Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Chapter 78

The next second, the tightly shut study door was pushed open again from the outside.

“You… you… you guys…” Allan stammered, his voice trembling with shock.

He stormed over and covered Lucas’s eyes with one hand.

Lucas was confused.

“Do you even know what these are?” Allan asked, then waved his index and middle fingers in front of his own

eyes.

Sebastian was speechless.

Stella asked, “Eyes?”

Allan said, “Wrong. These are the moral yardsticks!” He looked at Sebastian, heartbroken and shaking his head. He demanded, “How could you do something so inappropriate in front of Lucas? He’s only five.”

Both Sebastian and Stella were speechless.

“You animal!” Allan huffed, his face full of righteous accusation.

Sebastian’s face was cold and unreadable, his gaze as sharp as a blade as he reached out toward Allan.

Allan instantly shrank his neck, moving with the ease of someone who’d done this a hundred times before.

The next moment, the whiteboard with the message [Uncle Sebastian, I want to go to school] was suddenly thrust right in front of Allan’s face.

Allan shouted with excitement, more hyped than anyone, and scooped Lucas up into his arms. He exclaimed, “Lucas actually asked to go to school on his own. My precious baby! I’m going to buy you a castle as your back-to-school gift.”

Wearing the same frosty expression as Sebastian, Lucas dodged Allan’s dramatic, tearful kisses like a pro, totally unfazed, while sending Stella a silent SOS for help.

“So, what are you even doing here?” Stella asked offhandedly as she pulled Lucas out of Allan’s dramatic embrace.

Allan’s brain short-circuited for a couple of seconds.

Luckily, he recovered pretty fast.

“The stuff from Nova Mall just got delivered, but there’s no way it’ll all fit in Stella’s closet. John wants to know how you want to handle it,” Allan said.

Stella thought, ‘Can’t fit in? My closet’s huge. I didn’t pick out that much, did I?’

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Chapter 78

“Don’t believe me? See for yourself!” Allan said, pointing toward the window.

Thinking he was just being dramatic, Stella wandered over to the big glass window and casually peeked outside.

After a beat, she turned to Sebastian, speechless.

Sebastian stayed stone-faced and looked away.

Stella raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s with those three containers out there?”

Sebastian thought, ‘Well, I just figured the clothes you picked are enough. So I ordered even more. But it looks like I kinda went overboard by accident.’

But he didn’t dare say that out; he just let out a dry chuckle.

Lucas was totally hyped. He grabbed Stella’s leg, looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.

He was clearly dying to know what was going on.

Sebastian suddenly thought of something and wheeled himself over to the desk. His private phone was on silent, but it was getting spammed with calls. Not even bothering to look, he just reached into the drawer.

He pulled out a brand-new, limited-edition phone.

He handed it to Stella and said, “Here.”

Stella said, “My phone still works. It just looks kind of beat up now that I took off the rhinestones.”

Sebastian didn’t say a word, but he kept holding the phone out, refusing to let

“Stella, just take it, no arguments!” Allan said.

He stuffed the phone into Stella’s hand without hesitation.

The phone wasn’t something one could buy off the shelf. It was a custom-made, ultra-exclusive model. Only their inner circle had these, with top-tier security.

It was ridiculously pricey, but only those in the know would ever recognize it.

That logo on the back? Anyone who knew their stuff would instantly get their worth.

“Stella isn’t someone any random nobody can just mock,” Allan said, smirking.

He sneered inwardly, ‘Seriously, what’s so impressive about flexing that crappy smartphone in front of Stella?

‘Our kid on the island gets only the best: food, clothes, everything!”

And that was exactly what Sebastian wanted, too.

“I’ll have John open up both sides of your room and put your seasonal clothes in there first,” Sebastian said in

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Chapter 78

his usual calm tone, already having everything sorted out.

“You…” Stella hesitated, wanting to say something.

But before she could, Lucas was already tugging at her sleeve, eager to check out her new clothes.

“Thanks,” Stella drawled, taking Lucas by the hand as they left the study.

Once Stella was gone, Allan’s expression instantly turned serious again.

He said, “Sebastian, Gray Group’s stock price has already hit the daily limit down right at the opening bell.”

Sebastian didn’t say a word. He picked up his private phone, which had been lighting up nonstop. Carlos had already called him twenty times.

He looked seriously anxious.

Sebastian’s eyes grew cold and distant. Ever since Stella and Lucas left, the air around him turned icy and forbidding, a chilling aura that warned everyone to stay away.

The black prayer beads, etched with scripture, dangled loosely from his wrist. So flawless it looked sculpted by an artist.

Sebastian gave off a cold, dangerous vibe.

Downstairs, Stella was messing with her new phone, looking absent-minded, clearly lost in her own world.

Lucas was running wild through the pile of new clothes.

“Lucas,” Stella called out, her voice lazy and casual.

She waved him over, and Lucas giggled as he dashed back to her. He threw his arms around her leg, his puppy eyes all bright and watery.

He tilted his head to the side, gazing up at her.

“Does Sebastian like anything in particular?” Stella asked.

Lucas kept tilting his head, trying super hard to remember.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

He started miming something with his hands.

Stella raised an eyebrow and asked, “You mean cars?”

Lucas nodded eagerly.

“Are you sure?” Stella asked, raising an eyebrow. She thought, ‘With Sebastian’s legs, can he even get behind

the wheel?’

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Chapter 78

:.

Seeing Stella doubt him, Lucas started getting anxious and grabbed her hand, pulling her straight toward the elevator inside the villa.

The moment the elevator doors opened, the whole place lit up.

Luxury cars lined up in perfect order: each one a limited-edition sports car, quietly parked. Their sleek bodies caught the light, throwing off a cold, dark gleam.

Just like their owner: cool and distant.

And right up front, in the best spot, was the black Maybach Sebastian usually took.

Stella stood there with her hands in her pockets, her eyes lowered.

Allan’s voice suddenly came from behind her, asking, “Isn’t this sick?”

Stella looked up to see Allan strolling out of the shadows, back to his usual cocky self. He glanced at the cars, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

“Too bad you didn’t know Sebastian back in the day, Stella. He was way crazier behind the wheel than I ever was,” Allan said.

He pointed to the Lamborghini Veneno parked at the very end of the corridor and said, “Sebastian was the first of us to get into street racing. That car was his very first trophy.”

Stella followed his finger, her eyes narrowing with a laid-back, curious vibe.

She asked, “Is there a car Mr. Gray actually wants? Like, something he doesn’t already have?”

“Of course,” Allan said, grinning like he was half-joking.

He said, “Pagani Zonda. Only 140 in the whole world. See that empty spot over there? That’s where the Zonda’s supposed to go.”

Thinking of something, Allan’s eyes flashed cold for a moment, but it disappeared just as quickly.

Stella kept quiet, just staring at the empty parking spot.

Suddenly, Allan’s phone chimed with a message. He glanced at it, not really paying attention until he saw the group message and couldn’t help but yell, “Damn!”

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