Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 385

Chapter 385

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On the plane, Lucas was sound asleep, wearing a little shark-shaped travel pillow.

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Next to him, the three elders and Landen were all sipping coffee in perfect sync, looking completely satisfied.

Across from them, Stella lounged back in her seat, chin tipped up, her slim laptop turned toward Callum and Emily. She said, “These are the members of the Herbal Medicine Guild. Make sure you remember their faces.”

Emily scrolled through the list, falling silent.

After a while, she reached out, mustering up some courage, and pointed at Sebastian, lowering her voice. She asked, “Why doesn’t he need to memorize these?”

Being called out, Sebastian lazily lifted his eyes and gave Emily a flat, unreadable glance. Emily’s brief burst of courage fizzled out instantly.

Stella said, “He’s got me.”

Emily and Callum were left speechless.

They thought, ‘Not this PDA again.’

An hour later, the plane landed in Tongalia.

Lucas, still groggy, was straddling his suitcase while Sebastian casually pushed him along with one hand. The little guy propped his cheeks up with both hands, yawning wide.

Behind them, the Clusia crew for the International Herbal Medicine Conference was clearly frustrated. They were told someone would pick them up right after landing, but after calling over and over, all they ever got was the same reply: “We’re on our way.”

It was like talking to a broken record.

Meanwhile, everyone from the other countries had already been whisked away.

Emily glanced at her watch again, frowning. She said, “Stella, they’re definitely doing this on purpose!”

This was the Herbal Medicine Guild totally trying to put them in their place.

Quincy walked over, looking pretty grim as he asked, “Ms. Carter, standing around like this isn’t a good look. Should we just grab a ride to the hotel ourselves?” He honestly never thought the Tongalians would be this childish, resorting to such cheap tricks.

“No need,” Sebastian said, hanging up his phone. He added, “They’ll be here right away.”

Right as he said that, the Tongalian shuttle actually pulled up.

A rundown minibus stopped at the entrance, looking like it might fall apart if someone sneezed near it. It was a far cry from the luxury vans the other delegations got.

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Chapter 385

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The organizer clambered out of the beat-up van, a fake smile plastered on his face. He said, “Sorry, we’re short on vehicles. You Clusians are famous for your manners, so I’m sure you won’t mind, right?”

He bowed with that phony grin still stuck on his face.

Quincy was so blindsided by the bow, he choked back the curse he was about to spit.

His face darkened. “I’m not in charge anymore.”

The organizer froze for a second.

He ventured carefully, “So, who’s the director now?”

Landen cleared his throat loudly, chin held high.

The leader just stood there, stunned.

He thought, ‘Wait, Landen? For real?’

The organizer’s face froze, cold sweat starting to bead.

Unlike Quincy, Landen didn’t give a damn about saving face. He was famous for never holding back.

A few years ago, he took on the whole Herbal Medicine Guild HQ by himself and left those old herbalists so mad, they didn’t dare show up for half a month.

Landen shot him a sideways look and sneered, “Back in Clusia, we scrapped cars like this thirty years ago. Not even the junkyard would take it, and you’re still driving it around?

“Last time I was at a conference in Monterra, people were all saying you Tongalians—”

The organizer’s eyes went wide. Tongalians were obsessed with saving face, and hearing that, he instantly panicked. He asked, “Wait, what did they say about us?”

Landen lifted his chin and said, “Cheap! Stingy! Petty!”

The organizer just stood there, stunned.

He almost ground his teeth to dust out of frustration.

He hurried to plaster on a fake smile and said, “This was just an accident, I’ll—”

Before he could finish, a gentle laugh interrupted him. Annoyed, the organizer turned to see who dared to cut

him off.

As a laid-back-looking girl came into view, the organizer was momentarily stunned.

He thought, ‘Man, she’s really pretty.

“Any idea who he is?” Stella said with a faint smile, pointing at Callum, who was decked out in a black bucket hat, shades, and a mask; his whole face totally covered.

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Chapter 385

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The organizer looked blank for a second. He asked, “Who?”

Stella arched an eyebrow at Callum.

Everyone watched as Callum let out a sigh and started taking off his ‘full battle gear’ one item at a time.

He revealed the face that sent his fans into a frenzy: so outrageously good-looking it was basically illegal.

Instantly, the whole place exploded with screams, echoing through the air.

One shouted, “Callum! It’s Callum!”

Another called out, “Oh my god! It’s really him! He’s in Tongalia!”

The organizer thought, ‘How could I forget that Callum is a top-tier movie star? Like, THE superstar! What was I even thinking?”

Stella said, “Callum, if I’m not mistaken, you’ve got, what, a million followers on IG and Twitter?”

“Actually, it’s ten million,” Callum corrected, trying to sound modest.

Stella put on a look of mock surprise. She said, “Oh, really? Guess I forgot your fans already know you’re here, repping Clusia at the conference. How about we snap a selfie and post it for them?”

The organizer froze, eyes bulging.

He thought, ‘No! They can’t

post that!

‘If that photo goes public, everyone would know we have been giving the Clusia team a hard time behind the

scenes.

His expression twisted. Just as he was about to rush over, he realized Dashiell had somehow appeared right next to him, all smiles, and just threw an arm around his shoulder.

The organizer was suddenly rooted to the spot, unable to move a muscle.

Callum got the hint right away and grinned. He said, “On it, Ms. Carter!”

Without missing a beat, he snapped a pic of that busted Tongalian minibus and blasted it out to all his socials,

His comment section was instantly overrun.

One commented: [What is this mess?!]

Another commented: [This busted van? Tongalia really sent this to pick people up?]

One commented: [This is just embarrassingly stingy!]

Someone commented: [We wouldn’t even use this junk to haul pigs at my place! And no, I’m not calling Callum a pig, okay?]

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