Chapter 28
For a moment. Stephanie wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right.
She noticed the subtle shift in Sebastian’s tone when he mentioned the name “Chris it went cold, like he was talking about something he didn’t want to touch.
She shrugged, trying to play it cool. “They’ve got nothing to do with me now.”
Even though the Hart family was her biological family, the truth was, she was only back because Valentina had put the pressure on her.
Getting engaged to Chris? That was her escape from Valentina’s control.
Once she had that ring on her finger, Valentina stopped bothering her completely.
Sebastian’s eyebrow arched. “They’ve got nothing to do with you?”
Stephanie let out a breath. “Valentina threatened me. I got engaged to Chris so she and Richard would back off.”
Sebastian’s icy stare never wavered. Stephanie knew it was time to tell him the truth.
Now that Valentina was behind bars, the pressure was off. The timing felt right.
Sure enough, Sebastian’s expression softened, just a little.
Across the city, things were far from calm.
At the hospital, Chris stood helplessly by Olivia’s bed, watching her twist in pain.
Just yesterday, she’d been fine enough to stop by his office. Now? She could barely move.
Catlin was practically beside herself, pacing the floor.
“Chris,” She said, “we need to move fast. her condition is critical. The liver and uterus are the big problems right now.”
Her liver needed surgery, and so did her heart.
They were hoping Allison could step in for the uterine cancer so Olivia wouldn’t have to endure another surgery.
Chris ran a hand through his hair, his exhaustion written all over his face.
It was three in the morning, and the hospital had quieted down.
Olivia was asleep now, but only after hours of grueling pain.
She suffered physically, while those who stayed by her side were tortured mentally.
Catlin’s heart ached, but Chris’s heart hurt even more.
Chris was tired of talking to Catlin. “Yeah, I know.”
Even without Catlin saying it, he knew: they needed Allison, and they needed her now.
Picking up a phone that wasn’t his, he dialed Stephanie’s number.
1/3
Mon, 3
Chapter 28
Back in Cloudridge Valley, Stephanie was still in the hot seat, under Sebastian’s relentless questioning.
Just as he was about to say something else, her phone buzzed.
She glanced at the unfamiliar number, then instinctively hit “end.”
The phone rang again, the same unknown number flashing on the screen.
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you answer?”
“It’s nothing,” she said, shrugging it off.
After everything with her divorce from Chris, she’d blocked calls from him and the whole Hart family.
Things had gotten out of hand, and when they weren’t happy, they’d just call her up.
So, she assumed this was one of them, either Catlin or Chris.
She didn’t want to pick up, not with Sebastian standing right there.
She hung up, but the phone rang again.
As she was about to hit “end” for the third time, Sebastian reached out and placed his hand in front of her.
Stephanie’s eyelid twitched. “What are you doing?”
Sebastian didn’t flinch. “Need me to get it for you? I assume you wouldn’t want that.”
Her mouth twitched in annoyance. “It’s no big deal.”
-He raised an eyebrow. “No big deal? Non–stop calling in the middle of the night?”
Stephanie faltered, momentarily caught off guard by his question. She couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough.
Under his unrelenting gaze, she finally answered the phone, letting out a small sigh.
The moment the call connected, Chris’s tired voice came through.
His voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. “Tell me what you want. I’ll give it to you.”
He sounded worn down, but there was also a note of surrender in his tone.
Stephanie didn’t put the phone on speaker, but the conversation was loud enough for Sebastian to hear.
He could tell it was either Chris or someone from the Hart family calling.
Stephanie glanced at Sebastian, and immediately, the coldness in his eyes hit her like ice.
Her hand, still clutching the phone, started to tremble. “No, I mean, you-”
Chris cut her off, his voice hoarse. “You want money, right? I’ve unlocked the card. Buy whatever you want, however much you want.”
-His only condition: Allison had to come back.
Before he could keep going, Sebastian snatched the phone out of her hand and hung up.
2/3
+13
Mon, 3 Mar
Chapter 28
Stephanie looked up at him, their gazes locking.
She quickly looked down, suddenly too uncomfortable to meet his eyes.
Sebastian’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “He seems like a great guy, huh?”
Stephanie managed a dry laugh. “Yeah, sure.”
Sebastian’s expression flickered, almost anused. “He’ll give you whatever you want
Stephanie went silent then. She couldn’t keep up the front anymore.
Obviously, Sebastian didn’t get a full picture of this whole thing.
“It’s all about his agenda, Stephanie admitted quietly. “He doesn’t care about me. Not really”
For some reason, admitting it in front of Sebastian made her feel like she was confessing something guilty,
Maybe because, back in school, he’d always said, ‘No dating while you’re in school–and she’d never quite let go of that.
