Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 316

Chapter 316

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Meanwhile, Carlos stepped forward and snatched the report from the doctor’s hands. His hands were visibly trembling.

After the series of blows he’d suffered today, he looked like he’d aged ten years overnight, and even the wrinkles on his face seemed deeper, etched with exhaustion.

He opened the report and kept a long and heavy silence,

“What’s the result?” Conrad pressed, his voice urgent.

Carlos’s lips quivered. At the sound of Conrad’s voice, he jerked his head up, his eyes locking onto Conrad with a look of utter hatred. The whites of his eyes were streaked with angry red veins, and he was shaking with fury.

The doctor didn’t even dare to breathe.

Suddenly, Carlos gripped the report so tightly his knuckles turned white, his face twisted in a grotesque grimace, cheek muscles twitching uncontrollably. He burst out laughing.

His laughter was manic and shrill.

It echoed through the room, hitting everyone like a slap.

He thought, ‘Gone. Just like that! Everything wiped out!”

Today, Carlos finally tasted what true despair felt like. He hit rock bottom, and there was nothing left to hold onto.

Lauren had gone completely mad.

Richard and Linda had been arrested.

His dreams of riches and status were crushed.

His life’s work, the Gray Group, was as good as lost.

And now, even the great–grandson he’d treasured for five years wasn’t even truly one of the Grays.

Carlos looked around in a daze.

The Haliville elites who had hitched their wagons to Conrad because of him, dumped fortunes in, and dreamed of laughing all the way to the bank, were now left with nothing, glaring at him as they wanted to tear him apart.

Now, in his old age, the only one left at his side was Sophia, whose face was disfigured.

His mind short–circuited, and everything inside him just snappel.

Regret crashed over Carlos like a tidal wave.

“Retribution…” Carlos’s hand went slack, and the paternity test report drifted down, landing softly at Conrad’s feet.

Conrad quickly bent down and grabbed the report, his eyes darting over every single word, not missing a detail, his heart pounding in his chest.

“A son! I really have a son!” Conrad burst out, his voice trembling with disbelief and wild excitement.

Maybe it was Conrad’s shout that finally pushed Carlos over the edge. Carlos’s heart was thundering, blood rushing to his head.

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Chapter 316

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Then, with a sickening splatter, he coughed up a mouthful of bright red blood and crashed down on the stage like a felled

tree.

Murray’s face darkened. He barked, “Doctor!”

In the middle of all the chaos, nobody noticed Celia. Her face was as pale as a ghost, and she slipped up next to the fake Lillian. Without anyone catching on, she pressed the sharp, detached metal tip of a pen into his palm.

The fake Lillian raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flickering in his eyes.

Celia murmured, her voice barely more than a breath, “Kill him.

Her voice shook, barely audible.

But it was lost in the chaos all around.

The fake Lillian flashed a wicked grin, shot Celia a flirtatious wink, and with a flick of his slender fingers, the sharp pen tip vanished from sight.

Even with bullets in both shoulders, for people like them, who were trained for years, it didn’t slow them down one bit.

Celia was so nervous her heart ached with anxiety.

Only now did she realize why Conrad had let her get close so fast after they met. If she’d known he was the infamous Spade A from back then, she wouldn’t be so vulnerable now.

As long as Conrad died, she just had to hang in there.

Once he was gone, all the secrets would die with him. No one would ever know the truth.

As Celia plotted, she let herself “collapse” against the soldier guarding the fake Lillian, feigning weakness.

The soldier instinctively reached out to steady her, exactly the distraction the fake Lillian needed. Like a bolt unleashed, with a sharp snap, his cuffs fell away, and he was free in an instant.

With a strange, almost inhuman speed, the fake Lillian darted straight toward Conrad, who was still clutching the paternity test report. A deadly silver gleam flickered at his fingertips.

A grin spread across the fake Lillian’s face.

Conrad screamed, his eyes wide with terror. Without thinking, he threw the paternity test report up in front of him, trying to shield himself. He could see the danger closing in, the threat reflected in his eyes, getting closer with every heartbeat.

Click. In the nick of time, a gun was jammed hard against the back of the fake Lillian’s head.

“Surprise!” The voice was almost teasing, but it made everyone’s blood run cold.

The fake Lillian stopped dead in his tracks, his body still poised to kill. He stiffly turned his head and only met those eyes. icy and emotionless.

Conrad, having just stared death in the face, crumpled to the floor. His arms and legs turned to overcooked noodles, completely useless beneath him.

Down in the audience, everyone was frozen in shock.

Everyone had been convinced Conrad was done for, but now they just stood there, stunned, staring at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

Sunlight wrapped her in a soft glow. The loose strands of hair that Blackie hadn’t tied up fluttered gently around her cheeks

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Chapter 316

in the breeze. That teasing, almost–smile on her lips was enough to make anyone’s heart skip a beat.

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“Come on, sweetheart, let’s not get crazy,” the fake Lillian said, forcing a playful grin as he raised his hands, wincing from the gunshot wounds in his arms.

Stella’s voice was icy and commanding. “Give it here.”

The fake Lillian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘How the hell did she catch that, even with all that chaos going on? Is she some kind of freak?‘ the fake Lillian thought.

Murray actually swore.

He thought, ‘If something really went down on my watch, my colleagues would never let me live it down. I’d be the butt of jokes for the rest of my career.‘

“Mr. Trent,” Stella looked down at the crowd and called out.

Landen’s face lit up as if he’d just won the lottery. He shot his hand up high. “Dr. Miracle, I’m here!” He glanced smugly at the other old guys, his whole expression practically screaming, “Dr. Miracle picked me, not you!”

The other old men just stared, totally lost for words.

Stella gave a lazy nod. “Get up here. Don’t let Carlos kick the bucket.”

Landen chirped, “Sure thing!”

Everyone watched as Landen, with his big cloth bag slung over his shoulder, bounded onto the stage like a mischievous old monkey.

He whipped out a bunch of silver needles and started jabbing them into Carlos, who was still spitting up blood. As he worked, he called out confidently, “Twenty! Only twenty dollars per needle!”

Suddenly, Landen froze, his brows knitting together.

“Mr. Trent, what’s wrong?” the doctor asked, hurrying over.

Landen rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Twenty s way too cheap. Let’s make it two hundred!”

The other doctors were totally speechless.

Over here, the fake Lillian said, “Don’t you Clusians hate traitors the most? Why not let me handle him for you? Isn’t that what you want?” His voice dripping with temptation, as if he was daring them to open Pandora’s box.

“You really think killing him will fix everything?” Stella replied with a cold smile.

But her eyes stayed icy. There was no warmth in that smile at all

The fake Lillian arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Stella shot Conrad a cold, deadpan look. “Where I come from, we believe in life for a life. But Conrad’s life is cheap. How could that ever make up for it? Besides…

“Trading a scumbag’s life for a good person’s? That’s just nasty.” She paused, her eyes half–lidded and bored.

“So?” the fake Lillian replied, clearly intrigued.

“So, half an hour ago, all the public details about the CoreOne Poject got blasted all over foreign sites, anonymously,” Sebastian said, his voice cold enough to freeze the room.

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Everyone’s faces went blank in shock.

As Sebastian glanced down, a jolt of pain tore through the fake lian’s shoulder. The fake Lillian let out a howl, and the sharp pen tip he’d been hiding was ripped right out of his grip.

Conrad’s pupils shrank in shock. “Wait, what? What did you just say?”

Sebastian calmly raised his wrist and glanced at his watch. The cold, metallic face flashed with a merciless glint. “Five minutes ago, you got yourself added to Monterra and Estravia’s ill and capture lists. The second you step outside this place…”

Half his face was lost in shadow, but the words he left unsaid hit Conrad like a tidal wave of doom.

“The hunt has begun!” Sebastian added.

Conrad yelled, “You…”

Right now, he was basically a dead man walking.

Step outside, and Monterra’s hit squads would come for him. No matter the price, no matter what it takes, they’d hunt him down to the ends of the earth.

Estravia’s spies would be on his tail, too, chasing him without mercy.

From now on, his whole life would be nothing but terror and paranoia.

He’d be doomed to crawl through life like a rat in the gutter, a cockroach hiding in the shadows, or just another piece of trash rotting away in the dark.

For as long as he breathed.

Conrad glanced at Sebastian, then at Stella, his thoughts in chaos ‘So they had this all planned out from the start. The only reason they let me negotiate was to trick me into revealing who leaked the IP address.

Was this whole press conference just a setup for my funeral from the very beginning?”

Stella glanced at Celia, whose face had gone ghostly pale. “And by the way…You were Conrad’s most trusted aide, right? Well, your name is all over those files, too. Think those people won’t come looking for you next?”

The CoreOne Project was tailor–made for Clusia, but once it got blasted out into the open, the whole mess shifted. Suddenly, it wasn’t Clusia and Estravia at each other’s throats anymore, but Monterra and Estravia going head–to–head.

Clusia slipped into the role of the victim, kicked back, and watched the other two countries tear each other apart.

Fear rendered Celia speechless.

Her lips drained of color, leaving her face deathly pale. She shook all over, like a leaf about to be blown away by a cold autumn wind.

The fake Lillian burst out laughing, “Man, you guys are savage!”

With both Monterra and Estravia’s organizations gunning for them, they’d be better off just burying themselves and getting it over with quickly.

Stella calmly cleared the chamber and handed the gun back to Murray.

Murray just stood there, not saying a word.

He gaped at Stella and Sebastian, his mind spinning. He thought Were these two plotting everything from the very start?

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Chapter 316

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‘From taking revenge on the Grays to bringing down Conrad and finally exposing Celia for leaking the IP address, they had guided every step, unraveling the truth from five years ago.

They made sure every single person involved became a public enemy and hated like rats in the street, with no hope of ever recovering their reputation.

“I didn’t mean it… I never wanted them to die!” Celia screamed, er legs giving out until she collapsed onto the hard ground. She sobbed as if her soul was being ripped apart, totally losing it in front of everyone.

Stella didn’t even blink. “You’re lying.”

She shot Celia down, her voice cold as ice, not giving her a shred of sympathy.

“You just know what was coming. You were looking forward to it Stella said, her eyes cold and mocking as she stared down at Celia. “Because you were jealous. Jealous of your own sister.”

Celia’s head buzzed, and her mind shattered into pieces.

All that malice she’d kept buried deep inside, layer by layer, was being stripped away, laid bare for everyone to see.

Celia thought, ‘Why? We both met Eric at the same time, so why did he choose her?

Why did my sister get to live abroad so easily, while I asked Sebastian for some perks at school and in life, and he shut me down without a second thought?

‘Why am I the one who has to end up like this?‘

“Stella!” Celia screamed, her voice shaking with humiliation and age, her lips quivering with fury.

But Stella simply raised her hand and gave Celia a calm, dismissive wave. “Isn’t being with Conrad exactly what you wanted?” she said, her voice indifferent, almost careless. “I’ll make it happen for you.”

Stella was a vision, so stunning it was almost unreal.

Next to her, Celia, lying on the ground, looked like nothing but a worthless heap, a total wreck.

As soon as she finished speaking, Sebastian glanced over. John, his face as cold as stone, strode onto the stage holding two things that looked just like pet collars.

Without a word, he snapped them onto Conrad and Celia, not caring if they wanted it or not.

“W–What is this?” Conrad stammered, his voice trembling. He looked like a stray dog, terrified and completely lost.

Celia was even more panicked, frantically clawing at the collar around her neck.

“This is the latest GPS tracker from Lab 709, with a special chip inside,” Cassie said, her smile bright and confident. She tapped her manicured finger against their necks.

Conrad and Celia both felt a sharp sting as the needle drove beneath their skin.

Cassie added, “It’s embedded right under your skin, permanently. There’s no way to take it out.

“No matter where you hide, we’ll always know exactly where you are.” She stood there in her black high heels, her posture elegant and poised.

Conrad and Celia were too frightened to speak.

Both of them felt a chill run down their spines as the true meaning behind Cassie’s words sank in.

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Chapter 316

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