Stella

Sixty-eight

june, june, june

Lexi frowned down at the phone that vibrated against her desk. Her teeth sunk into her lip and her eyes narrowed at the name flashing on the device. The grating against the wood stopped. A missed call notification popped up and she blew out a sigh, but paused when it lit up again. 

Her brows came together and her fingers reached out to hit answer. They paused an inch above the screen before she hit it and lifted it to her ear. 

"June?" 

There was a beat of silence. "Hi, Lexi..."

"What do you want?" she muttered. The hurt and indignation welled up from her stomach and lodge in her throat. She really thought June was a friend. At least she could say she learned. 

"I'm sorry about- you know. But I'm not calling for that..." Her voice grew smaller and quivered as she spoke. 

"What is it, June?" Lexi huffed. "I don't want to get caught up in any of your-"

"It's about Stella!" she blurted out, and cleared her throat. 

"What?" Dread settled in Lexi's stomach and she swallowed.

"Vera has photographs from the other day. She's embarrassed, humiliated and angry and she just wants to take revenge on her. I told her it's a bad idea, but she wont listen!" She sniffled.

"Why should I believe you?"

"I-I don't want to do this anymore, Lexi!" she cried. "I'm tired of being Vera's follower. I don't want to be a dumb idiot blindly following someone who doesn't care about me or anyone else. She only cares about herself." 

Lexi's hand clenched her phone. "What exactly does she have on Stella?"

"She has photographs of Stella... her face is bruised and she looks like she's been through hell. I know I've been a shitty person, but I'm not that horrible. Obviously something bad happened and I don't want to be apart of this. She's already coming up with ideas and stories to spin and you know once they're out in society at least someone will believe them and make it all so much worse. She's even suggesting saying things that will slander the Van der Meers!" 

"Like what?" 

June sighed. A pause had Lexi's nerves fraying and her teeth gritted together. "Well, Stella got mixed up with a really bad crowd and ended up getting into a fight." She paused again. "Then... then she's suggesting saying Stella was, um, violated... and the Van der Meers won't continue with the engagement and Vera is rumoured to be engaged with Casper instead." 

Lexi frowned. "How does that make sense?"    

"She thinks if someone else releases it, it won't be traced back. I'm the only one who knows," she whimpered. "I don't even think she loves Casper anymore. It's like she's trying to get back at everyone!" 

"What happened?" 

"Casper and Ruben both humiliated her. You should know, she always got what she wanted and if she didn't, she found a way. Rejection was just never something that happened to her. Now, she just- she doesn't know how to handle it and she's been furious and stewing for weeks. She always thought she was going to get Casper, no matter what." 

"So what is her goal? To marry Casper and hate each other forever?" Her eyes were wide in disbelief. "What the hell? Isn't she smart?"

"She wants the position of wife and future matriarch," June muttered. "I didn't know who else to tell..."

Lexi pursed her lips. "I'll think of something..."

"But Lexi... I-I'm scared of her. She knows how to hurt me most." 

She tilted her head back and looked to the ceiling. "I know, but June, you got into this situation. You're going to have to get yourself out. I had to face consequences for everything, and so do you."

Lexi hung up the phone and sat there for a while. Her jittery fingers tapped on the wood before she braced herself on the desk and pushed out of her seat. 

It didn't take long for her to stand before the door and her knuckles tapped incessantly on the white painted wood. 

Lucas cracked the door open. He yawned and ran a hand through his hair. "I was just having a nap," he whined. 

Lexi rolled her eyes pushed the door, to storm past him. Lucas's brows pulled together and he stared at his sister as he shut the door behind him. "What's wrong?"

Her lips pursed and she sat on the chair in the corner of the room. Her knee bounced up and down and she resisted the urge to chew her fingernails. 

"June rang me."   

He straightened his postured and narrowed his eyes. "What did she want?"

"She said that Vera has photographs of Stella... with her face bruised up. Apparently she's going to spin some tales about Stella... being raped," she winced, "and the Van der Meers disowning her and marrying Casper to her instead." 

His brows raised. "None of it's true, though. How would that benefit her?"

"I honestly don't know." She rubbed the space between her brows. "I just don't think it would be good for Stella. I'm sure she can handle it, but I know I wouldn't want people to be talking about something like that. I definitely wouldn't want people to be gossiping about any kind of assault. Not to mention all the crap that could hit the fan." 

Lucas let out a breath and looked away. "What do you think we should do then? Stella has enough shit to deal with, so does Casper, Richard, and Robert."

Lexi shrugged. "I don't know. I have some photographs of Vera. I never wanted to stoop to her level, but I guess she's asking for it." A sweat almost broke out and she nearly winced as she spoke, "I think I should contact Victoria... get some pointers?"  

Lucas nodded in agreement and pulled out his phone. His thumbs swept across the screen before he hit send.