Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Vincent’s phone was buzzing like crazy.

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Stella rested one hand casually on the door, glancing back at Vincent. She looked pretty chill, not bothered at all. “Yes?”

Vincent awkwardly asked, “Is it okay if I… send a few videos to the experts?”

The leading botanist on the other end of the line was freaking out.

Stella replied coolly, “Sure, but don’t film anyone.” Especially not Sebastian. She shot Vincent a warning look.

In the flowerbed, Allan was still hugging a flowerpot to his chest, moving like every step might set off a landmine.

He’d learned his lesson the hard way. No way was he ever going to underestimate any plant in this place again.

Vincent was dutifully filming, totally forgetting to watch his step. Suddenly, he heard a crack.

He stiffened and looked down. Then his eyes landed on a plant with plain white blossoms.

His boot had accidentally smashed the flowerpot.

Vincent was frustrated but tried his best to hide. Making sure no one was watching, he snapped a photo and sent it off to the expert. The reply came back almost instantly.

Vincent: [What’s this?]

Expert: [It’s just a regular orchid.]

Vincent was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the expert sent another message. [It is worth about 6 million bucks.] He even added a smiley face at the end.

Vincent thought it was his end day.

Vincent’s crew stared, stunned, as Vincent’s face cycled through every shade imaginable in just one second.

“Well… about that…” Vincent looked up, completely defeated, and did a dramatic reach toward Stella’s back, like he was begging for rescue.

Stella turned around, speechless.

Allan was cracking up. ‘Finally, someone else is the unlucky victim for once!’ he thought.

“Just leave it there. Someone will clean it up,” Stella said, not bothered at all. Her eyes flicked to Vincent’s boots, those heavy-duty, military-grade ones that could only be seen on special ops guys.

‘Jaffina, special ops, combat boots,’ she thought.

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Chapter 116

Put all that together, and it was pretty obvious who he was.

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Stella looked away and kept walking, while Vincent, still clueless he’d totally been found out, quickly pulled his foot back, trying to act casual.

Lucas sat on Sebastian’s lap, his eyes wide with silent wonder. ‘Whoa, so many flowers!’ he thought.

Sebastian’s face was pale and sickly, barely paying attention to the flowers around him. He looked completely uninterested, lounging there lazily. “Did you have fun today?”

He turned his head slightly, his thin, cold lips parting just a bit. The sunlight traced his features, softening some of that icy aura he always carried.

Thinking back to how furious and messed up Linda looked when she stormed off, Stella chuckled, “Man, I wish you could’ve seen her face. She was a total wreck.”

Sebastian gave a nod. “Next time.”

For once, his voice actually sounded warm.

Allan, still clutching the flowerpot, thought, ‘Come on, how many times do you want?’

Vincent kept filming and sending clips to the leading botanist he was texting. The expert was losing his mind with every new shot, practically hyperventilating. This flowerbed looked totally ordinary, but it was stuffed with rare, one-of-a-kind plants.

This was a botanist’s paradise.

Vincent looked around with a complicated expression, eyes full of awe and disbelief. “With all these rare finds, aren’t you worried someone might try to steal them?”

Stella was just about to answer when Allan, looking all clueless, snorted, “Steal? I dare you to try and take one.”

“Captain is right. This place doesn’t look like it has any security at all!” one of Vincent’s guys protested, sounding unconvinced.

Stella shot him a lazy, almost mocking glance. “You really think so?”

Her voice was casual, totally unfazed, but then, with a snap of her fingers, every single light in the flowerbed

went out.

“Cap-” One of Vincent’s guys started to say, but the word died in his throat.

In the darkness, Vincent’s crew stared in shock as a dense web of red laser lines suddenly appeared right in front of them.

One line after another, stretching out in every direction.

One of Vincent’s guys, completely unaware of the danger, just reached out to touch one of the lines.

“Are you looking to die?” Sebastian’s voice sliced through the darkness, cold enough to freeze everyone’s

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Chapter 116

blood.

Vincent’s crew member just stared, lost for words.

Still stubborn, he fished out a custom Red Shadow pen from his pocket. Usually, it was just a pen, but when things got serious, it could double as a deadly weapon, and it was supposed to be diamond-hard.

The second the pen touched the red laser line, a nasty burnt smell filled the air. The so-called diamond-hard pen snapped clean in half and hit the floor.

Vincent and his crew member thought. Thank God he didn’t use his hand!”

The guy was hit with a wave of terror.

The lights flicked back on, and the dense web of red laser lines disappeared like they’d never existed, almost like Vincent and his crew had just imagined it.

The group kept moving forward, but Vincent and his guys swallowed nervously, lagging a step behind before catching up.

They thought. If this tiny flowerbed is already packed with hidden surprises, just imagine what the rest of this huge island is hiding?”

Soon enough, they arrived at the Obsidian Orchid area.

“We’re here.” Stella said offhandedly, stepping aside. Vincent looked in the direction she indicated, and the hand he’d been using to film for the expert actually shook a little.

Vincent’s silence was deafening.

Red Shadow’s Third Squad had spent seven years hunting for the Obsidian Orchid.

Vincent always thought there were only two Obsidian Orchids on the whole island, but right now, he was staring at a whole freaking pile of them.

Weren’t these Obsidian Orchids supposed to be impossible to transplant out of the wild?’ Vincent thought, completely floored. And didn’t they say they’d just shrivel up the moment anyone touched them? Was all that just a misunderstanding?

Allan was just as floored. “Stella, seriously?”

“Just pick one,” Stella said, shooting Allan a look. She grabbed the flowerpot with one hand and chucked it into the corner without a second thought.

The thing landed with a loud smack. This insanely valuable plant was treated like total junk, and she didn’t even bat an eye. “It’s just a flowerpot, no big deal.”

Vincent had to admit, if anyone here could say that and actually mean it, it was her. Still totally stunned, he just raised his phone and snapped a pic for the expert. He couldn’t even be bothered to record a video

anymore.

Chapter 116

The expert shot back almost instantly with six exclamation marks.

Vincent instantly felt refreshed when he saw this reply.

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“Sent it?” Stella glanced over, sounding totally chill. Vincent nodded, and she held out her hand, palm up. can have the flower, but first, I need to cut a deal with him.”

“You

Vincent thought, ‘Savage! Now she drops the catch? Seriously? She just dangled a botanist’s paradise in front of me, letting me look but not touch. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

But Vincent was dying to know what kind of terms she was about to lay down.

Burning with curiosity, Vincent handed over his phone and watched as Stella fired off a message, her expression giving nothing away. The expert shot back almost instantly, and just like that, they sealed the deal in seconds.

“Go ahead, pick one,” Stella said, jerking her chin at Vincent with a laid-back air.

Vincent was fidgeting with curiosity, itching to snatch his phone back and see what Stella and the expert had been texting about. He grabbed a flowerpot that caught his eye, hugged it tight, and called out, “My phone!”

“Here you go,” Stella replied, letting out a sleepy yawn as she handed the phone back to Vincent.

Vincent hugged the flowerpot with one arm, unlocked his phone with the other hand, and looked down. The second he saw the screen, he froze on the spot.

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