The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1797

"Mr. and Mrs. Collins, the person in the basement, her infection is gotten nasty, fever's through the roof, and I reckon she won't last another 24 hours at this rate."

The faces around the room soured, as everyone realized the situation had taken a turn for the worse.

"What do you think? Should we give her some meds or clean up the wound a bit? There's still time to save her if we act now, but waiting until tomorrow might be too late, even for Ms. Collins."

After all, Ms. Collins was the doctor she’d met who was renowned for her exceptional medical skills.

If Serena's condition worsened by tomorrow, not even Ms. Collins could perform miracles.

"Just leave it be and go," Louisa steeled herself. If her own father could be heartless, why should they, mere strangers without blood ties, act any differently?

"I bet that Erik is banking on us to save her. He's willing to let her suffer another day rather than show his face and get caught. Can't believe there's a father out there who cares so little about his child. Cruel, just cruel," Kenneth scoffed in disdain.

"We're known for doting on our kids. Compared to her siblings, everyone knows she's the darling of the family. Erik's gambling on that, thinking that after eighteen years, we couldn't possibly stand by and do nothing." Louisa said, her anger flaring, "But this time, we're going to disappoint him! If he doesn't care about his own daughter, neither will we!"

"Better off dead. We'll just dump the body outside; let Erik find it. He'll at least have to claim his own daughter's body, right? That way, catching him will just be a matter of days," Eunice spoke with a chilling indifference.