Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 312

Chapter 312

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lon Wing Drones was suddenly everywhere, grabbing everyone attention at a crazy speed.

Back then, all people knew was that it belonged to the Pierce Group and made drones. It had been losing money for years, even landing on the “Most Hopeless Companies” list three years a row.

The only reason it survived was by barely hanging on, doing O work for Monterra and other countries.

In other words, it was a total money pit.

No one would’ve thought that, out of nowhere, it would blow up hanks to a single live stream.

For a while, Ion Wing Drones even outshone Conrad’s live stream.

On stage, Conrad had just wrapped up his first round of introductions. He scanned the audience, brimming with confidence, waiting for the applause to roll in.

Instead, the guests just whispered to each other. No one clapped

Suddenly, a pair of hands started clapping in a lazy way.

Conrad followed the sound and locked eyes with someone whos gaze was cold and sharp as icc.

Standing in the sunlight, Stella wore a crisp white shirt, her face unreadable, eyes giving nothing away.

But Conrad suddenly felt like prey caught in a hunter’s sights, nowhere to hide. Stella’s lazy clapping woke everyone up, and the crowd finally burst into real applause.

Conrad was left speechless.

This loss of control was really getting under his skin.

He decided to change tactics and went straight for the long–awaited reveal, the HomeBot 1.0, equipped with the CoreOne Chip 1.0.

“Bring out the robot,” Conrad instructed Celia.

Celia was a bit taken aback, not expecting such an early reveal, but did as she was told. Conrad’s gaze stayed locked on Stella, and his usually refined smile now carried a touch of provocation

Stella’s expression stayed cool and indifferent, accepting Conrads challenge without a hint of emotion. She even lifted her hand in a casual “after you” gesture.

Amidst their silent exchange, HomeBot 1.0 was brought on stage From the start, it had been marketed as a top–tier Al companion, fully capable of independent support, especially for seniors and women living alone.

Blake sneered, “Scrappy.”

That was the nickname Big Ben had slapped on Conrad.

Allan leaned back with one arm draped over his chair, totally inspectator mode.

‘Here we go, Allan thought, a grin spreading across his face.

Conrad adjusted his glasses and said, “This is the ultra–intelligent robot our team has been working on for years.”

Compared to its first appearance at the club, the team had given a serious makeover these past few days. It didn’t look

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nearly as bulky as before.

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Wanting to make an even bigger impression, Conrad raised his hand, and his team wheeled out several more half–finished robots.

The guests in the audience were instantly drawn in by these robots and couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

Even the host from Clusia Channel One blurted out in amazement.

Conrad, mic in one hand and pointing at the robots with the other, looked super smug about all the attention he was getting.

Right next to him, Celia tilted her chin up, looking proud and attle afrogant. Cameras and flashes were going off like crazy, all aimed at the stage.

Right then, Celia was totally basking in a kind of vanity she’d never experienced before.

Stella’s cool, clear voice suddenly cut through the excitement, “Dr. Conrad, could you show us how this robot actually works?”

The guests, still caught up in admiring the robot’s sleek design, all turned to see who had spoken.

Stella calmly raised her hand, her expression unbothered and genuinely inquisitive.

Conrad kept his smile, thinking to himself, ‘Is she really going to pull that stunt again?‘

To make sure nothing went wrong today, he’d run countless tests on the chip in private. Only after he was absolutely certain everything was perfect did he announce the exact time of the press conference.

Conrad replied, “Of course.”

With total confidence, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Everyone’s eyes were glued to HomeBot 1.0, the ultra–intelligent robot powered by CoreOne Chip 1.0, waiting for it to come to life.

But the robot didn’t move at all.

Everyone stood there, left speechless.

Conrad’s confident smile froze on his face.

He turned to his robot, snapped his fingers a few times, but nothing happened, unlike backstage, where it worked perfectly.

The robot just sat there, its cold metallic shell glinting under the lights, dead as a doornail.

Down below, the crowd started murmuring, confusion spreading like wildfire.

Celia’s smile was stiff, and her voice sounded strained. “What’s going

on?”

Conrad didn’t bother answering her. He threw on his best fake smile for the audience. “Just kidding, everyone. Hang tight for a sec while our tech team grabs the remote.”

At that, the guests‘ faces lit up with sudden realization.

“Come on, this is Dr. Conrad we’re talking about. What could possibly go wrong?” Carlos reassured the guests around him, the very picture of confidence.

Meanwhile, Stella just flashed a casual, unconcerned smile.

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The team hustled the remote up to the stage, and Conrad grabbed it, looking cool and totally in control. With everyone’s eyes glued to him, he hit the button.

A loud buzzing, like a swarm of angry bees, filled the room. The guests all leaned in, eyes wide, afraid to miss the big moment when the robot would finally spring to life.

But after a long, awkward pause, Stella’s chilly, unhurried voice broke the silence. “Oh, sorry,” she said politely as she stood up. “Looks like that’s for me.”

Sebastian tilted his head toward her.

With the sunlight blazing behind her, Stella stood at his side, and the glare made Sebastian blink.

Sebastian couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

Everyone stared up at the sky as a small black speck got closer and closer overhead. No one could make out what it was at first, but then someone shouted, and the crowd gasped, “It’s a drone.”

A carbon fiber drone was swooping around overhead, looking super cool, as if scanning the crowd for something.

But in the next second, it suddenly dove straight toward the venge.

Guests shrieked and scattered in panic.

The whole place instantly erupted into chaos.

“Security? Where’s security? Get her out of here,” Celia shrilled from the stage, like she’d been waiting for this moment.

Sebastian’s gaze was ice–cold. “Who dares?”

His words cut through the chaos, making everyone stop in their racks and instinctively turn to look at him.

All around, the Yates family members in black suits stood stone–faced. Theo looked up at Celia and gave her a cold, mocking smile.

Dark currents swirled beneath the surface.

But none of it seemed to bother Stella.

In the middle of all the chaos, she lazily lifted her hand, and that drone, its cold, metallic body glinting in the sunlight, came down and landed on her forearm, almost like a well–trained pet.

“Good boy,” Stella teased, tapping it lightly with her fingertip.

The drone’s wings buzzed in reply.

It was almost as if the drone understood her, showing off a personality of its own.

Everyone just froze, staring at Stella and her drone in disbelief.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Carlos looked absolutely livid, his mouth twisted and eyes sinister. “The media’s all here. You really dare to cause a scene?”

“Go on,” Stella said, flicking her wrist. The drone soared back up to the sky. Only then did she turn to Carlos, her gaze icy enough to make anyone flinch. “Cause a scene?”

Stella gave a faint smile, but it vanished in an instant. “This is what you call making a scene.”

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Her gaze swept past Carlos’s shoulder, landing squarely on Conrad up on stage. Then, just like Conrad had done before, she snapped her fingers.

The sound of drones filled the venue, echoing from every corne. The guests all jumped to their feet, craning their necks to see what was happening.

Even the reporters‘ cameras and mics were drawn skyward, as if pulled by an invisible force. Conrad, who had just been upstaged, gripped the microphone so hard it looked like he might snap it in half.

What they didn’t realize was that outside the venue, downtown aliville was already in an uproar, shouts and gasps echoing everywhere.

Anyone outdoors couldn’t help but look up, mouths hanging open in shock. Only now did the people of Haliville finally get what that cryptic midnight text from the city was all about.

‘So, that’s what it meant. everyone thought.

“Look!” Blake suddenly yelled, thrusting his arm toward the sky.

The blinding sunlight was slowly being eaten away, inch by inch like a solar eclipse unfolding overhead.

Everyone looked up to see a swarm of drones, marching in perfect vertical formation, slowly blanketing the open–air venue.

It was straight out of a Monterra sci–fi movie, something so wild, no one would’ve dared to dream it up. But now, it all came

true.

It was actually happening right in front of their eyes.

Stella stood there with her arms crossed, her face the picture of cool confidence, totally unfazed, as if she had no clue she’d just blown everyone’s minds.

“Ms. Carter really is something else,” Caleb couldn’t help but exclaim, watching the scene unfold.

‘Now it made sense why she’d ordered a citywide ban on unauthorized drones last night, Caleb thought.

This whole scene was both scary and absolutely thrilling.

Colten was left speechless. Seriously, no guy could ever say no to the pull of machines.

After this show, Ion Wing Drones‘ drones were about to become the next big thing everyone was chasing after.

This brand finally came alive for real.

“Wait, Mr. Pierce, are all these Ion Wing Drones‘ drones?” someone who knew him well blurted out.

Kendrick said, “Yes.” His voice was thick with emotion, almost choked up.

If one listened closely, one could hear the rough edge in his tone

Ever since he founded Ion Wing Drones, every drone they made was like his own child. And for the first time, he’d never seen his kids shine this bright.

Blake’s eyes grew misty.

In just a few minutes, his phone was blowing up, WhatsApp messages and texts pouring in nonstop, so many he could barely keep up.

All of them were from suppliers who used to cozy up to Xander but when things got tough, they tried to kick him while he was down.

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Ion Wing Drones‘ drones, once the laughingstock of the industry had suddenly become the hottest commodity. Everyone. was scrambling to get their hands on them.

And that was not even counting lon Wing Drones‘ official sales sie. It was absolute madness over there.

Their customer service team had never seen this kind of chaos before.

With just a few dozen online reps facing millions of frantic customers, their keyboards were about to catch fire from all the typing.

No way they could keep up.

They thought, ‘Somebody save us.”

“Mr. Pierce.” The Pierce Group rep turned to Xander, but before he could say a word, he was shocked to see Xander’s eyes rimmed red with anger.

It hit him all at once, so that was why Ion Wing Drones had yanked all their products offline right before the big day.

It wasn’t because Ion Wing Drones was going belly up.

It was the total opposite. They were so sure of themselves, betting everything on the press conference to catapult Ion Wing Drones, a company nobody cared about in Clusia, straight into the limelight.

No way Blake could’ve pulled off a move this slick.

Xander’s stare was glued to Stella, eyes blazing.

It was her.

Even this whole scarcity marketing move was all her doing.

‘Blake. What the hell did he ever do to deserve this?‘ Xander raged inside.

With another crisp snap of her fingers, Stella set things in motion.

Stella strolled toward the stage, her movements unhurried and nonchalant.

The drones overhead split into two formations, gliding down to lank her on either side like her personal honor guard.

Conrad’s pupils dilated in disbelief.

It was a scene straight out of their first encounter at the Edenbury Academy auditorium. Even with every eye in the room locked on her, Stella didn’t show a hint of nerves.

Each step radiated an untouchable aura, and with those low–flying drones intensifying the sci–fi spectacle, she looked event more impossible to challenge.

Soon enough, Stella stood right across from Conrad, facing him down.