Left Them Loved Myself (Stella Spencer) novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142

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Stella had finally tracked down Erica, but getting her out was going to be a whole new headache.

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Stella felt her head pounding–there was no way she could pull this off alone. She tried to calm Erica, calling down. “Erica, hang in there. I’ll go grab Simon for backup.”

Erica answered right away, her voice echoing up, “Okay.”

Just as Stella was about to leave, she heard fast footsteps closing in behind her. A moment later, Simon fought his way through the branches, panting, as he popped out from the thicket.

“I’m here!” Simon said, breathless but urgent.

He’d heard shouting all the way from where he was and immediately guessed that Stella was in some kind of trouble, so he came running without a pause.

When Stella saw him, her grip on the stick relaxed at last, and she quickly spilled out everything that had happened.

Simon rushed to the edge of the hole and pointed his phone’s flashlight down, but all he saw was pitch black -no way to tell where the bottom was.

“No way,” Simon muttered, brow furrowed as he shook his head. “It’s way too deep. We seriously need rescue pros for this.”

“Then hurry and call for help! I’ll stay here and keep watch,” Stella replied, sounding determined.

“But…” Simon wavered, clearly uncertain.

Night had already fallen, and with such a freaky hole on this mountain, there was no telling what else might be hiding out there.

Simon just couldn’t shake the worry of leaving Stella there all alone.

“Enough with the back and forth. Just hurry up and get help! Erica and Daisy might be hurt down there,” Stella pressed, her tone anxious.

“Alright, just stay safe. Take this. It’ll help you if something happens,” Simon said as he handed her his tactical

knife.

Then, without another word, he spun around and dashed off into the darkness.

As soon as Simon took off, Stella felt the air around her get colder by the second, and her mental composure took a nosedive–her legs were shaky, nearly folding beneath her from the sudden fear.

There was a reason everyone was scared of the dark–it was etched into people’s DNA, impossible to ignore.

Stella hurried to switch on her phone’s flashlight, the powerful beam slicing through the shadows. Just then, as the darkness retreated, something unusual flickered at the bottom, grabbing her attention.

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Chapter 142

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“Stella” Erica’s voice echoed up from the darkness, drawn out and urgent.

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Stella shouted back, worry flooding her words, “I’m here! Are you two okay? Did anyone get hurt?”

“Nope, we’re all good. But you know what? It’s actually super pretty down here. Wanna come have a look?” Erica called up, sounding weirdly chill.

Stella froze, completely baffled. ‘What the heck?‘

As Stella swept her flashlight across the bottom, she was hit with a kaleidoscope of shimmering colors that nearly blinded her.

To be real, for someone like her–a jewelry designer–coming face to face with such a jaw–dropping optical phenomenon was pure temptation. No way could she just fight that urge to explore.

Therefore, two and a half minutes later, Stella was down there too, unable to resist the pull.

It felt more like a hidden tunnel–one that nature had sculpted herself, thanks to water slowly eating away at the rock for countless years, not something carved out by human hands.

The stone walls were glossy and smooth, and if one got up close, one could see a thin layer of water sliding over them. Weird, unfamiliar stuff had sprouted up too, almost like bright, silvery veils mingling with tiny rivulets, draping themselves over the stone.

That was the secret behind all the dazzling colors down here.

When Stella swept her phone’s flashlight around, the whole cave seemed to come alive with rainbow mists— like swirling clouds of gemstones turned into vapor. From another angle, moonlight shimmered through, as if silvery ribbons were drifting by.

‘If only I could bottle up a scene like this,‘ she thought, awestruck as a jewelry designer. She couldn’t stop switching angles, totally enchanted–Stella was geeking out so hard, lost in the spectacular light show.

“So, what do you think?” Erica tossed her a cheeky grin and arched a brow. “Pretty awesome, right? Bet this is lighting up your designer brain!”

‘Honestly, only Erica would be hyping me up about work at a time like this,‘ Stella couldn’t help but laugh to herself.

“Hell yes! This is inspiration on steroids.” Stella nodded enthusiastically. “Give me a sec, Erica–I’m gonna try every single angle. Make sure you film it all for me, okay?”

“Will do!” Erica nodded.

After ten minutes of snapping shots from every angle–standing, crouching, even lying flat–Stella suddenly remembered why they were there in the first place. “Shoot, I almost forgot–I actually came down to rescue you two!”

“Since we’re done with all the filming, let’s hurry up and climb out of here,” Stella urged, doing her best to sound upbeat.

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Chapter 142

“Right,” Stella agreed, feeling a bit reassured.

Kids wouldn’t think about whether a knife could hurt them–they just saw grown–ups slice up a watermelon and go, “Wow, that’s epic!” Of course, they wanted to grab the knife and swing it around like it was the coolest

thing on earth.

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So something might have happened to Daisy, but she simply didn’t see it as anything weird or troubling.

Just like Lily–she was Daisy’s imaginary friend, invisible to everyone else, but always there by her side.

Thinking about all that, Stella moved on and pointed the question at Erica. “Erica, how did you even know Daisy was here?”

Stella only managed to find them thanks to Erica playing detective. There was no way a tiny kid like Daisy could have tried something dramatic to get Erica’s attention from way down there.

With those noodle arms and short legs, Daisy couldn’t even dream of picking up a rock, let alone making enough noise to be noticed.

Erica just waved it off, super casual. “There were footprints all over the place, so I just followed the trail. You didn’t see them?”

Stella sighed, “It’s pitch black out there. How would I even see any footprints?”

“Yeah, true,” Erica said, nodding along.

Just as they were talking, a blinding flash cut through the darkness from the entrance, and Simon called down, “Stella, you in there too?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Stella replied, sounding a bit awkward.

With a swish, a thick nylon rope dropped down from above.

Simon shouted again, “Tie the rope around your waist–we’ll haul you girls up!”

“Okay…” Stella answered, her nerves still frayed but finally allowing herself to breathe a little easier.

She looped the rope around Daisy first and watched her get lifted out, then sent Erica up next–and held her breath as she took her turn, being the last to climb out.

Just like that, they all took turns and got pulled to safety–finally out of that nightmare pit and gulping down

fresh air.

Before they’d even caught their breath after escaping, a cranky old–timer’s scolding voice cut through the air.

“You young folks are always messing around,” Albert Dawson, the old village chief, griped. “All over Mount Kyson, there are hidden tunnels gouged out by water. Trust me, even we village old–timers wouldn’t be caught wandering here for fun.”

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Chapter 143