Left Them Loved Myself (Stella Spencer) novel Chapter 164

Irene was too terrified to even nod. She just clung to Stella’s neck instinctively, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. “What are you whispering about?”

The thug was right on top of them. His predatory gaze raked over her, as if deciding where to bring the ax down. “Trying to get away from me…”

Before he could finish, Stella shot up. She channeled all her strength into her shoulder and rammed it into the unprepared

man’s gut.

“Ugh!”

The thug doubled over in pain, staggering back as a wave of nausea hit him. The ax clattered to the floor.

Without missing a beat, Stella used the momentum to launch herself toward the window.

goal was clear–the only way out.

heavy thud shattered the night’s silence.

with a desperate finality, slammed her right shoulder into the loose window frame again.

The flimsy window exploded in a shower of wood and glass, the sound echoing through the entire Lloyd Villa.

What was that?”

Quick! The storage room!”

The house erupted in chaos. The sounds of running feet and angry shouts came from all directions.

The thug on the floor clutched his stomach, his eyes wide with fury as he watched Stella climb through the shattered window.

He tried to shout, but the pain choked him, leaving him gasping for air.

The door burst open as another thug kicked it in, his eyes immediately locking onto the window.

Just as he lunged forward, Stella, holding Irene, leaped without hesitation.

She fell backward, shielding her daughter with her own body.

‘She’s getting away!”

The thug rushed to the window just in time to see a slender figure scrambling up from the flowerbed below. A dark, wet patch stained her right shoulder, but she didn’t stop, stumbling desperately toward the back of the garden.

He roared at the others, “Are you all fucking useless? Get after her! Catch them!”

“Where the hell did she got

A few minutes later, five or six thugs gathered beneath the window Stella had jumped from

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Chapter 164

The ground glinted under the moonlight, covered in sharp shards of glass.

Some pieces were stained with dark red blood that shone ominously, a silent testament to the price of escape.

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“Boss, our guys have the main road blocked. She can’t get out,” one of them reported. “We can follow the blood trail. She can’t have gotten far.”

The leader, his face a mask of rage, kicked the man in the leg. “Then what the fuck are you standing around for? Go find them! I don’t care if you have to tear this place apart, I want those two bitches found. Alive or dead!”

The men scattered, their eyes scanning every inch of ground and every shadow.

One of them spotted droplets of blood on the grass and followed the trail with a vicious grin.

No one noticed that just above them, Stella was pressed flat against the trunk of a large, leafy tree.

A searing pain shot through her right shoulder with every breath, and her forehead was slick with cold sweat.

She clenched her jaw, keeping her breathing shallow as her muscles trembled from the strain.

was held so tightly in her arms that her little face was flushed.

und taken all of Stella’s remaining strength to climb the tree with her daughter, the rough bark scraping her arms and

knees raw.

The branch was narrow, and she had to use every ounce of her focus to stay balanced while holding onto her child.

Her arm, straining to hold Irene, tightened involuntarily.

“Mmm… Mommy… it hurts…” Irene squirmed, trying to relieve the pressure.

That slight movement was all it took.

Stella, already at her limit, lost her precarious balance.

Stella clamped a hand over Irene’s short cry of alarm as they plummeted from the tree.

In that split second, the only thing Stella could do was twist her body again, taking the impact with her back to shield Irene from the hard ground.

A heavy thud, followed by Stella’s stifled groan of pain.

“Over there! A noise!”

“By the flowerbeds! Quick!”

The thud was loud in the quiet garden, drawing the attention of the nearby searchers. Beams from flashlights cut through,

the darkness.

Stella didn’t have time to register the shattering pain in her back. An instant before the light hit them, she acted on pure survival instinct, rolling with Irene into a thick, waist–high hedge, where the shadows swallowed them whole.

“After them!” the thugs roared, charging forward.

“Shut up, you idiot!”

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Chapter 194

The leader slapped the loudest man on the back of the head, his voice a low, menacing hiss. “You want to scare them off so they run farther? Spread out and surround them. Move quietly, and don’t make a move until you have a clear shot.”

“Yes, boss!”

The men fell silent and fanned out, moving stealthily toward the hedge where Stella had disappeared, tightening their deadly net.

The gardens of the Lloyd Villa were vast and intricately designed, with expensive flowerbeds, large man–made rockeries, winding paths, and a hedge maze of tightly trimmed shrubs.

It was easy to get lost without knowing the way.

Stella carried Irene, stumbling through the darkness and pain, guided only by the vague memories of her seven years living

there.

Every breath sent a fresh wave of agony through her shoulder and back, and cold sweat soaked her shirt.

my…”

ty, choked sob came from the bundle in her arms. A small hand clutched at Stella’s bloodstained collar.

I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… I’m so scared…”

The fall, and knowing she’d caused it, had terrified her. Her voice was filled with fear and guilt.