Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 212

Chapter 212

The plain plant whipped around and slapped Snowball right across his gloating, chubby face.

Snowball was stunned.

Blackie watched it, shocked.

Snowball thought, ‘Why does it always have to be me who gets hurt?’

His big, egg-shaped eyes filled with tears, wobbling pitifully on his face.

He flopped onto the ground, throwing a tantrum.

The plain plant huffed.

It thought, ‘Trying to outsmart me? Nice try!’

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Shifting its pot, it settled back under the moonlight, feeling proud. It thought, ‘Justice served once again by

‘I really am beautiful and kind.

‘No wonder I’m called the one and only, most beautiful plant in the world.

‘I’m so classy.’

Blackie was speechless.

*****

Upstairs, the computer on her desk pinged; a search had just finished. She lazily poured herself a glass of water at the kitchen island, then casually woke up the screen.

All seven merc profiles were unlocked.

She kept tracing their IPs.

Stella kept her expression unreadable as her gaze swept over each face on the screen, one by one.

Her eyes were cold and icy.

She took a sip of water.

Her phone buzzed with a notification.

Charmaine: [Wanna meet up, babe?]

Stella fell silent.

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Chapter 212

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She just tapped FaceTime and sent the call over.

Charmaine picked up almost instantly.

On the other end, a breathtaking beauty lay sprawled across ivory silk sheets, lips soft as petals, curled up like

a lazy cat, and yawning. The instant she saw Stella’s face, her yawn froze in mid-air.

Her eyes snapped open, suddenly fierce and wary.

Cassie said, “You?”

Stella lifted a hand, cool as ever. She said, “Ran into a little trouble.”

Stella kept her cool, totally unfazed.

Five minutes later, Cassie flopped back onto the bed, acting all soft and clingy. She said, “Babe, you’re just too cool.”

Stella fell silent.

Cassie stretched out her graceful hand, took her whiskey on the rocks from the nightstand, and swirled it lazily. She said, “You’re not actually skipping that auction in Estravia, are you?” She took a teasing sip, smiling.

Stella kept her face blank, saying, “Not going. Got class.”

Cassie nearly choked, spraying her drink everywhere.

Cassie said, “Wait, what? Did you just say you’ve got class?”

Stella replied, “I’ve got class.”

Cassie asked, “Are you out of your mind?”

‘What kind of class could possibly be more impressive than anything Professor Cipher teaches?’ Cassie thought.

Stella shot her a frosty look, and Cassie instantly shifted from fierce to her usual sassy, kitten-like self, throwing her hands up in surrender. She said, “If you don’t show, those antique-obsessed folks who only see you once a year are going to lose it.”

“Let me ask you something,” Stella said, towel-drying her hair, sounding a bit thoughtful.

Cassie rested her chin on her hand, looking totally chill. She said, “Shoot, babe.”

Stella asked, “Jaxon from the Knight family in Jaffina. Do you know him?”

Cassie paused to think and replied, “Nope, never heard of him.”

Stella fell silent.

Jaxon sure didn’t act like he didn’t know her.

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Chapter 212

Stella asked, “You sure?”

Cassie raised a hand, saying, “I swear, I really don’t know him.”

Stella replied, “Got it. Hanging up.”

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“Wait.” Knowing how stubborn Stella was, Cassie hurried to stop her. She asked, “You’re really not going to the auction?”

Stella said, “We’ll see.”

She tossed out that line and hung up without another word.

Stella stared at her computer screen, but her thoughts wandered to an incident from five years ago. She quickly messaged Nimbus.

Shark: [Six years ago, who was Charmaine supposed to protect during that mission?]

The typing indicator popped up instantly.

N.X: [?]

Shark: [Forget it, never mind. I’m going offline.]

Stella signed off right after.

Six years ago, Cassie took on a secret mission. She was tasked with protecting an important figure in Jaffina during negotiations over some top-secret files, and she was on duty for a whole year.

And on that day, five years ago, something happened.

Stella twirled her pencil with a flourish, her icy gaze carrying a dangerous edge,

She was in a seriously bad mood.

On the screen, Stella had all seven mercenaries’ IPs pinned down.

Stella’s eyes went cold as she stared at the screen.

A dangerous glint flashed in her eyes.

Night had fallen.

When Lucas, freshly bathed and dressed in his beloved shark-print pajamas, crossed paths with Sebastian, who also freshly bathed and deliberately dressed in sleek black sleepwear, two icy statues stood face-to-face with equally expressionless stares.

‘I was here first,’ Lucas thought, puffing up his cheeks in defiance.

Lucas puffed up his cheeks and waved his tiny hands at Sebastian, clearly staking his claim.

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His cheeks, already soft and pale from earlier, looked even more squishy and irresistible after his bath.

Sebastian gave a low chuckle.

‘My wheelchair was here before his,’ Sebastian thought, feeling a bit smug.

Lucas stood there, all worked up, hugging the tail of his shark pajamas tight and stomping his little feet.

After a moment, he held out his little fist, challenging Sebastian to a round of rock-paper-scissors.

Sebastian asked, “You really wanna do this?”

From the moment Lucas learned rock-paper-scissors, his go-to move had always been rock first, then scissors, then paper, never changed.

Lucas smiled.

Puffed up with confidence, Lucas nodded and blew on his tiny fist like a pro.

Then Lucas fell silent. His grin froze mid-air.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Sebastian stretched out his long fingers and gave him a poke.

Lucas, frozen in shock, instantly shattered into a million pieces.

Sebastian’s lips curled into the faintest of smirks as he pushed the door open.

The room still carried Stella’s unique scent. The desk was empty, and there was a clear lump under the covers on the bed.

Sebastian fell silent.

He frowned, sensing something was off.

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