Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Sebastian was unrivaled in Haliville for his looks. His beauty was almost otherworldly, dangerously captivating.

Ever since the incident with the Gray family, rumors had been spreading that painted him as a monster. The Gray family never bothered to set the record straight, letting every wild story run unchecked through the streets. He really was intimidating in person.

Stella just stayed silent, her expression calm as she thought about the black prayer beads Sebastian always kept with him.

She couldn’t be bothered to explain her relationship with Sebastian to Emily. Stella was petty, vengeful, and fiercely protective of those she cared about, but she always kept her word

Since Sebastian had signed a contract with her for 30 million dollars, she was determined to protect him and his nephew until the contract ended.

“Let’s go in,” Stella said lazily.

Outside the operating room, it was already late at night. Landen finally had a moment to deal with the matter of the swapped pills, but as he was about to call home, a blood-curdling scream from the hospital corridor made him jump.

The air was thick with the stench of blood. Henry instantly went on high alert, shielding Victor as he scanned the area warily. The mechanical hum of an electric wheelchair echoed through the hallway, sending a chill down everyone’s spine.

Sebastian sat in the wheelchair, dressed head-to-toe in black, a thin black blanket draped over his legs. His eyes were as deep and cold as the night, showing no trace of human emotion.

His face was so strikingly handsome that it was almost unreal, but completely expressionless. The icy aura he gave off was so overwhelming that it turned the hallway into a scene straight out of hell.

Behind him, John dragged a man covered in blood, his face grim. The floor was smeared with blood. With a heavy thud, the blood-soaked man was tossed right in front of Landen. Landen nearly jumped out of his skin.

Landen squinted, barely recognizing the man as his own butler. “Sebastian, you’ll pay for this,” the butler snapped.

The blood-soaked man lifted his head and let out a bone-chilling scream. His legs, their tendons slashed, had been dragged so long that they were reduced to a mangled, bloody mess. The sight was too gruesome to behold.

Even Richard, Ryan, and Sophia, forgotten in the lounge, were startled by the chaos. Sebastian absentmindedly played with his prayer beads, his gaze cold and indifferent, as if the bloody man was nothing more than a corpse.

Sebastian looked up, locking eyes with Landen. In that instant, his stare was so icy and twisted that it could make anyone’s blood run cold.

“Sebastian, you…” Landen stammered. Even at his age, Landen was still overwhelmed by the horror of the scene. The blood on the floor was pooling into a winding stream, and the smell was so overpowering that it nearly knocked him out.

The lounge door creaked open just a crack. Nathan’s expression was heavy as he carefully brought out a half-burned, yellowed ancient book.

If it hadn’t been for Sebastian, Nathan wouldn’t have managed to save this much. The moment Landen laid eyes on the scorched book, his face went pale.

It was the Compendium of Medicinal Plants, an ancient manual of herbal formulas, older than the Standard Guide to Healing Plants. For over a century, it had been the Trent family’s most treasured heirloom.

The Compendium of Medicinal Plants was one of a kind. Its contents were encrypted in a secret code by the author, divided 1/3

Chapter 56

into two volumes, and contained nearly a hundred formulas, each a potential lifesaver.

The Trent family owned only the second volume, and after a century of research, they had managed to decipher seven recipes. Yet even those seven had been enough to keep the family prosperous for generations.

This book had always been locked away in the safe along with the pills, and now it appeared to be ruined. Landen’s hand shook as he reached for it, and in that instant, he looked ten years older.

Sebastian’s voice was icy as blood pooled at his feet. At his command, John seized the butler by the collar and forced him to face the room. The butler’s screams were guttural and tortured.

“They only gave me money and said the book was worthless. They claimed nobody could understand it and that they’d rather see it burned than left in Clusia. I must have been out of my mind,” the butler stammered.

Landen clenched his jaw so hard that it felt as if his teeth might rack. He shook with rage, struggling to breathe, his eyes blazing with hatred for the butler.

“Burn it rather than let it remain in Clusia? Those Tongalian bastards! This is a national treasure. If that isn’t shameless, then nothing is, Landen cursed inwardly.

Landen held the half-burned ancient book, the words so scorched that they were nearly illegible. He felt as if he had let down generations of his family, his lips trembling so violently that he could not speak. The others watched, their faces heavy with anger.

Landen thought, Those Tongalian had already worked their way into the top families and were causing trouble at every turn. Who knows what else they did right under our noses?’

“Since you betrayed your country, you can forget about keeping your legs. And since you love stealing, you can say goodbye to your hands,” Sebastian sneered coldly.

Without a moment’s hesitation, John swung the knife down, slicing off the butler’s hand right in front of everyone.

Peeking through the crack in the door, Sophia let out a blood-curdling scream. Her eyes rolled back in terror, and she passed out cold, collapsing backward.

As pale as a ghost, Ryan slammed the door shut with a bang. ‘Sebastian is a total psycho, a bloodthirsty maniac!’ he thought.

“Mr. Quinn,” Henry started, wanting to step in, but Landen raised a hand to stop him. Suddenly, the operating room door swung open from the inside. The surgery was already over.

Everyone was still in a daze from the carnage, staring blankly at the door. Then, like he’d gotten some secret signal, John coolly slipped the bloody knife into Nathan’s hand, kept his poker face, and went right back to Sebastian’s side.

Just like that, all the bloodthirsty madness around Sebastian faded away. Nathan was left speechless, totally lost.

Nathan stared at the bloody knife in his hand, then at Stella as she stepped out of the operating room, her expression unreadable. Confusion twisted in his chest. When she caught sight of the mess outside, she paused, her eyes widening for

moment.

a

“The surgery was a success,” she said, breaking the silence. She turned to Callum, who was still reeling from the bloodbath, one hand clamped over his mouth as if he was about to puke.

“Stella,” Nathan started, about to warn her about the mess on the floor, but before he could finish, Stella stepped over the bloody, mangled mess without blinking, heading straight for Sebastian.

Everyone watched in stunned silence, unable to believe how unfazed she appeared. Stella reached out and adjusted the thin blanket over Sebastian’s legs. Her eyes paused on the prayer beads at his wrist before moving away.

“Why are you here?” she asked, her tone flat and unreadable. Even after finishing an intense, high-precision surgery, Stella

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