Left Them Loved Myself (Stella Spencer) novel Chapter 176

Chapter 176

Richard was getting on in years; every birthday celebration was more precious than the last. Naturally, Stella didn’t want her personal troubles to mess up his special day.

Evelyn sighed and half–embraced Stella, her voice soft and gentle. “Stella, I know you’re thoughtful, but you’re lying here covered in bruises.

“It’s not just us. Your grandpa wouldn’t rest easy, either. Who could pull off a grand celebration feeling like this?”

Evelyn gave her a warm smile. “I figured this year, we’ll skip the big party. Just our family, spending time together at home. Honestly, that sounds pretty great.”

“But Grandpa-” Stella whispered, uncertain.

“I talked to him about it,” Evelyn assured her. “He never cared much for all that fanfare anyway. Us all just being there with him at home is really what makes him happiest.”

“As long as Grandpa’s okay with it, that’s all that matters,” Stella said, finally relaxing.

There wasn’t much else to say. Evelyn packed up Stella’s empty soup bowl, grabbed the lunchbox, and headed

out.

Stella changed into some casual clothes, planning to take a stroll to help her digest and clear her head. While she was at it, she decided to call Erica.

After two rings, Erica picked up.

“Stella, what’s up? Did you need something?” Erica asked.

There was some background music looping on Erica’s end, kind of noisy.

Stella could barely catch Erica’s voice, so she asked curiously, “Erica, what are you up to? How come it’s so loud over there?”

“Hang on a sec. Let me get the teacher to turn off the music,” Erica said.

“Will do,” Marvin answered.

It didn’t take long before Erica came back on the line, sounding a bit out of breath. “Stella, I was just in the middle of dance practice. What’s up?”

“It’s nothing,” Stella started.

Realizing Erica was in the middle of dance practice, Stella hesitated to bother her over her own issues; she almost just brushed it off.

Erica cut her off, sounding a bit impatient. “Don’t give me that ‘it’s nothing‘ stuff. If you’ve got something to say, spill it. I’m actually pretty wiped from practice anyway, so this gives me a good excuse to slack off for a

bit.”

Since Erica said that, Stella stopped beating around the bush. “I was just wondering if you’re free around noon; could you come with me to help pick out a birthday gift for my grandpa?”

“Your grandpa?” Erica repeated.

“Yeah,” Stella explained, “His birthday’s in two days, so I wanted to go find him a present.”

“Sure thing,” Erica agreed right away. “Let me take a quick shower, change, and I’ll come find you.”

“Alright,” they replied.

*****

Half an hour later, Erica showed up at Stella’s hospital room. She glanced around, but Stella was nowhere to

be seen.

“Where is she?” Erica muttered, reaching for her phone to call.

Just then, a loud commotion drifted in from the window by the hospital garden. Over the background noise, she picked up on a familiar, cool female voice.

She hurried over to the window and peeked out. The garden, usually quiet for patients to stroll, was now packed with people jammed into a tight circle.

Right in the middle was Stella, surrounded by two people who were clearly giving her a hard time.

Even though Erica hadn’t met them many times, she recognized them right away.

“Louisa, and you, that old fossil Victor, messing with Stella? You two must have finally lost your marbles.

“Just wait. I’m coming down there right now to set you straight,” Erica yelled, then charged downstairs without even glancing back.

Meanwhile, out in the garden, maybe the others weren’t scared, but Victor was so furious at Erica’s words, he was practically wheezing with rage.

“Who’s out here mouthing off at me? If you’ve got the guts, step forward. Let me see if I don’t teach you a lesson right now,” Victor roared, his face reddening with anger.

Victor had no clue who Erica was, but Louisa definitely knew how much trouble she could stir up.

Seeing Erica about to rush down, Louisa started to panic and tugged at Victor’s arm, quick and desperate. “Dad, we need to get out of here. Now,”

“Hell no, we’re not leaving,” Victor snapped, shaking her off. “If I don’t track down that brat who dared to insult me and give them a good thrashing-”

“Honestly, you must be courting death,” Erica snapped, her voice cutting sharply through the crowd.

The crowd parted, every eye locking on Erica.

She didn’t show a hint of fear; with all the swagger of a queen, she strode over and stood shoulder to shoulder with Stella, both of them glaring at Victor as he wheezed like he was about to collapse.

Victor pointed at her, lips trembling as he tried to get a word out, but Louisa quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and managed a forced smile at Erica. “Erica, really, it’s nothing serious. We’ll just be out of your hair.”

“That’s not for you to decide,” Erica sneered, then looked at Stella. “Stella, tell me. Did they bully you or not?”

With Louisa shooting her pleading looks, Stella nodded with all the confidence of a kid whose parent just showed up, tattling, “Erica, they totally bullied me.”

Stella was just out for a stroll in the garden, waiting for Erica to arrive. But she ran smack into Victor and Louisa, who happened to be visiting Sylvia. As soon as they met, sparks and lightning flew; instantly, it was showdown time.

At first, it was two on one, with Stella outnumbered and on the back foot. But the second Erica showed up? Boom–it turned into a 2v3, and this battle was ours.

Don’t even ask why it was three. Sure, Erica might act all modest when it comes to singing or dancing, but when it comes to throwing down in an argument, she’s a boss; she could take on two people by herself and never miss a beat.

As soon as Stella called it, Erica pointed their way and went off like a machine gun, dragging every relative into her tirade, starting from their moms and working her way down the family tree.

Victor looked like he was about to pop a vein from the sheer force of her verbal beatdown.

Louisa was slightly better off–she’d been toughened up by Erica’s past smackdowns, so she could handle it a little better.

“So you think I’ve been too gentle, huh?” Erica narrowed her eyes at Louisa, already primed to hit her with a verbal knockout.

But before she could fire off another round, Louisa rushed to say, “Okay, we admit it–we apologize.”

Not giving Erica a chance to respond, Louisa practically jumped in front of Stella, bowing and spitting out her apology as fast as she could. “Stella, I shouldn’t have stopped you earlier; that was all on me.

“Please–since I’m owning up so quickly, can you help me get Erica to go easy on me?”

With a crowd this size watching, if their spat kept going, it’d be all over Seabrook before lunchtime.

“You’re not sorry; you just know you’re about to get called out,” Stella said, the corner of her mouth twisting into a frosty sneer.

Her words were soft and almost airy, but somehow felt as icy and merciless as a glacier. “Weren’t you bragging when

you dragged my mom’s name through the mud? Where’s all that attitude now? You look ready to run and hide.”

Before Louisa could even process what was happening, Erica blew up. “Wait, this old crone actually dragged your mom into it?”

Louisa freaked out. “Erica, please, let me explain. I—”

“Save it–my hand will do the talking,” Erica, the reigning Slap Queen, sprang into action, landing blows so fast Louisa saw stars, her face swelling up in seconds.

Once Erica had finished schooling Louisa, Stella didn’t waste a second. She stalked over to Victor, who was clutching his chest and whining, and flashed him a sinister smirk.

“W–What are you planning to do?” Victor blurted out, his nerves getting the better of him.

He had to admit, at his age, there was no way he could handle a physical confrontation. “Stella, I’m warning you. Don’t even think about it—”

There was no way Stella would actually hit him.

With this crowd watching, she would just end up looking bad. Plus, Victor was so old; if he really got hurt, she would never hear the end of it.‘

So instead, Stella just snatched his cane and slammed it down on the ground, snapping it clean in two.

Victor all but dove for the shattered cane, pain written all over his face. “No, my cane-”

His son had splurged on that thing at an auction, all for the sake of showing off; it was stupidly expensive.

Victor was so full of regret; he felt like his guts were twisted in knots.

‘Damn it, if I’d known this would happen, I’d have just taken the beating like a man. At least my cane would still be in one piece,’ he thought, mourning his loss.

The whole commotion didn’t last long before hospital security rushed over and put an end to the show.