Chapter 38

Stephanie had planned to direct Sebastian to the hotel, but he pinned her against his side. She couldn't tell Elliot where to drive. By the time Sebastian released her, they were pulling into Cloudridge Valley's parking garage.

Caught off guard, she asked, glancing at him, "You know I live here?" She'd used his card yesterday, revealing her location. She suspected he'd investigated her life over the past three years.

Elliot, still driving, explained, "It's easy for him to find anything. You've just kept it so well hidden. We never knew you'd moved to another country. You even found your real family... well, anyway, he's furious!"

The words "furious" sent a chill down her spine. She quickly glanced at Sebastian, already exiting the car, and followed suit.

The elevator ride was silent, heavy with tension. They went straight to her apartment. Opening her shoe cabinet to find slippers for Sebastian, she discovered a worn pair of men's slippers among her own. A shiver ran down her spine. She hurriedly offered him a new pair—pink slippers with rabbits.

"Why don't you wear these for now?" she offered.

Sebastian's eyes narrowed, his aura intensifying. "Already learned to serve others?" he teased, his voice dark.

Taken aback, bitterness welled up in her chest. She stood straighter, giving him a pained look. "You already know?"

Sebastian chuckled softly, slipping on the too-small slippers. He walked into the apartment, his gaze darkening with each passing second. Finally, he turned to her. "The Hart family is pretty well-known in Long Harbor. This is where they've placed you?"

The mention of the Hart family tensed her. She pouted, avoiding his gaze.

"This isn't from the Hart family," she muttered.

Sebastian froze, staring at her.

Stephanie shrugged, then confessed, "I bought it with your money."

His expression flickered. Things were worse than he'd anticipated. When she said "with your money," something in his demeanor softened slightly. He walked to the couch, tossed his coat over the back, removed his scarf, still scanning the room. Then he asked, "Why didn't you buy something bigger?"

"It's big enough; it's 1,500 square feet. Enough for me," she answered.

Sebastian looked around, unimpressed. To him, it was tiny. Even her smallest house in Fiorenza was over 5,000 square feet. Her former home with the Giovanni family was so vast she couldn't walk its entirety in an hour.

Sebastian paused, his eyes narrowing. "Come here."

His voice was sharp. Stephanie hesitated, stepping forward, stopping a meter away. But Sebastian reached out and pulled her into his embrace, as he had in the car.

"Sebastian!" she gasped, her voice shaky.

His voice, a low growl, descended from above. "You've got five minutes."

Stephanie's breath hitched, panic flaring in her eyes. Five minutes. She knew what that meant. Three years ago, she'd left the Giovanni family amidst chaos. Even though she'd left physically, a saying circulated in Fiorenza's high society: An adopted daughter is never truly of the soil. And that was Stephanie. Rumor had it that when everything fell apart for Mr. Giovanni, and Sebastian was at his lowest, she had abandoned the family.

Instead of answering, she countered, "The Casalini family, how are they doing?"

For three years, she'd closely monitored events in Fiorenza. The Casalini family had once held her fate in their hands. For the past year, however, there'd been no news. She'd tried to find information, but every lead was a dead end. Now, she asked Sebastian directly. The coldness in his eyes, his slightly tightening grip on her chin, answered her question. Their faces close, she felt his warm breath, yet with an undeniable edge of danger.

Stephanie swallowed hard. "Sebastian…"

He tilted his head. "Are you asking about the Casalini family, or about Richard Casalini?"

The mention of Richard sent a tremor through her. She mumbled, "I…"

Noticing her stiffness, Sebastian's gaze sharpened. Stephanie steadied her breath. "I don't care about him."

That seemed to satisfy him. "The Casalini family's been gone for a year. Is that answer good enough for you?"

Stephanie froze. Gone. Sebastian had dismantled the Casalini family. The weight on her chest lifted. She hesitated, then asked quietly, "What about the people from the Casalini family?"

"Do you really want to know?" Sebastian's voice was colder, more dangerous.

Stephanie shook her head. "No. As long as they can't threaten you anymore, that's all that matters."

With those words, the burden of the last three years finally lifted.