Elliot answered flatly, "Our boss isn't that petty."
'Not petty? Seriously?' Jackson mused.
The way Sebastian overreacted to a minor argument between Lilian and Stephanie, treating it like a federal crime—how is that not petty?
Once Jackson left, Elliot returned to Sebastian's side.
Sebastian asked, "He's gone?"
Elliot nodded. "Yes."
"What's your take on him?" Sebastian asked, his tone inscrutable.
Elliot considered. "Compared to the other options, he's not bad. Ruthless enough when it counts."
"Good. Let's go with him." Sebastian's voice was ice-cold.
Elliot silently agreed. Despite Jackson's easygoing demeanor, his survival of the Hodge family's internal struggles revealed a willingness to do whatever it took.
Sebastian checked the time. It was lunchtime, so he called Stephanie.
"Sebastian?" Her voice was bright.
"I'm picking you up for lunch."
The moment Sebastian faced Stephanie, his coldness vanished, replaced by warmth.
Stephanie paused. "Huh? I told you I'm eating with Ella."
"Cancel it." The word was soft, but firm.
Stephanie sighed dramatically. "Fine."
"I found a place with fun food."
'Fun food?' She was intrigued. 'What's that?'
"Okay, now I'm curious. Hurry up!" Her curiosity won. Food and fun? No way she could resist.
Sebastian chuckled and hung up.
Stephanie quickly called Ella. "Hey, change of plans. Sebastian's taking me somewhere with fun food, so you don't need to come over."
Ella was stunned. "Wow. So I got ditched for the brother again, huh?" "What kind of food is 'fun' anyway?" Ella suspected Sebastian was just manipulating Stephanie. Even a Long Harbor native like herself had no idea what "fun food" could be.
Stephanie shrugged, "No idea." But Sebastian's word was enough for her. They chatted briefly before Stephanie hung up.
About half an hour later, Sebastian's car arrived. Stephanie Giovanni went downstairs. As she walked out of the building and spotted the sleek black car, someone grabbed her wrist. It was Chris.
Her expression darkened. "What do you want?"
Chris's face was thunderous. "What will it take? What exactly do you want to bring Marco and Allison back?"
Stephanie stared at him, incredulous.
His grip tightened. "Tell me! What's your price?" Chris had learned from Catlin that Stephanie tricked her into signing the disownment papers, then refused to bring Marco Vitale and Allison Pierce back, and he'd lost control.
Stephanie had no patience for this. She yanked her arm free. "Let go, psycho."
"Stephanie Giovanni!" Chris shouted.
"What is your deal? You wanna scream, go scream at your mom! Why yell at me?"
Chris clenched his jaw. "This woman!"
Stephanie crossed her arms. "Let me guess. Catlin didn't explain the whole thing, did she? And you still had the nerve to show up and harass me?"
"That's your mother!" Chris growled.
"Cool. And I'm your grandma. Want me to knit you a sweater?" She rolled her eyes.
Chris's expression darkened.
Stephanie shot him a cold look. "The disownment papers are signed. Do you even know what that means?"
"She's still your mom! What kind of attitude—"
"Shut up. If you can't figure it out, maybe get your head checked. Want me to knock some sense into you?" Without waiting, Stephanie slapped him on the forehead. The slap was forceful. Chris's head buzzed, and his temper flared again.