Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 266

Chapter 266

“Really? Then we need to get everything ready for tomorrow! I’ll have Richard book a hotel right away. We have to make them feel at home!” Carlos was so excited that he was practically rubbing his hands like a scheming fly.

Conrad nodded. “Go ahead!”

Carlos hurried off to make the call.

Meanwhile, Celia was visibly annoyed. She had to head to Sandridge Island for a memorial tomorrow, which meant she’d have to miss out on rubbing shoulders with all these VIPs when the opportunity was literally right in front of her!

Conrad glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Tomorrow, Sandridge Island. The chip.”

His tone was chilling, a stark, cold warning.

Celia couldn’t help but shiver.

*****

It was 11:59 PM.

Somewhere on the hillside behind the estate, two tombstones stood in silent vigil.

One belonged to Sebastian’s father, and the other was the shared grave of Eric and Holly, buried side by side as husband and wife.

Allan was wearing nothing but a loose, smoky gray shirt, lazily smoking as he watched Sebastian sitting in his wheelchair a short distance away. The tip of Allan’s cigarette burned a deep red in the darkness.

And suddenly, he sensed someone getting close, and his body instantly went into combat mode.

But before Allan could even lift a hand, the person had already disarmed him. He looked up.

Then, Allan panicked.

‘It’s Stella!’ Allan thought.

He was just about to say something when Stella shot him a quick ‘shh’ with a finger to her lips. Before he could react, Allan watched as she climbed the tree, as if it were nothing, her slim figure perched easily on a thick branch.

Her gaze landed on Sebastian.

Allan was left speechless.

‘Whatever. Guess I’m just the old cabbage nobody cares about, left to wilt like some forgotten veggie,’ Allan muttered to himself.

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Chapter 266

Midnight struck.

“Mr. Gray,” John said, taking the flowers from his brother Jake.

In the night breeze, Sebastian stood up on his own.

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At six foot four, his towering figure radiated a commanding presence, and his eyes held a depth and complexity that no one could ever hope to decipher. It was dark and unfathomable as the night itself.

He held the followers.

Jake slowed down, pushed the wheelchair aside, clearing the space for Sebastian.

Dressed in a black shirt, Sebastian looked even more menacing. He bowed to the tombstones with slow, measured movements, every gesture filled with solemn grace.

Before anyone noticed, the Yates family had quietly assembled behind him. Jake stepped into the front row, and with John at the lead, hundreds of men in black suits followed Sebastian’s bow, moving in perfect unison.

There was a brief pause.

Sebastian set the flowers in front of the tombstones, the whole ritual quiet and solemn.

Stella sat on the tree branch, legs swinging in the air, watching everything unfold below. Her face was cool and emotionless, not giving anything away.

Sebastian turned around.

His lips parted, and his icy voice cut through the night, reaching every ear. “It’s been five years. Tonight is the day. Anyone who tries to mess things up.”

His eyes burned with a dangerous, blood-red light, like a demon back from hell and hungry for blood.

“Will be wiped out. No mercy,” he added.

The night wind played with Stella’s long hair as she perched quietly in the tree, her gaze fixed on him. She looked like a spirit of the night, hauntingly beautiful, an ethereal vision against the darkness.

“Yes!” John, at the front, led the Yates family as they responded in perfect unison.

Five minutes later.

Allan, cigarette dangling from his lips, arched a brow at Sebastian as he walked over, giving him a look that said, “Check out the tree.”

Sebastian just stared at him, his face blank.

Allan mumbled around his cigarette, “Look up.”

Allan looked up, but there was no one in the tree.

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Chapter 266

Allan was left speechless.

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Suddenly, Snowball popped his big, snowy-white head down from above, hanging upside down and nearly giving Allan a heart attack.

“Ouch!” Allan hissed as the hot ash singed his fingers.

Sebastian lowered his eyes. “We’re leaving.”

Snowball slowly slithered down from the tree and couldn’t resist flicking Allan on the back of the head with the tip of his tail.

Allan felt silent.

He thought, ‘Damn!’

*****

Morning came.

Stella was awakened by soft little hands giving her a gentle squeeze.

She opened her eyes.

Lucas saw she was awake and gave her a sweet, angelic smile, his dimples making him look even more adorable.

Snowball’s big, snowy-white head popped up at the edge of the bed, his beady little red eyes staring right at

her.

Stella turned her head and spotted Sebastian on a single armchair not far away, already suited up in black.

He looked like he hadn’t slept at all, those icy, deep-set eyes fixed on her, who knows how long he’d been watching.

Sebastian said, “Morning.”

Stella gave him a lazy, sleepy smile. “Morning.”

There wasn’t a trace of a wheelchair anywhere near him.

“Cloudy day, huh,” Stella murmured, glancing out the floor-to-ceiling window. Mist was curling and twisting outside, wrapping everything in a haze and cranking the moody vibes up to max.

*****

The night before, Richard had blasted it everywhere that all those big shots from Jaflina were coming to Haliville just for Conrad. By the time he was done, everyone knew about it.

Haliville’s elite with Jaffina connections had already gotten the scoop early this morning. Sure enough, a whole crew of VIPs had left Jaffina, and the news was legit.

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Chapter 266

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Everyone was green with envy over the Gray family. They wondered, ‘Out of all the rich families in Haliville, why did Conrad have his eye on the Grays?

‘Why can’t some of that insane luck and fortune rub off on the rest of us? Why does it all have to go to them?’ they grumbled.’

They were beating their chests and stomping their feet, wishing they could turn back time.

But honestly, what they really wanted was to see how Sebastian would take it.

After all, even when Sebastian got booted from the CEO seat at Gray Group, if he’d just swallowed his pride, he could’ve at least gotten a taste of the good life.

But then Annette went and divorced, sold off the shares along with Sebastian’s, and wiped his name right off the Gray family tree.

They thought, ‘So what if Annette owns thousands of rental shops in the priciest business district? Bet she is at home regretting it so hard her guts are turning green!

All that insane fortune was right there in front of them, but they could never get their hands on it. Meanwhile, Annette and Sebastian’s family actually had it, then managed to lose it all themselves.

Thinking about that made everyone feel a little less bitter about their own situation.

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