Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 421

Chapter 421

But all she could see in the one-way glass was her own panicked face.

“Who’s out there? Who’s outside?” Sophie called out, her voice shaking.

She felt like she was suffocating.

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Two seconds later, the door was pushed open from the outside. Dexter came in, supporting himself with a crutch. His eyes were full of doubt, shock, and confusion. He looked like he’d just lost his soul.

‘What the hell?’ Sophie thought, her heart pounding out of her chest. ‘This is the absolute lowest point of my life.’

Her hands clutched the cello so tightly her knuckles turned white, her lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes flickering with panic. “Dexter…”

Dexter didn’t say a word.

He instinctively looked over at Stella.

The moment Dexter saw Stella put on that nameplate, the symbol of her true identity, he was absolutely petrified, frozen in shock.

His mind went totally blank.

Blackie, who’d been coiled around Dexter’s neck like he was clocking in for work, slowly slithered off, hissing in disgust and shooting Dexter a look of pure disdain.

‘Moron! What a hopeless moron!’ Blackie grumbled to himself.

Then he slithered back to Stella’s wrist, curling up there as he belonged.

“So, this is what you wanted me to hear?” Dexter’s usually elegant face was a mess, shock, pain, and disbelief all mixed together. Inside, it felt like his whole world had just come crashing down.

Stella glanced at him, a faint smile playing on her lips. “I guess so.”

Dexter’s voice shot up in disbelief. “You guess so?”

Stella just smiled, resting her head on her hand in a way that was both casual and intimidating, her eyes cold and distant. “Honestly, I just wanted to see how you’d react.”

Her voice was utterly flat, not a hint of emotion.

Dexter was speechless.

“Dexter…” Tears streamed down Sophie’s face in an instant. She reached out hesitantly from behind, grabbing the sleeve of Dexter’s shirt, looking utterly lost and desperate.

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Chapter 421

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The moment she touched him, Dexter instinctively tried to pull away, but the second he met Sophie’s eyes, he froze.

Stella took in the whole scene, her eyes darkening with unreadable emotion.

“Are you my sister?” Dexter finally managed to choke out, his voice rough and strained.

He stared at Stella, and Jack’s words suddenly popped into his head: “Dexter, don’t you think you two look kind of alike? Maybe she’s the sister your family’s been searching for?”

Stella’s lashes drooped slightly as she replied, “I’m not.”

She truly wasn’t because the real Stella had disappeared from this world long ago.

Dexter and Sophie both breathed a sigh of relief at her answer.

Sophie had no idea why Stella would deny it, but that denial was clearly in her favor. “Dexter, can we go home

now?”

Dexter didn’t say a word.

He kept his eyes on Stella, and after that brief moment of relief, his heart was a mess, as if someone had knocked over a whole spice rack inside him; nothing felt right anymore.

“Why did you do this?” Dexter finally managed to ask, his voice barely above a whisper. He just couldn’t understand.

‘Why did she choose me to hear all this?’ Dexter thought, completely baffled.

Right then, it was like two little voices were fighting it out in Dexter’s head. One, the voice of reason, kept telling him he should spill everything to the rest of the family.

But the other, the voice of emotion, just kept replaying all the memories he had with Sophie, all the years they’d spent together, growing up side by side.

In Dexter’s heart, Sophie had always been his only sister.

“Just wanted to test you,” Stella answered without hesitation.

Dexter couldn’t believe it. “A test?” he echoed, his voice catching. “Test what?”

Stella stayed put, her lashes drooping for a second. But when she looked up at Dexter again, that edge and wildness in her eyes was impossible to miss.

She said, “I wanted to see what the Clinton family’s real attitude is toward the daughter they lost.”

Dexter was speechless.

Dexter looked totally exposed, embarrassed, and guilty, with nowhere to hide.

“What real attitude? What are you even talking about?” Dexter blurted out, trying to sound tough, but his

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Chapter 421

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voice was so weak it barely carried.

Stella gave a faint smile, still resting her head on her hand. “When you heard I wasn’t your sister, the first thing you did was breathe a sigh of relief, not ask where she is.”

Dexter’s eyes went wide with shock.

Stella drawled, sounding totally uninterested, “Every time someone shows up with a fake necklace, trying to pass themselves off as your long-lost sister, it always sends Sophie straight to the hospital.

“After it happened so many times, you all just stopped talking about the lost kid, acting like nothing ever happened.

“Don’t you ever secretly wish, ‘I hope that sister never comes back,’ or ‘I wish things could just stay like this forever’?”

Dexter jerked back a whole step, clutching his crutch like a lifeline.

He couldn’t bring himself to meet Stella’s eyes. They seemed to see right through him, exposing the darkest, most shameful thoughts he’d never dared to admit.

“Dexter, I’ve got a question for you too,” Stella said, her voice icy and in control.

Stella raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The door opened.

Someone came in and handed over a phone, the number already entered and ready to call.

Dexter and Sophie looked down, staring right back at them was Emerson’s number, bold and unmistakable.

Sophie held her breath, jerking her head up. “W-What do you mean?”

But Stella didn’t even look at Sophie. Her eyes were fixed on Dexter, “Call Emerson and tell him everything you just heard, word for word.”

“Dexter! Don’t do it!” Sophie’s tears burst out again as she clung to his arm, shaking it hard.

Dexter’s fingers shook.

Emerson was the only one in the family still truly searching for their missing sister. If he found out, it’d ruin everything for Sophie.

“Go ahead and call. I’ll make sure her spot at Rhaesia University stays safe,” Stella said, her tone cool and casual.

Stella said it so casually, a faint smile playing on her lips, but to Sophie, that phone with Emerson’s number already dialed up looked just like a Pandora’s box.

“No! I don’t want to go! Dexter, you’ve always been the one who cared about me the most! You’ll help me, won’t you?” Sophie was a total mess, clinging to Dexter so tightly she didn’t even notice his crutch slipping to

the floor.

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Chapter 421

Dexter was speechless.

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Stella calmly coiled Blackie around her wrist, watching the brother and sister, like a little devil toying with human nature, a faint shadow of darkness swirling around her.

“So, have you made your choice?” Stella drawled, her voice lazy and unhurried.

For a split second, Dexter’s eyes flickered with hesitation and struggle. Then, all at once, they filled with resolve.

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