Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Your Grandson Is Dying

After dealing with the mess, John noticed Stella had stopped by the door. He followed her gaze and felt a jolt of shock.

The old man she was staring at was Victor Quinn, a man no one crossed lightly.

“Your grandson is dying,” Stella said flatly.

The words came out before John could even form his warning. They hit him like a physical blow, leaving him utterly speechless.

He was sure Stella had no idea who she was offending.

“What did you just say?” Victor asked, his voice low and dangerous. He stood with rigid authority, his eyes sharp.

“Your granddaughter will recover. It’s your grandson who’s in real trouble…” Stella’s voice was low.

“Ms. Carter!” John cut in sharply, raising his voice. Seeing her reckless insistence on continuing, he quickly took her arm and ushered her out the door.

Victor frowned, watching intently through the window as Stella walked away.

“Mr. Quinn,” his bodyguard, Henry Carroll, stepped out of the shadows, his steady gaze fixed on Stella outside the shop.

Victor had come to the hospital for his granddaughter’s checkup. He never imagined he would walk straight into the middle of the Gray family’s business.

“Do you want me to bring her back?” Henry asked quietly, awaiting Victor’s command.

Victor’s eyes fell on his grandson, a healthy boy whose plump cheeks were flushed with life. Stella’s words were reckless and infuriating. And yet, they left him with a nagging unease.

“Is that John?” Victor asked suddenly, shifting the topic without warning.

“Yes,” Henry answered immediately. He and the Yates brothers had trained together. But they had gone to work for the Gray family while he was assigned to Victor.

“Forget it,” Victor said with a wave of his hand, as if dismissing a thought.

“Just find out about that girl,” he added instead.

“Right away,” Henry replied.

On the other side of the building, John’s usual stone-faced composure faltered. Just before the elevator doors closed, he turned to Stella, his voice tight. “Do you even know who that man was?”

“No,” she said, her tone detached and uninterested.

“And yet you told him his grandson is dying?” John shot back.

He had seen what Stella could do, but that didn’t mean he trusted her completely.

“His grandson is going to be in serious trouble. It could start as soon as tonight, or by tomorrow at the latest.” Stella spoke in a relaxed tone, her hand casually tucked in her pocket.

“You…” John started to say, but the elevator doors opened right then.

Without even a glance back, Stella walked out.

As soon as she and John entered the hallway, Lauren’s panicked scream echoed all around them. “Help! Please, someone help!”

A strong wind swept through the hospital corridor, pouring in from one of the large windows that had been flung open.

There, Jake had Lauren pinned against the window frame. Only moments earlier, she had been arrogantly calling Lucas a jinx. Now, her upper body hung dangerously over the edge, suspended in the open air.

Wind whipped her hair wildly, and her face was pale with terror as she screamed.

In sharp contrast, Sebastian sat silently in his wheelchair, his expression cold and menacing. His intense gaze and the dark circles under his eyes made him look utterly ruthless.

“Sebastian,” Carlos said, struggling to catch his breath. His hand trembled on his cane, and his son Richard stood close by, equally tense.

Sebastian’s face was cold and unreadable.

“Trying to ask for mercy?” Sebastian asked flatly. Yet, from across the room, Stella could feel his mood turn dark in an instant.

Finally, she reached her limit. She gave Sebastian’s arm a poke. “Get someone to pull her back.”

His expression turned stormy at her request.

He assumed she was feeling a pang of sympathy and was trying to intervene for them.

Jake stood frozen, eyes carefully averted, doing his best to look invisible to avoid any fallout.

“Jake,” Sebastian said, his voice dangerously cold, though his gaze remained fixed on Stella.

Jake yanked hard, dragging Lauren back into the hallway. But she kept screaming, too terrified to stop.

All eyes were on Stella as she closed the distance to Lauren.

Jake looked like he wanted to say something. But before he could, two distinct cracks echoed through the space, and the hallway went completely silent.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

“It was an accident,” Stella said flatly. “I didn’t mean to.”

She brushed her palms together lightly and then turned a cool, defiant smile toward Carlos. Her expression was a clear challenge.

“You’re unbelievable…” Richard glared, pointing an accusatory finger straight at Stella.

“But she’s fine, isn’t she?” Stella said, moving behind Sebastian as if his presence alone were a shield. With Lucas gone, she saw no reason to keep up appearances.

“It’s certainly more peaceful now, Mr. Gray,” Stella said in a low, lazy drawl. Her relaxed posture and infuriatingly casual tone were perfectly crafted to provoke.

The menacing glint in Sebastian’s eyes softened a touch. He took a sip of the coffee. It was cheap and poorly made, but somehow, it lifted his spirits for a moment.