Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath (Stella) novel Chapter 495

Stella used to breeze through her afternoons without needing a nap, full of energy and ready to tackle whatever her job threw at her.

But things had changed recently. After lunch, she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. It was getting worse, sometimes she even needed a nap in the morning before dragging herself through the day. And adding up all these naps with her night's sleep, she was spending a significant chunk of her time asleep.

But the quality of her sleep wasn’t good.

“I feel awful,” she confided in Finley. “Every time I sleep, I dream and wake up exhausted.”

What made it worse was that they were nightmares. Stella dreamt about snakes and other creepy crawlies, which made her skin crawl just thinking about them.

Finley raised an eyebrow. “More nightmares, huh? Maybe I should get you some herbal tea.”

Stella nodded, “Yeah, maybe that’ll help.”

The two friends chatted back and forth, eventually deciding that Stella had insomnia, plagued by nightmares and perhaps an upset stomach.

Finley soon left, and Stella had just settled back into her room when her phone rang. It was Tegan.

“Tegan,” Stella answered the phone.

“Star...” Tegan’s voice sounded weak and shaky. Even over the phone, Stella could sense something was wrong.

Stella’s heart skipped a beat. “Tegan, what’s wrong?”

“Star, help...”

Stella’s eyes widened in panic. That single word, "help," shattered any lingering drowsiness.

Reacting instantly, she demanded, “Where are you? What happened?”

But there was only static on the line. Tegan’s voice was gone, replaced by chaotic noise that made it impossible to pinpoint her location.