Miracle Cutie (Amelia and Benjamin) novel Chapter 447

Chapter 447 No Good People

With that thought, Lester closed his eyes and fell asleep alongside Nina.

He drifted off quickly.

But he was a light sleeper. He wasn’t like Benjamin, who could sleep through a demolition crew.

When Nina let out her first little whimper beside him, his eyelids flickered.

By her second and third whimpers, growing increasingly distressed, his eyes snapped open.

He didn’t turn on the light right away.

Instead, he rolled over, scooped the whimpering Nina against him, and tried to soothe her back to sleep with a gentle pat.

But a few pats weren’t enough.

As Nina’s little body pressed against him, Lester’s large hand, which had been rubbing her back, stilled.

Something felt wrong.

Nina felt warm.

Her breath, puffing against his skin, was hot.

This time, Lester didn’t hesitate. He turned on the light and laid a hand on Nina’s forehead. It was warm.

She was getting a fever, but it hadn’t spiked yet.

Lester got up quickly, fetched a basin of lukewarm water and a towel, and grabbed a thermometer.

Nina’s temperature wasn’t high, not quite 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, but it was close.

At that level, she needed physical cooling, not medication.

Somehow, Lester just knew instinctively how to bring a child’s fever down.

As he wiped her with the towel, his face was expressionless. Just how deeply ingrained was this childcare from my own childhood? Even now, I have these instincts and this basic knowledge.

While tending to Nina, another memory fragment surfaced.

This time, he could see the child’s face clearly. It looked a lot like Nina.

Lester stared. He picked up a cool towel and pressed it to his own forehead.

Maybe I do need more sleep. Staying up too late makes my brain fuzzy. I must be projecting Nina’s face onto my childhood memories.

He kept the compress on for a while, convinced he was mixing things up.

The little clothes he’d hand-washed and hung up the night before were dry now.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, he dressed her in her own clean clothes, then washed her face and helped her rinse her mouth. He had her looking tidy again.

“Nine hungry,” the freshly cleaned Nina announced, getting straight to business. The milk and opre bread from last night hadn’t been enough.

Lester looked at her, hesitation flickering in his eyes. He really didn’t want to take her to the main dining room.

Philip knew Nina was here now. Lester didn’t trust him.

While Lester was still debating, Nina reached up with both chubby hands and cupped his face.

“Nine hungry!” she repeated, her pitiful, hungry look ultimately convincing him to take her out.

They left the room. When Olivier saw Nina, he didn’t seem surprised-he was already aware of the previous night’s events.

Walking beside Lester, Olivier leaned in closer and lowered his voice.

“Mr. Lester Powell, this is the Graham family’s child, correct?”

He kept his head bowed, making it impossible to read his lips.

In a tone only Lester could hear, he confided, “Mr. Powell has never liked the Grahams. William’s wife… she was a woman Mr. Powell once pursued.”

These details about Philip’s past with William’s wife were something Lester had never heard before.