Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 199

Chapter 199 Tall, Ugly, Bad-Tempered

Sebastian said, “The lyrics are wrong.”

He was genuinely earnest about the correction.

Blake and Stella were speechless.

‘No need to be so serious about it, they thought.

Upstairs, the Finance Department finished their count in the CEO’s office. It turned out that since most employees had opted for the year-end bonus, the over 80 million in cash hadn’t really moved much.

Tom couldn’t help but admire Stella’s clever move.

It was basically just shifting money from one hand to the other, but it managed to keep everyone calm while hitting the schemers hard. It was a classic case of killing two birds with one stone.

He was totally won over.

“I’ve already contacted the bank. They’ll send over a security team to escort the money,” Tom said.

With that, he left.

Not far away, Blake handed an ice pack to his grumbling sidekick, who had just woken up.

“We just thought Mr. Pierce was having a rough time, so a few of us pooled some money to help him out,” the sidekick said.

He pressed the ice pack to his face, looking all aggrieved and pitiful.

Blake spoke up, “How much?”

He hadn’t even had a chance to discuss it before Xander interrupted them.

The sidekick scratched his nose awkwardly, glanced at Stella, and gave a goofy grin. “Not much.”

Blake pressed, “Not much? How much exactly?”

The sidekick replied, “Several hundreds of millions.”

Everyone else fell silent.

Stella glanced up at the sidekick. “Did your family beat you up?”

The sidekick scratched his head and gave a sheepish grin. “I knew I couldn’t fool you, Stella. I’m used to it, really, no big deal.”

Blake suddenly remembered something. “Did you take a cab here today?”

The sidekick scratched his nose and didn’t say a word.

Blake pressed, “Where’s your car?”

‘What about that beloved little sports car he threw a fit for, got roasted by his stepmom, and finally managed to get?’ Blake wondered.

After a while, the sidekick said quietly, “I sold it.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

Blake fell silent. His lips pressed tight, and his eyes rimmed red.

Stella glanced over at Jake, who caught the hint and headed out.

These infamous trust fund kids in Haliville might have a bad rep, but honestly, they had way more heart and loyalty than those pretentious phonies.

Stella said, “How about I let you guys in as founding shareholders, each with a 1% stake? Sound good?”

Blake nodded enthusiastically.

Decades later, when they were old men floating on their yachts, swapping stories in the sun, their favorite boast was always how they’d gone broke for Blake.

1/4

Chapter 199 Tall, Ugly, Bad-Tempered

At that time, they thought, ‘Back then, we didn’t have a dime to our names.

‘But now, we’re rolling in cash, counting bills till our fingers cramp!

‘We’re on top of the world!’

But that was a story for another day.

Blake’s phone dinged with an email alert. He glanced at the screen, eyes still red, and totally lost it.

Blake wailed, “I can’t book it! No matter what, I just can’t!”

Stella and Sebastian were confused.

They thought, ‘What’s he talking about?’

Stella took a deep breath. “What are you trying to book?”

Blake held his phone out to her, looking all pitiful. “I’d like to hire Shark to operate on Grandpa. Stella, do you know Shark?”

Stella fell silent.

‘You got me there, Stella thought.

Blake said, “Shark, the legendary freelance doctor who’s tall, ugly and bad-tempered!”

Stella, feeling like she’d just been pierced through the heart, asked, “Who told you that?”

“Huh?” Blake froze for a second, looking blank. “That’s just what everyone says.”

Stella fell silent.

‘Who the heck said that?’ Stella thought.

A sharp snap echoed through the CEO’s office.

Blake and his sidekick fell silent.

They stared in stunned silence as Stella broke off a corner of the desk with her bare hands. Blake gulped, his eyes almost bugging out of his head.

‘Did I just make Stella mad?’ Blake thought, heart pounding with panic.

Instead, Sebastian, totally unfazed, just reached over, grabbed the broken desk corner from Stella, and tossed it into the trash like it was no big deal.

He was cool as a cucumber.

He even patted Stella’s hand, casual as ever.

Stella sighed.

She took a couple of deep breaths. “Don’t believe everything you hear.”

Stella just smiled.

Blake looked thoughtful. “So all that talk about Shark being tall, ugly and bad-tempered is not real?”

Stella fell silent.

She thought, ‘Well, maybe the last one’s true.

‘But the first two are pure slander!

‘Really!’

Stella said coldly, “Yeah.”

Her voice was icy.

Blake looked surprised. “Then why does she never show her real face?”

Stella fell silent.

She thought, ‘Because I’m too lady.

2/4

Chapter 199 Tall, Ugly, Bad-Tempered ‘And I don’t want any hassle.’

Stella snapped, “Why do you talk so much?”

Blake was stunned.

He thought, ‘Ugh, got roasted again!’

Blake clutched his phone, looking totally defeated. “Stella, do you think there’s any scalper out there who could hook me up with Shark directly?”

Stella was speechless.

‘Kid, that’s a seriously risky idea, Stella thought.

Stella said, “No.”

Blake slumped even lower, looking like he’d just been hit by a torrential downpour.

He felt chilled to the bone.

He was about to cry.

Stella let out a sigh, “Blake…”

Blake looked up at her, eyes all teary and pitiful.

Stella was speechless.

Stella pulled out her phone and dialed.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, a woman who’d just drifted off to sleep was rudely awakened by the shrill ring

of her phone. She snatched it up, absolutely livid.

She exploded at once after answering it, “Damn it, you fucking-”

Blake and his sidekick were shocked.

They thought, ‘Man, she swears like a sailor!’

“Shark…” Stella said, cool as ever, like this was nothing new for her.

On the other end, the swearing stopped dead.

The woman snapped into professional mode in a heartbeat.

Her tone flipped from annoyed to sharp and professional in a split second. “Yes?”

Stella was speechless.

‘No need to put on a show, Stella thought.

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