Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Stella stood at the Carters’ door, unable to remember the passcode. She simply rang the bell. The live-in maid answered, expecting Brantley, the master of the house.

“Ms. Carter?” the maid exclaimed after a stunned pause. She was so shocked by Stella’s gorgeous face. But before she could even react, Stella brushed past her with a cold look.

Why is it so noisy? Camilla, Stella’s foster mother, came out of the bedroom with a face mask on, and the first thing she saw was Stella’s back.

“Stella, you’ve got the nerve to come back?” Camilla’s sharp voice rang out.

Stella turned around slowly, giving Camilla a cold, hard stare.

From the moment Stella walked into the Carter residence, her chest tightened, and her breathing grew thin. Her body just reacted on its own, and random memories flickered through her mind.

The Carter family had treated Stella like their personal maid for free. Camilla either yelled at her or slapped her around whenever she liked it.

The reason Stella loved piling on heavy makeup was all thanks to the constant mind games and put-downs from Camilla and Hazel.

They’d been brainwashing her since she was a kid, telling her she was ugly, worthless, and that everything should go to Hazel, the little sister. Even the live-in maid had her own room, but Stella slept on the balcony.

“You…” Camilla was so stunned that her face mask nearly fell off. Is this little bitch seriously this pretty?’ she thought.

After years of seeing Stella in thick makeup. Camilla had almost forgotten her real face. But once the surprise faded, that instinctive, woman-to-woman jealousy kicked in.

“What’s with that look? You trying to rebel or something?” Camilla snapped, swinging her hand to slap Stella. But before she could touch Stella, Stella caught her wrist and twisted her hand back, landing the slap hard on her face.

Camilla stumbled and fell to the floor.

“Mom!” Hazel came out of the bedroom, fresh from the shower, and caught the whole scene. She stared at Stella in disbelief. “Wasn’t she taken to the police station? Hazel wondered.

“Stella, how could you hit Mom?” Anger made Hazel forget the fear Stella had inspired at the Greenleaf Club.

The next second, Stella’s cold hand was around Hazel’s throat, slamming her against the wall. Hazel’s eyes widened in shock.

“So what if I hit her?” Stella lowered her long lashes, hiding the bloodlust in her eyes. Her whole aura was bristling with

menace.

Hazel desperately clawed at Stella’s hand, mouth open as she struggled to breathe. Terror flooded her as her feet left the floor.

“You invited me to the Greenleaf Club today. Was it to get me wasted, or were you hoping they would strip me and snap some pics?” Stella sneered, her voice lazy but laced with pure menace. The timid, bullied girl was gone.

“Let go of Hazel!” Camilla, not caring about the sting on her face, lunged forward.

But Stella was quicker. She snatched a vase and smashed it on the floor. Shards flew everywhere.

Camilla’s legs went weak. ‘Has she lost it?’ she thought. ‘She used to bend over backwards just to get a little affection from me,

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never even daring to speak up. She even hand-washed all of my underwear and Hazel’s.

Hazel’s

‘s eyes rolled back, and she was on the verge of passing out just then, Stella let go.

Hazel collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. As soon as she caught her breath, she scrambled into Camilla’s arms and burst into tears. Hazel was terrified and thought she was going to die.

Stella dragged a chair over with a loud scrape and sat down right in front of Camilla and Hazel, stone-faced and creepy as hell. “Where’s my necklace?” she demanded.

In her memory pieces, she’d worn a necklace since she was little until Hazel snatched it away. Not long after that, the Carter family suddenly started rolling in cash.

Camilla’s eyes widened in panic. She was totally thrown off by Stella suddenly bringing up the necklace. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered, her gaze darting everywhere. She was obviously lying.

Stella let out a low laugh, bent down, and casually picked up a shard of the broken vase. Her eyes looked almost bloodshot, wild and dangerous, and the whole room felt colder just from her presence.

“Oh, really?” Stella said with a chilling calm, slipping behind Camilla and slowly pressing the sharp edge to her neck. “Do you seriously not know, or are you just playing dumb?”

Stella’s voice was soft, but the words exploded in Camilla’s ear. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat. ‘She’s so scary.’ Camilla thought.

“The necklace is gone. It’s not here. We lost it ages ago,” Camilla murmured, her voice shaking. But Stella saw right through her. Those shifting eyes couldn’t hide a thing.

Stella’s face went completely blank, and she pressed harder, the sharp edge digging into Camilla’s skin. A trickle of blood ran down her neck.

“Let go of Mom. The necklace was sold. Someone bought it,” Hazel wailed, tears streaming down her face. For once, she was actually telling the truth.

“Who bought it?” Stella asked.

“I don’t know. I swear, I really don’t know,” Hazel sobbed.

Stella’s icy stare landed on Hazel, and Hazel couldn’t stop trembling. In her eyes, Stella wasn’t just crazy. She was even more terrifying than a lunatic.

Stella dropped the shard to the floor with a sharp clink.

She stood up slowly, snatched a tissue off the table, and wiped her fingers, her face stone cold. Her eyes were dead calm, yet her aura made the other two’s skin crawl.

She walked toward the door, stepping on the broken vase. The maid shrank back in the corner, shaking with fear.

Without a flicker of emotion, Stella let the tissue she’d wiped her hands with drop to the floor. She didn’t look back as she strode for the door, but Hazel’s words kept ringing in her mind.

‘Hazel was telling the truth, but it wasn’t the whole story. Who bought that necklace, and what did they want it for?’ Stella wondered.

“The Carter family’s still rolling in money, and Hazel got into Edenbury Academy even though she didn’t qualify. Is the

with Carter family really not in touch with the buyer all this time? And what about the kidnapping?’ Stella’s mind spun questions.

The elevator doors slid shut, reflecting Stella’s calm face. A lazy, almost amused smile tugged at her lips. ‘Now this is getting

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interesting, she thought.

Stella had been lost in thought the whole ride back to Sandridge Island. As soon as she got out of the car, she scooped up Lucas and headed straight to her room.

“I feel Stella seems down.” Allan remarked, rubbing his chin. She hadn’t spoken the entire ride.

Sebastian just stared as she walked away, not saying a word.

Nathan walked over from a distance, nodding respectfully. “Mr. Gray.”

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