Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 35

The man picked up his phone, pretending to scroll through his messages, but discreetly opened his camera app and aimed the lens right at her.

Just as he was about to snap a stealthy photo, a silver fork came flying through the air and landed dead center in his coffee cup.

The sudden splash of hot coffee sprayed all over his camera lens, startling him so badly that he dropped his phone straight into the mug.

The impact tipped the cup over, sending a wave of brown liquid cascading across his face and clothes.

Flustered and entirely humiliated, he scrambled for napkins, desperately wiping himself down.

Who did that?!

Who the hell just threw a fork at him?!

He whipped his head back and forth. There was a couple deeply engrossed in each other to his left, and empty tables to his right. Could it have been the gorgeous girl sitting two tables away?

No!

Impossible!

It couldn't be her! Someone that angelic and sweet-looking wouldn't do something so vicious, right?

But she was the only logical suspect in the entire cafe!

The couple was too busy feeding each other pastries to throw silverware, and they had absolutely no reason to.

The beautiful girl was the only one with the motive—he had been trying to secretly photograph her.

But how on earth did she manage to flawlessly launch a plastic fork across two empty tables and score a bullseye into his coffee cup?

He had the lens aimed directly at her the whole time and hadn't seen her move a muscle!

Stella calmly finished her pastry, took the last sip of her drink, grabbed her phone from the table, pulled down the brim of her baseball cap, and walked away.

As she strolled past the man's table, she dropped a casual, icy warning: "Next time you try to film me, the fork won't just land in your coffee."

Long after Stella had exited the cafe, the man sat frozen in absolute shock.

She really was the one who threw it!

How did she even do that?

And man, she had such a wild, untamed edge to her!

Dr. Lowell had been keeping watch over him, but now that Stella was back, he was clear to step out.

"You'll likely spike a fever tonight. You're still in the critical window, so you have to stay in the ICU. If you're fever-free after twenty-four hours, we can move you to a regular VIP suite."

"Thank you for saving me."

"Don't thank me yet. I didn't do this for free. Just remember the deal we made. I'll be staying here to watch over you tonight."

"I know. I won't forget." She had literally saved his life; there was no way he would back out of his promise.

A few minutes later, Dr. Lowell returned with the medication.

Stella helped Julius take the pills and then told him to rest, warning him that talking would only drain the energy he desperately needed.

She made a quick call to the Blackwood Manor, updating Nadine and asking for fresh meals to be delivered the following day. After hanging up, she stayed by Julius's side, refusing to leave the room.

The next morning.

Nadine arrived at the hospital in person, and Stella went down to the lobby to receive her.