Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 257

Chapter 257

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“Honestly, nothing beats your team’s robot when it comes to jokes,” Stella said.

Stella’s words were basically a slap in the face, and Conrad’s face fell immediately.

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Blake shot Stella a surprised glance. ‘Is it just me, or is Stella acting different today? It almost feels like she’s trying to get under Conrad’s skin,’ he thought.

Celia tried to step in, “Hey, that’s enough—”

“I’m talking to Conrad,” Stella snapped, her voice cold and cutting. “Who are you to interrupt?”

Celia’s face flushed with embarrassment as she instinctively glanced at Sebastian.

She didn’t even know what she was hoping for.

But Sebastian didn’t give her so much as a single look.

Conrad’s face stayed grim. “Because of military security protocols, the robot doesn’t have a chip installed.”

He was obviously just making excuses for himself.

Everyone else suddenly looked like they’d finally gotten it.

They thought, ‘Now that’s more like it!

‘No way Dr. Conrad’s robot is actually that lame.

‘So it didn’t have a chip!

‘Now that makes way more sense!’

But before Carlos could even start clapping, Stella gave a soft laugh, her hairpin tassels swaying. When she finished, she stepped right up to Conrad.

Stella leaned in close and said, “I’ve got some good news for you. The health problems of the other four experts’ families from the recommendation letter…”

Her voice was so low that only Conrad could hear.

“They’re already solved,” she said.

Everyone saw Conrad’s face twist. He looked so bad that it was honestly beyond words.

Conrad choked out, “You…”

But Stella just raised her hand, pressing her slender finger to her lips. “Shh! Lower your voice.”

A cold glint flashed in her beautiful amber eyes.

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Stella said, “They’ve agreed that their signatures on the recommendation letter can be pulled at any time.”

She smiled, perfectly at ease.

Conrad was left speechless.

A flash of malice flickered in his eyes, hidden behind his glasses, but it vanished as quickly as it came. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Stella said, “Doesn’t matter if you don’t get it. You’d better seize this CoreOne Chip 1.0 and home robot launch, because…”

Her smile grew darker, full of hidden meaning.

“This is the last chance you’ll ever get to rewrite your destiny in Clusia,” she warned.

With that, Stella stepped back, putting space between them.

Her gaze was icy cold.

The Gray family, the Lane family, the Morris family, and the Carter family were all tied together now. If Conrad went down, they all went down with him. And the Gray family, especially, had probably bet everything they had on Conrad.

Stella thought, ‘Good. Pretty good!’

While everyone was caught up with Stella and Conrad, Jaxon quietly pushed Sebastian to a secluded spot.

John kept watch nearby, his eyes sharp and alert.

The next second, Jaxon came over and called out, “Cap!”

Sebastian, sitting in his wheelchair, rolled his prayer beads between his fingers, his gaze turning icy. He replied with a nod.

Jaxon kept it respectful, but then broke into a grin. “I used to worry if Ion Wing Drones was really worth the investment. I guess I was just thinking too small.”

When Sebastian called and told him to drop everything and head to Haliville to sign a huge contract with lon Wing Drones in the name of the Knight family, Jaxon honestly thought Sebastian was making a risky call.

In his eyes, Ion Wing Drones was already on its last legs. There was no way it could turn things around,

Sebastian’s

over.”

gaze

settled in the distance, his voice cold as ice. “With Stella here, lon Wing Drones’ crisis will be

Jaxon grinned. “All those years you’ve been supporting lon Wing Drones behind the scenes. It wasn’t for nothing.”

If Sebastian hadn’t been throwing billions into lon Wing Drones every year, Kendrick would never have believed that just the Pierce family alone could keep such a massive tech company running for this long.

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Sebastian’s eyes grew even darker, his thick lashes casting shadows over his pale face. “I want Clusia’s own drones to be like a sun that never sets.”

He wanted it to hang high in the sky forever.

Just like Eric always dreamed of.

Jaxon asked, “So, should I just bundle the dividends from Kinetic University Tech Research Institute with Ion Wing Drones like we always do?”

Sebastian replied coolly, “Just handle it as you see fit.”

Jaxon’s eyes suddenly lit up. “After tomorrow, your five-year pact with Jaffina will finally be over!”

After that incident years ago, the elder from Jaffina rushed to Haliville, afraid Sebastian’d go on a rampage for revenge. He made a five-year pact with Sebastian, sealing away his bloodlust and wrath.

And tomorrow was the final day of that five-year pact.

Jaxon asked, “So, are you heading to Jaffina or back to Dorestan?”

Sebastian didn’t answer, but his eyes drifted over to Stella, who was standing not far away. There was something soft and complicated in his gaze, and even Jaxon could feel it.

At that exact moment, Stella turned around.

The tassels on her hairpin swayed gently.

They shimmered with a mesmerizing, almost unreal beauty.

The two of them locked eyes.

Sebastian said, “For now, I’m not going anywhere.”

Jaxon didn’t know what to say.

‘Alright then,’ he thought.

Jaxon said, “There’s one more thing…”

Sebastian replied, “Go ahead.”

Jaxon’s face grew serious. “Even though the order to kidnap Lucas came from Gray Manor, the truth is, Bianca and the others were all connected to those people from back then.”

Sebastian lowered his eyes, pausing for a moment. “I know.”

All these years, those people had tried everything-poison, assassination, whatever it took-just to test if he really had the gene virus antidote.

If Stella hadn’t accidentally gotten involved, Lucas probably wouldn’t have made it out so easily.

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Jaxon was about to say something else when his watch, hidden under his sleeve, suddenly blared with a shrill alarm.

His face went pale in a flash.

Sebastian noticed something was off with Jaxon and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Jaxon said, “I…”

Before he could finish, a scream suddenly rang out nearby, followed by a chaotic mix of shouts and the sound of hooves pounding the ground.

“Oh my God!” someone shouted.

A socialite suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, pointing toward the nearby horse arena.

Everyone followed her finger and saw a little girl, about five years old, crouched on the perfectly manicured green lawn, clutching a Lotso. She looked up at the noise.

‘Wow, what a beautiful little face!’ they all thought.

Her face was as flawless as a piece of fine jade, with long, curled lashes and big, dark eyes that looked a bit confused, and there was a hint of illness in her gaze.

For some reason, the horses in the arena had been spooked and were running wild, bolting in every direction.

“Jeez, this is freaky!” someone yelled.

“Oh crap! Whose kid is that?” someone shouted.

The club’s handlers rushed out, but they couldn’t get the horses under control. A few of the prized stallions were barreling straight at the crowd, and it looked like someone was about to get crushed right in front of

everyone.

Before anyone could even scream, Stella sprang into action. Her moves were sharp, fearless, and precise.

She snatched the reins in one smooth motion, used the horse’s wild energy to launch herself up, and in the blink of an eye, a flash of black and white streaked past. Stella had already vaulted onto the horse’s back.

“Whoa!” Stella pulled hard on the reins, her hairpin tassels whipping through the air.

The horse went berserk, thrashing and doing everything it could to throw her off.

It was a heart-stopping moment.

Big Ben shouted, “Stella!”

Blake yelled, “Stella!”

Even those sidekicks tried to rush in and help wrangle the horse.

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“Stay away!” Stella snapped from the saddle, her gaze cutting through the crowd. “Big Ben, keep Blake and the others safe!” Without missing a beat, she grabbed the reins one-handed and charged toward the center of the field.

The horse reared up, hooves kicking wildly.

Stella was riding high, her flawless skin and bold red lips striking against her skirt whipping around her. She looked totally fearless.

In the middle of the lawn, the little girl was frozen in fear, her eyes darting around, lost and helpless.

Screams echoed from all sides as the runaway stallion charged at her, ready to trample anything that got in its

way.

“Daddy…” she whimpered, her sweet little voice trembling as she called out for her dad, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

She looked heartbreakingly helpless.

Just when everyone thought she was done for and was about to get crushed under those hooves, a thunderous hoofbeat shattered the silence.

Everyone’s eyes went wide, stunned.

The next instant, Stella swung herself low off the saddle, one hand gripping the reins, the other snatching the little girl right off the ground. Wild stallions tore past them, hooves pounding the earth all around.

If Stella had missed even by a hair, they’d have been crushed into the turf, no question.

“Stella!” Blake shouted, his voice full of worry.

“Cookie!” another voice called out from the distance.

Stella gripped the reins with one hand, forcing the wild stallion to fight against its own instincts. The horse reared up, front hooves slashing the air, snorting and bucking furiously as she held it in check.

Cookie hugged her Lotso tight, looking up at Stella with wide, stunned eyes, completely lost but clinging to her for dear life.

She blinked, her little face frozen in shock.

“Hold on tight!” Stella yelled, and right in the middle of the stampede, she wrestled the horse around, making it turn against the raging herd.

With Cookie in her arms, Stella charged straight into the chaos, riding against the flow and breaking through the stampede like a total boss.

She brought Cookie back to safety.

Everyone was left speechless, jaws practically hitting the floor.

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In the crowd, Celia couldn’t hide the malice in her eyes. ‘Why couldn’t those horses just trample her already?’ she seethed.

‘Seriously, does Stella always have to be the center of attention?’ Celia thought bitterly.

“Cookie!” The usually calm man’s voice broke through the crowd, urgent and desperate.

Cookie’s lips quivered, her voice wobbling as she cried, “Daddy!”

She was clinging to Stella. Then she lifted her little hand and accidentally knocked the hairpin from behind Stella’s ear. Her hair, already loosened from the wild ride, cascaded down her back like a waterfall.

Everyone watched, holding their breath as the hairpin was about to smash on the ground. Then, out of nowhere, a man’s big hand swooped in and caught it at the very last second.

Stella let out a sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness!’ she thought.

She shot Sebastian a grin, raising her eyebrow in playful thanks.

Just as she was about to speak, Stella caught sight of Cookie’s outstretched wrist, and for a split second, her face froze, her expression turning strangely complicated.

A small, familiar pink birthmark stood out.

It looked exactly like a cherry blossom petal.

“Ms. Carter, thank you for saving my daughter,” a man said.

Stella turned to look, and her eyes widened in surprise.

‘Wait, her daddy is Jaxon?’ she thought, totally caught off guard.

Everyone else was just as shocked. They all wondered, ‘Wait, Jaxon has a daughter this old? How did we never hear about this?

‘What the…

‘Is this some kind of family secret?’

Stella fell silent.

Stella’s eyes flicked back to Cookie, taking a closer look at her little face.

Stella squinted, her gaze sharp.

Jaxon asked, “Ms. Carter?”

Stella asked, “She’s your real kid?”

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Her expression was odd.

Jaxon replied, “Of course.”

Stella fell silent.

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Jaxon picked Cookie up and carried her away, while Stella sat atop the horse, clearly distracted and not really present.

She was lost in thought, her mind wandering.

Sebastian frowned, reaching out his hand. “Get down.”

Stella took his hand and dismounted smoothly, but her gaze lingered on Jaxon and Cookie with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Sebastian tightened his grip on her hand.

She glanced down, only to meet Sebastian’s cold, stormy eyes staring right at her.

“Mr. Knight, we’re really sorry-” Richard, along with the rest of the Gray family, stammered, their faces pale with fear. None of them had a clue why the horses suddenly went wild.