Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

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Hazel gave Lila’s arm a little shake, putting on her best pleading face. “Lila…”

“Hazel, you’re just too nice. That’s why people keep taking advantage of you,” Lila said.

Vera, her mother, always talked about how Stella was a troublemaker, but little did Lila know, Camilla had spread all those lies just to ruin Stella’s reputation.

Hazel stayed quiet, tears brimming in her eyes. Seeing Hazel like that made Lila want to stand up for her even

more.

“But what if people found out?” Hazel said.

Before Hazel could finish, Lila let out a laugh.

“This boutique belongs to Wendy’s family. We had the staff set up the cameras way ahead of time. What could she possibly notice? Plus, the floor manager is Sara, Wendy’s aunt.

“If anything happens, we just erase the footage and play dumb. Who’s ever going to trace it back to us?” Lila said.

Lila exchanged a glance with Wendy, a sly and malicious grin curling on her pretty lips.

Lila thought, ‘Besides, getting caught up in secret filming is humiliating. No way would Stella dare go public about it.

‘Once we get the video of Stella changing, she’ll be totally at our mercy. Let’s see how cocky she can be after

that.’

Not far away, Stella casually held her phone in one hand. On the encrypted chat screen were some messages.

Geezer: [Still alive?]

Shark: [Yeah.]

Geezer: [I knew you were too tough to die.]

Shark: [But something came up.]

Geezer: [What kind of problem?]

Stella snapped a photo and sent it. There was no hiding anything from Geezer. He was one of the few people in the world who actually knew what Shark looked like.

Geezer had picked her up off the streets when she was an orphan with nowhere to go, and now she was the sole heir to his legacy on the island.

Geezer: [What?]

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Chapter 62

Shark: [Relax.]

Geezer: [This is absurd.]

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On a remote, mysterious island, Geezer roared, “Shark is in trouble.” His voice was booming, sending crows flying everywhere.

Three minutes later, five elders sat around a stone table, passing a phone from hand to hand.

“How do you know it’s really her?” Razorstrike asked, deadpan.

Geezer huffed and glared. ‘I raised her. Of course I know, he thought.

Even so, he still shot off a message.

Geezer: [How do I know it’s really you?]

Stella burst out laughing as soon as she saw the message.

Shark: [Geezer, you stole Queen Francesca’s dentures six months ago.]

Geezer was speechless.

The other four elders shot him sideways glances. That whole Queen Francesca denture heist had blown up in the news six months back and even got voted the year’s most ridiculous story online.

Geezer grumbled, “Queen Francesca asked for it. She bragged that even the King of Thieves would have to leave his shorts behind if he tried messing with the royal family.”

The other four shot him the classic side-eye. “You’re crazy.”

Shark: [Serpentina, the one who gave your falcon a buzz cut wasn’t Razorstrike but ViperShade.]

Serpentina, in her blazing red dress and silver hair, shot ViperShade a sly look, while he kept glancing everywhere except at her.

Serpentina said, “ViperShade, is she telling the truth?”

Her peregrine falcon, perched on her shoulder, let out a rough squawk right on cue.

ViperShade was speechless.

The other four gave him a sideways glance. Serpentina’s peregrine falcon had its feathers completely shaved off right before mating season, and the poor thing got mocked by all the other falcons.

ViperShade retorted, “It stole and ate five of my century-old centipedes.”

The other four stared at him and said, “Freak.”

Shark: [The one who puked in Geezer’s vase after getting drunk and then acted like nothing happened was Professor Cipher.]

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Chapter 62

Geezer whipped his head around to glare at Professor Cipher.

That vase was stolen from a museum in Farronia.

It was a one-of-a-kind piece, and there wasn’t anything like it anywhere in the world.

Professor Cipher couldn’t argue back.

The other four shot him a sideways look, saying in unison, “Scum.”

Shark: [Serpentina loves digging holes in the garden to bury her gold.]

Serpentina was speechless.

The other four’s eyes sparkled, itching to raid her garden.

Serpentina said, “What are you up to?”

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She twisted a strand of her hair around her finger, and a subtle smile tugged at her lips, but the deadly look in her eyes was enough to silence every bug in the area.

The other four grinned and said, “We wouldn’t dare.”

Shark: [Razorstrike has a secret crush on…]

A giant hammer crashed down on the stone table. In the next instant, the “indestructible” table exploded into dust, scattering at their feet.

Everyone turned their heads toward Razorstrike and all gulped.

Razorstrike commented, “Yup, that’s her alright, a little monster.”

The other four just stared at him, deadpan.

‘Dude, why didn’t you step in sooner? Did you really have to let her air out all our dirty laundry?’ they all thought.

Geezer: [Cut us old folks some slack, will you?]

Inside Nova Mall, Stella couldn’t help but let a rare smile slip across her face.

Shark: [Send me some stuff.]

Her fingers flew across the screen, and in no time, she’d whipped up a list and tossed in her address.

“Your phone is ancient,” Lila scoffed.

She reached out to grab Stella’s phone, but before she could get near, Stella fixed her with an icy stare. The menace in her gaze was enough to make Lila freeze on the spot.

“Bet you’ve never even seen a phone this fancy. It’s the latest drop,” Lila bragged.

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She took out her purple smartphone with ITB of storage. She made a big show of unlocking it and swiping around in front of Stella, just to make sure she didn’t miss a thing.

Stella stared at her, thinking, “These people are seriously nuts.

“Bet you’ve never set foot in a place like this. This is Nova Mall, part of the Nova Group. Ever heard of it? They’re so loaded that they could buy a whole country. Someone like you could only dream of stepping into it,” Lila said.

Lila curled her lip, making no effort to hide her contempt.

“I’m a proud VIP at Nova Mall,” Lila bragged.

She waved her yellow VIP card in Stella’s face, acting like she was showing off to some clueless country bumpkin.

“Are you always this talkative?” Stella raised an eyebrow, her patience clearly running thin. Her voice was flat and icy.

Lila was caught off guard. She never expected Stella, who used to keep quiet and let people walk all over her, would suddenly be a real handful.

If Lila wasn’t stalling for time so the staff could set up the cameras, she wouldn’t bother talking to Stella.

“None of these clothes are really your style. I’ll take you to my friend’s shop in a bit,” Lila said.

Right as she finished, Lila’s phone chimed with a message. She glanced at the screen, and her face brightened. “Let’s head over,” she said.

Outside DenimKraft, Stella gave the sign a weird look, especially that messy scribble of a logo.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never even heard of DenimKraft,” Wendy said. She stood at the entrance, arms crossed, giving Stella a disdainful look.

Denim Kraft was the hottest women’s brand on the planet. Its designs were one-of-a-kind, and the owner was famous for being both a total weirdo and super mysterious. Overseas, it was the brand royals and billionaires swear by.

Only God knew how much sweat Carrie, Wendy’s mother, poured in just to land the one-and-only DenimKraft dealership in Haliville.

“See that logo? Rumor has it that the owner dropped a ridiculous amount of cash just for that design…” Wendy

said.

‘Nope, that was just me doodling when I was three,’ Stella thought.

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