Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Big Ben set off a burst of colorful confetti. Lucas reached out his tiny hand to Stella, looking adorable. His eyes sparkled, and his little face was full of eagerness for a high-five.

Sebastian’s gaze darkened. His phone rang incessantly, but he paid no attention. He watched as Stella bent down to give Lucas a high-five, her long, well-defined fingers twitching slightly.

Nathan felt the chill of Sebastian’s icy mood radiating from him Stella pulled down her black mask with a confident, badass swagger, utterly destroying his first impression of her as a fragile girl.

No one would expect a seemingly fragile girl to hack an international satellite in under three seconds, face off with Cosmos Syndicate, and climb to the very top of the hacker rankings all on her own.

Clearly, he’d been using the word “fragile” all wrong. Something seemed to click for Stella, and she glanced up at Charles, her eyes half-narrowed, clearly thinking something over.

Charles had been around for decades, but he’d never felt this kind of danger before.

Before Stella could say a word, he rushed to promise, “I swear I won’t breathe a word about what happened today.” Hearing his vow, Stella chilled out again, back to her usual easygoing self

“I beefed up your hospital’s security system,” Stella said.

While she was erasing the death command Lion had planted, Stella had also reinforced the firewalls for every hospital in Haliville to make sure nothing like today could ever happen again. Not that she felt like bragging about it.

Charles was about to press for more details when Stella’s phone rang. Without missing a beat, she snapped her ultra-thin laptop shut and slid it right back into Big Ben’s soft, squishy belly as if she’d done it a thousand times.

The others fell silent, stunned. Finally, they understood where the laptop had been stashed. The caller ID showed Aunt Vera. Stella chuckled, effortlessly composed, and answered the call.

“Tomorrow at three, go to Nova Mall and let your cousin help you pick out some clothes. There’s a party on Saturday, and you’re coming with me,” Vera said, hanging up before Stella could even reply.

Stella toyed with her phone, a playful glint in her eyes. Vera had married into the Morris family, one of Haliville’s well- known wealthy families. Her cousin Lila was close to Hazel and had been giving Stella a hard time since they were kids.

Her family never missed a chance to get Hazel in with the rich and powerful. But now, Vera wanted to help her pick out clothes and even take her to a party.

‘People don’t do favors out of the blue. There must be a catch, Stella thought.

“Who was it?” Sebastian asked coolly.

“It was Aunt Vera. She said she’s taking me shopping for clothes tomorrow, and then to a party on Saturday,” Stella replied.

Stella gave a small, relaxed smile and casually shoved her phone back into her pocket. With all that edge gone, she looked almost like a regular student.

“The party on Saturday?” John repeated. He looked like he’d remembered something, his already stone-cold face turning icier. Sebastian shot him a frosty glare.

“Mr. Gray, it’s the Lane family’s party,” John said and glanced at Stella, hesitated.

Stella gave a cool nod, urging him to continue. Something about the situation felt off, and she couldn’t help but wonder what the Lane family’s deal was.

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John said, “The Lane family’s only son is bisexual, loves to party and fool around. He was diagnosed with HIV, and now they’re desperate to marry him off before the news spreads.”

As soon as he finished, the temperature in the room seemed to drop, and Sebastian looked ready to explode.

“The Lane family sent invites to every family in Haliville with a daughter they think is suitable,” John added.

The Lane family was casting a wide net, but the Carter family was both clueless and conniving. Lucas’s soft, chubby face scrunched up with anxiety as he gripped Stella’s sleeve tightly, refusing to let go.

Stella started to speak, but out of nowhere, a crushing wave of panic crashed over her, so intense that it felt like she was drowning. Her face went pale, and her brows drew tight in distress.

As her vision blurred and she slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing she saw was Sebastian reaching out his hand toward her.

Stella felt like she had been caught in a long, endless dream. In that dream, she came face-to-face with another version of herself, wearing the old, exaggerated punk makeup, tears silently streaming down her face.

When the other Stella noticed her looking, she reached out and pushed open a door between them. A soft, milky light enveloped them both.

A sudden, stabbing headache crashed over Stella, and her long-empty memories returned in a powerful wave, bringing back the experiences of both versions of herself at the same time.

Stella had endured abuse from the Carter family from a young age, Camilla being especially cruel. If Stella wasn’t yelled at, she was hit.

On one occasion, merely for touching Hazel’s piano, Camilla broke two of Stella’s fingers. Bruises covered almost her entire body, except for her face.

Day after day, Stella learned to stay under the radar. She piled on heavy makeup, skipped class whenever she could, and used her part-time earnings to pay for extra lessons, all in hopes of surviving until the college exams. Then a kidnapping shattered her world.

In her dream, Lucas was strangled to death in front of her that very day. Her hands, feet, and ribs were broken, and she endured unspeakable torture. Her family didn’t bother calling the police. It wasn’t until Sebastian’s people barged in that anyone took action.

By the time help arrived, the places where Stella’s hands and feet had been broken were so rotten that maggots were wriggling inside. Sebastian told Jake to get her to the hospital, and he made sure not a single word about what happened got

out.

Stella’s life was in shambles, but Hazel swaggered right up to her hospital bed, all smug and superior, bragging that someone had witnessed everything, but she’d made sure they didn’t call the police.

Hazel flat-out confessed she did it on purpose. Even in the dream, Stella could feel that tidal wave of hatred crashing through her.

As for the Gray family, Annette suffered a fatal heart attack the moment she heard Lucas was gone. On the day of her burial, at the Gray Family Cemetery, a raging fire broke out, and everyone lost their lives in the blaze.

Sebastian set the fire and died there as well. Stella only heard about it after she was discharged and returned to the Carter family, and the news was inescapable.

That same evening, Camilla and Vera forced her to go to the Lane family’s party, where they worked together to push her

onto David’s bed.

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The version of Stella with heavy punk makeup, tears streaming down her face. Then, she struck a match, and the world. around her instantly ignited.

Stella and her other self stood face-to-face, wild flames roaring all around them. The other Stella said, “I won’t accept this.”

The other Stella kept chanting the words over and over, her defiance like gasoline, fueling a fire so intense that it turned the sky crimson. Across from her, Stella, her head pounding, suddenly snapped her eyes open.

Icy, lethal energy surged from her as she regained all her memories. Everything she had believed about her second chance was wrong. She wasn’t Stella at all, but Shark.

The one and only freelance surgeon with a flawless, internationally certified record, ranked number one in the world. The mastermind behind Scorpio Syndicate. And that was only the beginning.

With a cold, undeniably badass tone, Stella said, “Want to take it back?” She didn’t care if it meant vanishing forever. She was letting the real Stella decide.

Because, in the end, this body belonged to the real Stella. The fire faded away around them. At some point, her tears had stopped, and her lips parted, as if she was about to speak.

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