s nothing left for us to fight.”

At the end of their love, all that was left were misery and exhaustion. What was there left to argue?

Should she have told him the truth about what Camilla did? Or the fact that she was gonna die of cancer soon?

Between these two options, which one would Skyler believed?

Hence, she did not want to argue nor fight anymore. She had no more strength left in her.

“Aunt Frances, how long have I been asleep?”

“For two days one night. I wanted to send you to the hospital but it was as if you were dreaming. You cried until the pillows were wet and you held on tightly to the pillows, not wanting to let it go…”

Two days passed. She only had four days left.

Estelle picked up her phone from the bedside table but the phone was out of battery.

She fixed the charger and the first thing she checked on her phone was the weather forecast.

It was exactly like what Skyler told her, it was to rain for the next four days.

“What’s so funny, Stellie?”

“It’s funny how God’s on Skyler’s side. God’s making sure that Skyler won’t have to do the things that he’s reluctant to.”

Looking confused, Aunt Frances mumbled, “Is your brain fried from the fever? What are you saying?”

She leaned over and touched Estelle’s forehead. “Oh my, why is it so hot? How long have you been in the rain? This won’t work, we have to get you to the hospital right away.”

Holding her hands, Estelle reassured. “I don’t want to go to the hospital, Aunt Frances.”

“Young lady, you shall listen to what I ask of you. When you get better, I’ll get you your favorite star-shaped candies all right?” Aunt Frances comforted her as if she was still a kid.

“...All right.” Estelle held back her tears.

“Wait here. I’ll call Skyler.”

Rather quickly, Aunt Frances managed to place a call and it reached Skyler. Aunt Frances said worriedly, “Skyler, you should come home. Stellie’s having a high fever and I don’t think she can hold up any longer…”

There was a long pause at Skyler’s end. He was not responding.

“Skyler?”

“Get Estelle on the phone.”

“Oh, all right!” Aunt Frances was pleased when she heard what Skyler said. She passed the phone to Estelle quickly and encouraged her softly, “Skyler wants to talk to you. You should explain to him properly. As long as the air’s cleared up, you guys could go back to how it was back then. I’ll go get you another bowl of soup.”

Before closing the door behind her, Aunt Frances looked really glad and assured.

Estelle knew that Aunt Frances was the one who witnessed the journey that Skyler and she had embarked on.

They had their first kiss in Aunt Frances’ garden, they were able to sneak out on dates with Aunt Frances’ help, and it was Aunt Frances who taught them how to fold the paper stars.

To Aunt Frances, Skyler and Estelle were made for each other.

“Hello, Skyler…”

“Estelle Sanders, you are something! You’re now using Aunt Frances’s phone to call me after I blocked you on the caller list?”