Left Them Loved Myself (Stella Spencer) novel Chapter 180

Silence hung heavy in the air.

The maid clearly hadn’t thought of a good excuse. After hesitating for ages, she finally stammered, “I–I was going to take her out to play, but she wouldn’t listen, so I had no choice but to handle her like this.”

Before Stella and Erica could say anything, Yvonne snapped, clearly annoyed, “That’s a lie. You promised you’d take me to buy the magic wand, but you tricked me and never meant to get me one at all.”

Seeing that Yvonne was finally paying attention to the real issue, Stella quickly pressed, “Hey, girl, is she really your mom?”

“I-” Yvonne started to answer, but before she could get another word out, the maid clapped a hand over her mouth.

Then, shoving past Stella and Erica with her shoulder, the maid took off running.

Erica was freaking out. “Why is she so good at running?”

Stella’s mouth twitched. “Save it for later. Let’s go after her.”

But before she could finish, she froze.

Suddenly, a bunch of bodyguards in black suits appeared up ahead.

They blocked her way and, without warning, forcibly tried to snatch Yvonne out of her arms.

“Get

away. All of you, get away. She’s my daughter,” the maid yelled, eyes wild with panic as she thrashed desperately.

If the bodyguards hadn’t spoken up just then, Stella would’ve almost felt sorry for her.

“You crazy woman, how dare you try to kidnap Ms. Lynn?” one of the bodyguards shouted.

“You miserable wretch, let go of her right now. The Lynn family took pity on you–fed you, gave you a roof over your head–and this is how you repay their kindness?” another snapped.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Lynn. I’m coming to get you out of this,” one of the bodyguards shouted.

The group closed in around the maid, ready to pin her down.

“Wait-” The sudden, fearful cry made everyone pause, halting their movements.

They all looked over at Stella, puzzled, only to see her pupils trembling, fear shining in her eyes as she stared in terror at the maid’s hand clamped tight around Yvonne’s neck.

And there, where the sunlight hit, the barest glimmer of cold steel flashed, the deadly gleam unmistakably coming from a concealed blade.

If it hadn’t been for Stella’s urgent shout, with things getting so out of hand, no one knew what could’ve happened to Yvonne.

The bodyguards caught on, too, hearts pounding as cold sweat broke out on their brows.

“If you really trust me, just back off and let me talk to her,” Stella said, keeping her voice steady.

The bodyguards eyed each other for a moment, then finally stepped aside.

Stella took the chance and stepped forward through the opening. Her tone was soft as she tried to coax the maid, “If you truly think of her as your own daughter, you can’t bear to see her get hurt, can you?”

The maid paused, uncertainty flickering in her eyes before she gave a tentative nod. “Yes.”

Stella pointed out, “But you’re the one actually hurting her right now.”

Those words made the maid snap. “I’m not. You’re the ones trying to steal my child; she’s my daughter.”

“I get it,” Stella said quietly, trying to soothe her. “But you’re scaring—”

She was about to finish with the girl, but when she caught sight of Yvonne, sulking like she’d been betrayed over the magic wand, Stella paused and bit back the rest.

Instead, Stella changed her tune. “But right now, you’re scaring everyone. If this keeps going, they’re not going to let you or your daughter walk away unharmed.”

The maid shot a cautious look over at the bodyguards, but something about Stella’s gentle voice made her trust her, even if she didn’t quite know why.

She hesitated for a moment and quietly asked, “Then what am I supposed to do now?”

“You can give the girl to me,” Stella said, holding out her hand, her voice gentle but firm. “I promise you— while I’m here, your daughter will be safe. No one’s going to hurt her.”

The maid paused for a couple of seconds, her eyes flicking down to Yvonne, shaking in her arms, then to the bodyguards and their fierce faces. With trembling hands, she finally let go and passed Yvonne over to Stella.

“Please, you have to protect my daugh—” the maid begged, voice trembling with fear.

“Make way. I’m crashing in,” a loud, brash voice suddenly erupted.

The roar startled the maid so badly that she instinctively snatched her hand back.

Stella, who’d almost managed to take Yvonne into her arms, just stood there speechless.

‘Seriously, it’s never the genius opponents that mess things up; it’s always the hopeless teammates,‘ Stella groaned inwardly.

The crowd parted, and in strutted a man dressed to the nines, rocking his designer suit like he owned the place.

With shades pushed up on his nose and his watch glinting dangerously in the sunlight, he looked quite handsome.

Too bad all his cool points went out the window the second he opened his mouth.

“Yvonne, I’m on the scene. Don’t worry. I’ve come to rescue you with the awesome power of light,” he boomed, sounding way too pleased with himself.

But Yvonne wasn’t having any of it. “Hmph, angel is way tougher than it. I’m going to ask the to turn you into a big fat pig.”

queen of angels

The man shot her a devilish, swaggering grin. “Hey, queen of angels? She wouldn’t even get a chance to show off; my Light Giant would flatten her with one punch.”

Yvonne protested, “That’s not true.”

Kirk retorted, “Am not.”

Stella listened to the endless childish squabble between father and daughter, utterly speechless.

She was this close to losing it herself, but Erica beat her to it and shot forward before Stella could explode.

Smack.

Erica powered up with a running start and delivered a full–force chop right to Kirk’s neck—the crack rang out, and it definitely looked as painful as it sounded.

Kirk winced, his neck nearly going numb from that smack. He glared at Erica, face twisted in confusion, indignation, and annoyance all at once. “Who are you supposed to be?”

Erica gave him such a giant eye roll. “Your daughter’s literally still in danger, and you’re over here acting like it’s a playground dispute?”

Erica huffed, “So what, are we the only ones actually losing our minds over here?”

Kirk was dumbstruck, left staring into space with nothing to say.

He slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing what was actually happening. “Oh, shoot, right. I got so caught up trying to one–up everyone.”

Erica interrupted him with a wicked grin. “If you keep yapping, I’ll be too busy laying you out to worry about anything else.”

That blazing pain radiating from his neck finally snapped Kirk back to his senses.

Harvey ignored Erica’s glare and zeroed in on the nervous maid, voice laced with threat. “Hand Yvonne over, right now. Otherwise, you’re out of the Lynn family—no last chances.”

That hit the maid like a pressure bomb; she practically melted with fear.

She instantly loosened her hold on Yvonne, whom she’d clung to for dear life. Her voice came out shaky and

choked with sobs. “I’m letting go. I am. Please, don’t kick me-”

She didn’t even get to finish; the bodyguards moved in like sharks smelling blood and tackled her straight to

the floor.

The maid didn’t dare put up a fight; she just lay there, tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Kirk, pleading again and again, “Please, don’t kick me out of the Lynn family. Please-”

She only finally quieted down when Kirk gave her a nod, letting herself be led out by the bodyguards, no longer resisting.

Before long, only Stella, Erica, Kirk, and Yvonne were left at the scene–the three adults and one little kid.

The silence was seriously awkward. They just stood there, all staring at each other, not a single clue what to say next.

After a beat, Kirk scratched his head and finally said, totally unsure, “Uh, so, am I supposed to say thanks right now, or what?”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Honestly, with your clown energy, keeping yourself out of a mess is already impressive. Expecting you to thank us? Yeah, right.”

Stella’s tone softened. “Really, it’s no big deal; we just stepped in when things got out of hand. What matters is the kid’s safe now. But next time, make sure you keep a closer watch on her–don’t risk her getting taken again.”