Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5 I Can Help Her

Without a word to Sebastian, Stella stepped out of the elevator first, her hands behind her back.

“M-Mr. Gray…” Jake said quietly.

The thought that Stella might have just flirted with him flashed through Jake’s mind.

Sebastian’s cold glance was enough to silence Jake and send a chill down his back.

*****

Outside the VIP suite, a doctor spoke to Carlos Gray, Sebastian’s grandfather, “I’m sorry. We tried everything, but Annette was brought to us too late and has suffered brain damage.

“The medical team agrees that if she doesn’t regain consciousness by tonight, we will have to announce brain death.”

The doctor was Emily Chase, a longtime family friend of the Grays and one of the country’s most accomplished young surgeons.

She removed her mask and let out a tired sigh.

Carlos’s cane clattered to the floor. He staggered back, the world swimming before his eyes.

The hall was loud with the cries of the Gray family relatives. Some of the grief looked real, some did not.

“Lucas is a Jinx,” Lauren Gray’s voice carried over the noise. “Every disaster in this house starts with him.”

She pressed a handkerchief that smelled of onion to her eyes, summoning a convincing veil of tears. Through them, she managed to catch her brother Richard Gray’s gaze where he stood near Carlos.

After the scandal years ago, their mother, Sophia, had brought them to claim their place as Carlos’s children. It was only his wife Annette’s fierce opposition that had kept them from being formally recognized all this time.

Now, they saw their chance.

“Dad,” Lauren said, her eyes glistening as she looked at Carlos. “You must remove Lucas from the family. Before he brings ruin to us all.”

“Is that so?” The quiet question dropped into the room like ice, stopping all sound.

Sebastian’s wheelchair rolled forward from the dim edge of the hall. Every face in the family went pale, and the air filled with the sound of stunned breath catching in throats.

“Sebastian,” Carlos began, rising quickly to his feet. But the words died in his throat as he met Sebastian’s cold stare.

The wheelchair stopped in front of Lauren.

“Look at me,” Sebastian said, his voice cold and dangerous. “And say that again.”

Lauren was so terrified that her knees buckled. She fell hard to the floor before him, her face damp with cold sweat.

“Who else would like to suggest removing Lucas from the family?” he asked the room.

Sebastian began to turn the black prayer beads around his wrist, his eyes moving slowly across the silent crowd. No one dared meet his gaze.

It was common knowledge that Sebastian only removed those beads when he intended to draw blood.

Just as Sebastian was about to remove his prayer beads, a moment that promised violence, Emily’s sharp scream came from Annette’s private ward. “What are you doing?”

He went still. Every head turned toward the room.

Its door was now open.

Emily called out clearly from inside, “Carlos, I saw her. She had a needle. She was going to put it in Annette’s head.”

Within, Stella stood with her wrist caught in Emily’s grasp, a silver needle still visible in her hand.

Lucas clung to Emily’s coat, his small face distressed.

Carlos’s anger found a new target. “Who are you?” he demanded. “What is this?”

John, pushing Sebastian’s wheelchair, saw Stella and frowned. He was certain she was causing trouble.

Stella’s gaze shifted to Sebastian. Her expression smoothed into perfect calm. “Mr. Gray,” she said, her voice so steady that it sounded almost detached.

Emily suddenly cried out in pain when Lucas bit her wrist. She let go of Stella immediately.

“You want her to wake up, don’t you?” Stella said, pausing briefly. “I can do it.”

Stella knew what Annette meant to Lucas and Sebastian. She wasn’t one to make promises lightly, but here, she had no proof to offer.

“That’s enough,” Emily cut in, her voice tight. “Just who do you think you are? A handful of needles? You might as well say you can wake her up right now.”

The audacity almost made Emily laugh. ‘Does she think she’s Shark?’ she thought bitterly.

Shark was a freelance surgeon, a medical genius with no ties to any hospital. She was the only doctor in the world with a certified perfect record, and stories claimed her silver needles could work miracles.

She was famously difficult and charged impossible prices, and no one even knew what she looked like. Yet the world’s most powerful people still begged for her help.

“You know the cost of failure,” Sebastian said, his eyes steady and cold, the air growing heavy as he spoke.

“Mr. Gray!” Emily stared at him in disbelief.

Even Carlos looked shocked.

In the corner, Richard and Lauren exchanged a look of quiet victory.

If Annette died by Stella’s hand, their mother’s position would be secured, and the family fortune would shift in their direction.

“Mr. Gray, please reconsider it,” John said, his voice urgent.

He couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Annette’s fate in the hands of someone so inexperienced.

Stella looked back at Sebastian, a faint, sure smile on her face. She pulled her hair up into a loose knot with a shark-topped hair tie, and then carefully sterilized the needle.

Her hands moved with a quiet competence that looked strange on someone so young.

John’s heart hammered in his chest. “Mr. Gray,” he said, his voice strained.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Stella carefully inserted a silver needle into Annette’s scalp.