Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 262

Chapter 262

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Paul’s expression was grave. “In just three months, I saw mountainsides once full of wild herbs dug out and left barren.

“Some trees were harvested down to the last fruit, and then even the trees themselves were chopped down- mountain after mountain, village after village.”

He looked like he was reliving those days, his face etched with grief.

Emily said, “Maybe this is just an isolated case.” But even she wasn’t convinced by her own words.

Stella spoke up, her tone icy. “I suppose the buying price has doubled this year.”

Paul sighed. “No, it’s tripled.”

Stella’s eyes were cold. “Everyone’s out here hustling for profit. If you can look at crazy money and not be moved, you’re a saint. If you want it but can hold yourself back, you’re smart.

“But if you want it and go after it, that’s just normal.”

Paul looked genuinely surprised that someone so young could say something like that.

He paused for a few seconds, and then said, “When I finished my research and got back to Jaffina, I found out Tongalia had publicly set up the Herbal Medicine Guild. And just then…

He took a deep breath. “Our neighbor announced they’d managed to grow ephedra for the first time. They figured out how to improve the seeds, so now they don’t need to import this herb from Clusia anymore.”

Nobody said a word.

At first, nobody cared if this was the beginning of a disaster. But when disaster crashed down like an avalanche, everyone found themselves trapped right in the middle of it.

Stella spoke up, her voice calm and distant. “So, your hand…”

Paul couldn’t hide his exhaustion. “All these years, the Tongalians have pulled every trick in the book to legitimize their so-called ‘herbal medicine’.

“Whether it’s snatching up trademarks or applying for cultural heritage status, I’ve done everything I could to block them. After so many rounds, they’ve come to see me as their biggest obstacle.”

He might be old, but fear was never in his vocabulary. Still, he never imagined they’d target his top disciple to

get to him.

“The root of all this trouble is the upcoming International Herbal Medicine Conference,” Paul said.

As he spoke, Paul fixed his gaze on Stella. She just kept her eyes lowered, face unreadable, like she was only half listening.

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Callum asked, “So, is there some kind of issue with the International Herbal Medicine Conference or what?”

Paul replied, “The conference is fine. The real issue is, there’s a VIP patient coming in from Monterra.”

Emily suddenly gasped, like she just put the pieces together. “Monterra? Wait, you mean that guy who’s been blowing up the news these past few days?”

Paul nodded. “That’s him.”

Callum looked completely confused. “Seriously, what are you guys even talking about?”

Sebastian, sitting in his wheelchair nearby, suddenly spoke up, his voice low and his eyes dark and unreadable. “A few months back, Alessio Lyons, the famous gymnast from Monterra, collapsed during training.

“He was revived, but ended up totally paralyzed, unable to care for himself.”

People started coming up with all sorts of wild conspiracy theories about it.

Callum blurted out, “Wait, Alessio Lyons?”

He could hardly believe his ears. Alessio was Monterra’s biggest sports star, basically the Michael Jordan of gymnastics. Callum quickly pulled out his phone, and sure enough, Alessio was blowing up the trending list.

Callum looked up, stunned. “Wait, he got hurt months ago and it’s only just hitting the news now?”

‘Man, they really know how to keep things under wraps,’ Callum thought.

Emily shoved her hands into her lab coat pockets and made a face. “You have any idea how much Alessio makes just from endorsements. We’re talking about hundreds of millions!

“His

agent thought it was nothing serious at first, but after burning through every high-tech treatment and seeing zero progress, they finally had to come clean to the investors and go public.”

Stella knocked on the cabinet beside her, raising an eyebrow lazily as she steered the conversation back. “So, Alessio’s out of options and now he’s turning to herbal medicine? There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

Emily and Callum both turned to look at her, wondering what she meant by that.

Paul was silent for a moment. “Alessio’s agent brought along a top-tier documentary crew. They’re filming the whole thing. And their team specifically requested that I be the one to treat him.”

Callum and Emily were speechless.

Stella leaned back against the wall, looking way too chill, and let out a soft laugh. “Classic businessman move.”

If Alessio’s agent really wanted to help him, he could’ve just hit up the Dorestan Medical Alliance. But no. He got to make it all about herbal medicine and bring in a whole documentary crew.

Honestly, it felt less like he was trying to save Alessio and more like he was milking the situation for one last big payday.

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Sebastian’s eyes were dark and cold, his tone flat. “Tongalia’s been dying to get their ‘herbal medicine’ recognized, and this documentary team is shooting? They couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”

Paul smiled, his long eyebrows making him look every bit the kindly old man. “So, since I’m the one they singled out, I’ve become the biggest thorn in their side.”

Sebastian glanced at Paul. “Your top disciple, CAllan Jarvis, switched his name to Carmelo Jarvis after landing in Tongalia. Now he’s the vice president of the Herbal Medicine Guild.”

This time, Paul fell silent for a long while.

Emily couldn’t hold back her fury. “That backstabbing bastard! Does he really think there’s no one else in Clusia who can do Penn’s Acupuncture?”

She thought, ‘He destroyed Paul’s hands, and now he’s using Paul’s signature technique to promote that so- called ‘herbal medicine’ under Tongalia’s name.

‘Someone that disloyal and shameless deserves to be thrown into the deepest pit of hell, never to be reborn! Humph!’

Callum fell silent.

He instinctively glanced at his grandpa.

Honestly, there really wasn’t anyone else.

But Callum didn’t dare say that out loud in front of his grandfather.

“Thank goodness you were around back then,” Emily said, feeling a rush of relief. Even though she’d wrestled with the decision, she was glad she’d ended up roping Stella in.

Before the words were even cold, Emily’s eyes lit up as she blurted out, “Hey, we can just get Stella to do it!”

Stella was speechless.

‘Do you really have to think of me for everything?’ Stella grumbled inwardly.

Emily was practically bouncing with excitement, her beautiful face lit up like she was on fire. “CAllan’s only so cocky because he thinks he’s the one and only master of Penn’s Acupuncture, right?

“If he was really that sure of himself, why would he have to pull these cheap tricks?”

Stella just smiled quietly, her lashes lowered.

Truth was, Emily was spot on with that.

If the Tongalians and Callen were really so confident, they wouldn’t have to keep playing dirty like this.

Emily gave a cocky tilt of her chin. “With people like that, you gotta hit back just as hard!”

Callum couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You think Penn’s Acupuncture is that easy? My grandpa had five

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disciples, and Callen was the only one who really got it down!”

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“No,” Paul finally spoke up after a long silence. Callum whipped his head around, stunned. He wondered, ‘Wait, what does he mean by that?’

Paul’s eyes narrowed. “CAllan never really got the whole thing.”

Callum fell silent.

He thought, ‘Hold up, he didn’t actually master it?

‘But…’

Paul said, “He could never grasp the final set.”

Emily looked a bit confused. “What’s the final set?”

Stella was fiddling with her phone, not even looking up as she replied in a flat tone, “The Synergy Needles.”

No one uttered a word.

After sending a message to Cassie, it finally hit Stella. She looked up and saw everyone in the room staring at her, their gazes kind of weird.

Stella was speechless.

Emily said, “Wait, what did you just say?”

Stella calmly put her phone away. “Must’ve been your imagination. I didn’t say a word.”

She didn’t even blink while lying.

Emily kept a straight face. “Nope, you definitely said ‘Synergy Needles.”

Stella shot back, “Then why are you asking?”

Emily didn’t know what to say.

That answer left Emily completely stumped.

Paul couldn’t hide his shock. Penn’s Acupuncture was his own unique technique, crafted from ancient texts and only ever taught to his own disciples. It had never been leaked to outsiders.

‘How could she possibly know about this?’ he thought, battled.

Paul stared at her. “You…”

Then, as if something just dawned on him, his expression grew even more conflicted. “Callum mentioned you used five silver needles at the same time on my head, didn’t you?”

The real secret of the Synergy Needles was hitting several points at once, making them work together

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perfectly. But to pull that off, the person who did it needed nerves of steel and total self-control.

That was the real reason why CAllan could never truly master it.

Stella just shrugged. “Maybe.”

She gave a half-hearted chuckle, clearly not caring to keep the conversation going.

Callum jumped in, “Yeah, five needles, and she used your own set, Grandpa.”

Stella was speechless.

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Paul looked thoughtful. “My needles are specially made. They’re thinner than a strand of hair. Most people couldn’t even use them, let alone hold them steady.”

Stella fiddled with the prayer beads on her wrist, acting like she hadn’t heard a thing. Her eyes wandered off like she didn’t care.

No matter how everyone reacted, she just kept playing dumb, not saying a word, not reacting, not admitting anything.

“Stella,” Sebastian finally spoke.

Finally, Stella just sighed.

She shot Paul a flat look, totally unfazed. “Your Penn’s Acupuncture is basically just a spin on the Flying Needle Treatise. Honestly, it’s pretty straightforward once you know how.”

The others were all stunned.

Sebastian’s face stayed cold and blank. John glanced at him, then quietly stepped forward and lowered his voice. “Ms. Carter, maybe try to be a bit more subtle.”

Stella was speechless.

Stella raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed, her voice barely bothering to sound polite. “Alright, sure. Guess it’s, uh, a little bit… subtly difficult.”

Anyone could tell just how half-hearted that sounded.

They didn’t know what to say.

“Stella, this is about our reputation! We can’t just let the Tongalians walk all over us!” Emily was gearing up to talk some sense into her, but Stella just stayed cool and casually fished something red out of her pocket.

Instantly, an exotic fragrance spread through the room.

Paul recognized them right away. “Vermilion Berries?”

His face went serious in an instant.

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John didn’t know what to say.

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‘There she goes again, pulling out those Vermilion Berries she always uses to feed her birds, John thought.

“Just crush them and slap them on your grandpa’s wound,” Stella said, pausing for a second before casually tossing them over to Callum.

She was so nonchalant about it that Paul nearly had a heart attack, terrified that one might drop.

Callum, totally clueless about how valuable they were, caught them in one hand.

Stella looked tired and just dropped herself onto the armchair, her skirt trailing to the floor.

She sat there like a total boss.

“Wait,” Sebastian suddenly spoke up.

Callum looked up just as he was about to crush the Vermilion Berries.

Sebastian said, “Someone’s here to see you.” The next second, there was a knock at the door.

Callum fell silent.