Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 145

Chapter 145

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Until the night fell, Sebastian kept waiting for Stella to invite him, but even after she got in the car, that invitation never came.

As he watched the car disappear into the distance, Allan could instantly feel Sebastian’s mood drop. The air was thin and icy, like frost was about to form. Allan let out a loud sneeze.

Sebastian shot Allan a frosty look that made his skin crawl.

Allan rolled his eyes. John stood there like a post, completely unmoved.

Snowball, with a little flower clamped between his jaws, wandered right onto the battlefield. It was still riding high on the thrill of clocking out from the dungeon.

Snowball’d managed to scare some jerk human so badly that it nearly split his pants.

‘This family really can’t function without me,’ Snowball thought smugly. He was feeling pretty pleased with himself.

With the flower still clamped between its jaws and its eyes squeezed shut, Snowball was feeling super proud of itself, showing off its signature S-drift across the floor, until its big, snow-white head smacked right into a pair of legs.

Snowball opened its eyes and looked up. Two icy, soul-piercing eyes were quietly staring down at it.

Snowball was stunned for a moment. It gulped, its nerves shot. It jolted, its whole body shivering.

Sebastian gave Snowball a cold, piercing stare, fixing his gaze on the flower in Snowball’s mouth.

Snowball was quiet for a couple of seconds, then offered up its precious little flower onto Sebastian’s lap. It rubbed its big head against Sebastian’s fingers, trying its best to look cute, and grinned widely.

It flashed a big, toothy smile. ‘Life’s rough, so this snake’s gotta put on a show,’ Snowball thought, trying his best to entertain.

Sebastian delicately picked up the little flower. “She doesn’t even spare me a thought.”

Allan rolled his eyes. Snowball was stunned for a moment. John was shocked.

Allan shot Sebastian a weird look. “S-Sebastian…”

‘Wait, did Stella and Sebastian have a falling out or something? That can’t be right. They were totally fine just now, weren’t they?’ Allan thought, baffled.

Their eyes met. Sebastian’s gaze was dark, his sickly pale face half-hidden in the shadows. “She doesn’t even ask if I’m coming anymore.”

Allan rolled his eyes. Snowball was stunned for a moment. Allan and Snowball exchanged a look.

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If there was a world record for being speechless, they’d just smashed it.

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No one dared to actually complain out loud. Allan just coughed twice and said, “If Stella doesn’t ask, we’ll just crash the party ourselves.”

They had the invite anyway, and honestly, even if they didn’t, there was nowhere they couldn’t get into.

Sebastian’s eyes grew even darker, his face totally blank. “Not going.”

Allan rolled his eyes. “You sure about that?” Allan drawled, fanning himself with the invitation in a lazy, almost mocking way.

Sebastian was dead certain. “Positive.”

“Alright, suit yourself.” Allan shrugged, not bothered at all. He shot Sebastian a sideways glance.

He added, “Too bad, though. Stella looks absolutely gorgeous tonight. Wonder if she’ll run into someone her own age who can actually keep up with her.”

The word “her own age” hit Sebastian like a sting. He was left speechless.

Allan kept going, his tone slow and teasing. “She’s only eighteen, you know. At that age, she should be out there meeting people.

“Wouldn’t want her to get swept off her feet by some old guy before she even gets a taste of the real world, right, John?”

John let out a long sigh. He thought, ‘Man, life’s rough!

Sebastian sat in his wheelchair, looking like an emotionless ice statue. Dark clouds had gathered above him, and it felt like a storm was brewing: thunder, lightning, the whole works.

Allan just smiled back.

“Eggie,” Sebastian said suddenly, his voice cold as ice.

Eggie, jolted awake, popped its head out of Sebastian’s chest pocket. Sebastian lifted a finger and aimed it right at Allan’s face. “Bite him.”

Allan rolled his eyes. Snowball was stunned for a moment. John was shocked.

Two seconds later, Allan’s agonized yell rang out across Sandridge Island, sending a whole flock of birds flapping away in panic.

Half an hour later, a black Maybach slowly rolled out of Sandridge Island.

*****

A Mercedes-Benz was tucked away in the shadows, the pitch-black bulletproof windows making the whole car look menacing.

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Chapter 145

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Inside, the AC was cranked up, and Stella, with a shawl draped over her shoulders, sat there deep in thought, scrolling through her phone.

The Lane Group was one of the country’s pioneers in the power battery industry, thanks to the Lane family’s backing.

They cashed in big on the first wave of power batteries and were the ones who started the whole PowerCell Alliance thing. Right at that moment, they were riding high.

The Lane family was also a key battery supplier for Ion Wing Drones. But Xander had been getting real chummy with them lately.

If Stella’s guess was right, this was where Xander was planning to hit Blake where it hurt first.

That was why Stella made sure Blake was coming tonight.

“Ms. Carter, we’re almost there,” Jake said, keeping his eyes on the road.

Thanks to the Lane family’s party, the cops had the roads locked down early, and the place was packed with rare luxury rides.

The Lane family’s muscles were out front, checking every guest as if they were guarding Fort Knox. Everyone had to hop out and walk in from there.

It was at the entrance. “Mom, is that bitch here yet?” Lila, in a champagne-colored cocktail dress, scanned the crowd, teeth clenched. She looked ready to skin Stella alive.

Vera wore a polite smile. “Shut up.”

Beside her, Camilla and Hazel were both at their first fancy event, looking stiff and awkward, like fish out of

water.

Vera glanced at them out of the corner of her eye, clearly unimpressed with her sister-in-law.

“At a place like this, don’t go throwing around words like ‘bitch. You’re better than that.” Vera shot Lila a warning look.

“So, what are we hanging around for?” Camilla couldn’t hold back anymore.

Vera gave Camilla a sharp look. “The e-invite I sent Stella? Totally fake.”

The other three were stunned. “Fake?”

Vera let out a cold laugh, her eyes glinting with calculation. “Yep, fake. Everyone has to get out at the main entrance and have their ID checked.

“We’ll just wait here and watch Stella embarrass herself at her first high-end party. When she’s panicking and desperate, we’ll swoop in and pretend to help her out. Then, once we’re inside-”

She turned to Camilla. “She’ll be putty in our hands, won’t she?” Vera made a grabbing motion with her hand, her eyes glinting with satisfaction.

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Vera refused to believe she couldn’t put Stella in her place. ‘No way a little brat like her can get the better of me,’ she thought.

“Mom, you’re savage.” Lila shot her mom a wicked grin and a thumbs-up. Just imagining Stella making a fool of herself had Lila practically buzzing with excitement. She couldn’t wait for the show to start.

“Someone needs to put her in her place,” Camilla snapped, her voice full of spite.

A Mercedes-Benz cruised up from a distance. Inside the car, Stella was chilling in the backseat, the AC blasting.

She pulled her shawl a little closer. “Just drop me off by the curb.” As she shifted, the pearl earrings dangling by her cheeks swayed, and honestly, she looked drop-dead gorgeous.

Stella hadn’t even bothered to glance at the e-invite Vera sent her.

“Does the Lane family really deserve Ms. Carter to step out of the car herself?” Jake sneered, tapping the horn.

Instantly, the black-suited bodyguards lining the road parted like the Red Sea, and the fancy iron gates, normally locked up tight to outsiders, swung open from the inside as if by magic.

Forget checking the invite; they didn’t even roll down the window. The black Mercedes just cruised straight through the gates like it owned the place.

Not a single thing in their way. Everyone watching was totally stunned.

“Why do they get to drive right in?” one of the Haliville elites grumbled, stuck at the gate.

The bodyguard just shot him a cold look and snorted, “Who are you compared to them?”

‘Who on earth was in that car?’ The crowd was left scratching their heads, totally confused.

Vera and her crew had seen the whole thing and were just as shocked. Vera might have landed a decent marriage, but the Morris family only barely made it into the fringes of Haliville’s high society.

After all that guessing, the four of them just kept waiting for Stella.

So for the next twenty minutes, every guest who got out to have their ID checked had to walk past these four women, sweating like crazy in the heat, just standing there looking lost and out of place.

Honestly, the whole scene was pretty hilarious.

At the entrance, Blake and his crew of rich kids, usually known as the dudes, were actually dressed up in proper suits for once.

Their usual rainbow-dyed hair was slicked back with hair wax, making them look almost respectable, as if they were trying to pass for real gentlemen.

The high-society ladies arriving in their little shuttle buses all kept their distance from them.

They looked at Blake and his crew like they were something you’d scrape off your shoe, afraid that even

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Another group of rich heiresses arrived in their shuttle buses, laughing and chatting.

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But when they spotted Blake and his crew, they shot them a look of disgust. “Ugh, why are they even here?” one of them said, dripping with disdain.

The heiresses just strutted straight into the party hall, not even bothering to look back. After a long, awkward silence, Blake finally muttered, “Our reputation’s pretty much in the gutter.”

Even in the world of the rich and spoiled, there was a brutal social ladder, and Blake’s crew was stuck at the absolute bottom, with no hope of ever climbing up.

If Stella turned her back on them right now and made it clear she wanted nothing to do with them, none of them would hold it against her.

A moment later, Stella started up the steps.

Her posture was graceful, shoulders and neck aligned in effortless elegance. Jake, her bodyguard for the night, followed close behind.

Blake and the dudes walked with their heads bowed. No one said a word.

Suddenly, Stella called out in that breezy, no-big-deal way, “You coming or not?”

“Stella,” Blake said.

Blake, who’d already steeled himself for Stella to keep her distance, jerked his head up, eyes going red and watery. He looked just like a stray finally finding its person.

Just as he was about to reach out, he caught Jake behind Stella, lifting his head, those eyes wide and cold, staring at him like he was eyeing a slab of pork.

Blake was frozen. ‘Better chop that hand off. Chop it off right now,’ Blake thought, his heart pounding.

Stella looked up at the entrance of the party hall. “The more people look down on you, the more you have to stand up for yourselves. Stop slouching and hanging your head. Straighten up.”

Behind her, a sea of lights sparkled.

The soft glow outlined Stella’s figure, her face cold and stunningly beautiful. But the words she spoke were warmer than any winter soup, sinking deep into their hearts.

“Yes, Stella!” The dudes, who were usually rowdy and careless, suddenly yelled out together, making everyone turn and stare.

But they couldn’t care less about dirty looks. They straightened up and followed Stella, heads held high.

‘Just shut up,’ Stella thought.

The whole crew marched into the party hall as if they owned the place.

As soon as Stella showed up, Giana spotted her from the second floor. “So, that’s the girl the Carter family

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kept talking about?” she said, giving Stella a good once-over.

“Yes, ma’am,” the old servant replied, instantly catching that Giana was pretty satisfied.

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But then Giana’s brows knitted together. “Why is she mixed up with that bunch?” She eyed Blake and his crew trailing after Stella, looking a little annoyed.

‘That girl’s way too good-looking for her own good, just asking for trouble, Giana thought, not too happy about it.

“Maybe Mr. Pierce just thinks she’s pretty?” the old servant guessed.

Giana didn’t say another word.

“Why do I feel like someone’s staring at us?” Blake muttered, half-wondering if he was just being jumpy.

‘Guess this dummy’s got sharper instincts than I thought,’ Stella mused.

From the moment she stepped in, Stella could feel a few unfriendly eyes on her. She didn’t bother reacting. Let them look. Whatever drama came her way, she’d handle it, no sweat.

Stella coolly snagged a glass of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray.

‘Let’s see who’s got the nerve to step up to me first,’ Stella thought, her eyes glinting with cool amusement.

At the entrance, Vera’s phone rang. It was the old servant.

“What did you just say?” she nearly shouted, her voice cracking with disbelief. Sweating like crazy, she drew stares from the nearby bodyguards. “Stella’s already inside the venue?”

They were all drenched in sweat, and when they heard the news, they were about ready to lose it.

After waiting here forever, plotting to give Stella a hard time, she’d already waltzed right in before they could even blink.

They looked at each other, their makeup melting off in the heat, and felt like they were about to blow a gasket.

‘Did she just make fools out of us again?’ they all fumed.

“Tell Giana we’ll be there in a minute,” Vera forced out through gritted teeth, slapping on a fake smile for the old servant on the other end of the call.

After all, that servant worked for Camilla. Yet the moment Vera hung up the phone, she couldn’t help but

scream.