Shadows Between Us (Stella and Sebastian) novel Chapter 391

Chapter 391

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The next morning, at the hotel breakfast buffet, Lucas sat by the window, his little backpack slung across his chest, decorated with a string of chibi-style crocheted keychains: Snowball, Big Ben, Scrappy, and Simba, all handmade by Ivan.

Stella rested her chin on one hand, a cup of black coffee in front of her. She occasionally said something to Emily across from her, but most of the time, Stella seemed a bit down.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Emily teased, holding her cup with both hands.

Stella glanced up at her, and Emily quickly covered her mouth, grinning mischievously.

Suddenly, Blackie poked at Stella with the tip of his tail, then peeked his little head out from Stella’s hair.

“Yeah, I know,” Stella drawled.

Emily asked, “What?”

“Someone’s watching us from the second floor,” Stella said lazily. Seeing Emily about to look up, she added, “Don’t look up.”

“Who is it?” Emily asked.

Stella picked up her coffee cup and took a sip, her face expressionless. She replied, “The Herbal Medicine Guild.”

Upstairs, Soleil complained, “Dad, that’s her. She snatched the book from me, and even had her snake swallow my spider!”

Standing behind her, Quinto asked, “Carmelo, do you know her?”

Carmelo squinted at Stella for a long moment, then said, “No clue who this wild girl is. Never seen her before. She’s a total nobody in the Clusia Traditional Medicine circle.”

“She’s pretty, though,” Reuben, Quinto’s eldest disciple, commented.

Soleil shot him a sideways glance.

Quinto said coldly, “Her name is Stella, and she’s the leader of the Clusia delegation this time.”

Everyone whipped their heads around to stare at him, jaws practically hitting the floor.

Soleil was especially shocked. She asked, “Her? The leader?”

Carmelo blurted out, “No way! How could those old geezers…?”

Quinto shot him a sharp look and shot back, “Why not?”

In the restaurant, a voice cut into Emily and Stella’s conversation, calling out, “Emily?”

10:39 Thu, Feb 12

Chapter 391

Emily turned, and when she saw who it was, her expression shifted.

Stella followed her gaze.

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Truett was holding a plate, and even though he was dressed in a suit, he still gave off a shifty, wheeler-dealer vibe.

He said, “No way, it really is you! I heard from some classmates that you were representing the Penn family at the International Herbal Medicine Conference. I didn’t believe it.

“Who would’ve thought I’d actually run into you here?” With an exaggerated expression, he invited himself over to their table.

Emily called out, “Truett.” Her tone was distant.

Truett asked, “And who’s this?”

He turned to Stella, propping one hand on the table and trying to look cool.

Emily just stared, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Emily hesitated, “This is-”

“Just sharing a table,” Stella interrupted, her voice flat and indifferent.

Without even looking at Truett, Stella pushed the milk toward Lucas and said, “Drink up.”

Truett thought, ‘So, she’s got a kid?’

As soon as he realized, his interest vanished in a flash, and he turned his attention back to Emily.

Truett said, “Emily, the whole Western medicine circle is buzzing about the Penn family. Seriously, you’re a Western doctor. Why are you sticking your neck out for Traditional Medicine now? What does that even look like?”

Truett started ranting, going full-on dad mode.

Emily was speechless.

Stella just kept sipping her coffee, totally unbothered.

Truett kept running his mouth, showing off as usual. He said, “Emily, come on, you used to ace every class way ahead of me. How’d you end up in this mess? Look at me. Do you even know why I’m here?”

Emily just said, “No clue.”

She really didn’t want to know the reason.

Truett cleared his throat and straightened his tie. He said, “I’m here with my mentor for an international medical conference, and I’m about to meet the leader of the Dorestan Medical Alliance. Emily, I could introduce you to the leader, but you know…”

10:40 Thu, Feb 12

Chapter 391

He gave her a knowing smile.

He added, “Do you have any free evenings this week? We could grab a drink and have a chat.”

His words dripped with innuendo as he tried to take her hand.

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Just as Emily was about to get up and give him a slap to teach him a lesson, Truett suddenly piped up again, sounding confused, “Emily, why is your hand so cold?”

Truett glanced down.

In the very next instant, he lurched backward with his plate, shrieking, “Snake!”

He sounded exactly like a panicked chicken on the loose.

Emily looked over and saw Blackie, pitch-black and coiled up right there on the table, happily chomping away on a soft-boiled egg like he owned the place.

The waiter came over with a friendly smile, checking to see what was going on.

Truett yelled, “Snake! There’s a snake! Right on the table!”

He pointed frantically at the table.

The waiter smiled politely and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but that’s just the lady’s brooch.”

Truett looked up and saw Blackie, that little snake from before, now chilling at Stella’s collar, still munching on a soft-boiled egg like nothing had happened.

He thought, ‘Was I seeing things?’

Emily let out a cold laugh. She said, “Truett, you must be seeing things.”

Truett was left speechless.

The waiter nodded politely and walked away.

But just as the waiter turned away, Truett heard a loud gulp behind him. He stiftly turned his head and saw Blackie actually forcing down a soft-boiled egg that was way bigger than its own head.

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