you can use a combination of box-shadow and display: inline-block to accomplish what you are trying to do. I have updated the answer. Here is the code:
.grandparent {
display: inline-block;
position: relative;
}
.parent {
display: inline-block;
background: blue;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
}
.child {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;
margin: 5px;
}
.shadow {
margin-left: -7px;
margin-top: -7px;
background: pink;
z-index: -100;
border: 1px solid green;
}
.empty {
opacity: 0;
}<div class="grandparent">
<div class="parent">
<div class="child"></div>
</div>
<div class="parent shadow">
<div class="child empty"></div>
</div>
</div>