Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 173

Chapter 173

37

55 vouchers

Stella spoke slowly, her aura naturally commanding, but there was a rebellious chill in her eyes. She said, “Everyone, start digging for any news about the Ghost Orchid, Violet Bamboo, and Sunspire.”

Broderick thought, ‘Any one of those is a legendary lifesaver. The Ghost Orchid is said to bloom once every three centuries, and even the Isle of Solitude doesn’t have it. And now Stella wants to hunt them all down for Sebastian? Seriously?

‘Might as well just dump a mountain of gold on him.’

Broderick couldn’t help but grumble, “Aren’t you pampering him a bit too much?”

He was about to die of jealousy.

“He’s looking for me already,” Stella said suddenly. The wisps of darkness faded from around her, and she went back to her usual laid-back self. She added, “Stay in Haliville for the next couple of days and be on standby.”

With that, Stella pushed open the fire escape door and stepped out, heading straight back to Annette’s side.

Almost the instant she showed up, Sebastian’s eyes instantly found her.

“Sebastian,” Allan said, waving his phone. He added, “Someone just leaked that the Gray family is teaming up with Conrad. Gray Group’s stock is going through the roof. It’s hit the daily limit!”

He thought, ‘This is definitely working in our favor!’

Sebastian watched Stella with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Stella reached out and gave Lucas’s cheeks a gentle squeeze, looking totally unfazed.

Allan muttered, “Who could’ve done this?”

Sebastian was still watching Stella when he saw her calmly take a little cookie from Lucas. The two of them even clinked their cookies together, looking totally at ease.

Allan murmured, “Who could it be?” He rubbed his chin, still puzzled.

Sebastian called out, “Stella?”

Stella looked up at him.

The two of them locked eyes.

Stella stayed perfectly calm as she said, “No idea, not sure, don’t know.” Her tone was steady and unapologetic.

Sebastian thought, ‘That’s not what I meant at all.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Sebastian raised his hand and said, “You got cookie crumbs all over my

15:29 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 173

suit.”

37

E55 vouchers

Unfazed, Stella reached out and brushed the tiny crumbs off his black suit. She said, “Don’t be mad, Sebby.”

Allan turned away, shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter.

Then he turned back and teased, “Sebastian, come on.”

Sebastian shot him a frosty glare, the kind that could kill. He snapped, “Get lost.”

Allan fumed inwardly, ‘Total double standard!’

Carlos hustled like crazy, borrowing from anyone and everyone he could, just to scrape together a mountain of cash, enough to keep a regular family rolling for generations.

He was already in the loop about everything going down outside.

But the way the stock price rocketed to the daily limit totally blindsided Carlos.

He’d totally underestimated just how much firepower Conrad was packing.

Not wanting to risk anything going wrong, Carlos was about to speak up the moment the money came through. He began, “Sebastian, you…”

But his words died in his throat.

Because there was Sebastian, usually as cold and ruthless as a demon, actually dabbing Stella’s hands dry with a tissue.

Carlos felt like he’d just stepped into a parallel universe.

Sebastian shot him a cold look, still calmly wiping Stella’s hands. He asked, “You got the money together?”

Carlos replied, “It’s all here. Bring out the share transfer agreement!”

Any pretense of family ties was long gone; now it was just straight-up business, no beating around the bush.

Annette chimed in, “Let’s get the divorce certificate first!” She could hardly wait.

The whole crew turned and headed downstairs, off to the courthouse.

Seeing the bodyguard in black, megaphone in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs that Annette was divorcing him, Carlos practically exploded with rage as he stormed downstairs.

Annette, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted. She didn’t even spare Carlos a glance; she just hopped right into the car.

By evening, the news had blown up all over Haliville.

Everyone knew that Annette was divorcing Carlos.

15:29 Tue, Feb 3

Chapter 173

:

:

37

E55 vouchers

On the way to the courthouse, a fleet of black Mercedes cruised through the streets, megaphones blaring the news on repeat.

Because she was in such a good mood, Annette even announced in public that she was waiving a month’s rent for all her tenants.

It was only now that people realized just how loaded the usually reclusive, devout Annette really was. The monthly rent alone was a mind-blowing figure.

Inside the courthouse, when the staff handed over the divorce certificates, Annette slipped them a crisp hundred-dollar bill and said, “Congrats to us!”

The staff just stared at the cash, totally dazed.

They’d seen people happy to get divorced before, but never anyone this hyped about it.

“Can we sign the papers now?” Carlos grumbled, his face burning with shame. If it weren’t for those shares, he would’ve blown his top ages ago.

He thought, ‘Getting divorced in my seventies? What a joke!

‘Talk about embarrassing!

Sebastian said, “Hold up!”

His sinister gaze swept over Carlos’s shoulder, locking onto the family elders.

No one dared meet his eyes; everywhere his stare landed, people shrank back in fear.

Carlos was fuming, thinking Sebastian was about to back out. He asked, “What now?”

“Strike our names from the Gray family record,” Sebastian said, idly rolling the prayer beads between his fingers. His tone was casual, but the icy edge in his words made every Gray family member flinch.

“Don’t regret this later,” Carlos said, taking a deep breath as his vision swam.

Half of Sebastian’s face was lost in shadow, his lashes throwing a sneering shade across his features. He said, “Never!”

Carlos said, “Once your names are struck from the Gray family record, Gray Group will blast the news everywhere: media, social platforms, official accounts. From now on, no matter how high Gray Group rises, it won’t have anything to do with you.”

Annette huffed, “Carlos, stop stalling! Get on with it. Don’t keep the staff here past closing time!”

Carlos shot a dark glare at the family elders, grabbed the brush, dipped it in cinnabar, and with a bold stroke, wiped Sebastian and Lucas’s names clean off the family record, gone for good.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify