But she couldn’t quite decipher the other woman’s expression.
Her heart tightened. ’This Stella Sterling is as difficult to deal with as I thought, and completely heartless.’
’Even if she doesn’t like , can’t she find even a sliver of pity for a beautiful woman crying her eyes out in front of her?’
Stella Sterling didn’t mock her. Perhaps the woman was exaggerating to gain sympathy.
But she knew how difficult it was for soone without skills to survive in this apocalypse.
And it was even harder for a woman. They not only had to worry about survival but also guard against those with ulterior motives who might target them.
In these chaotic tis, being a woman, being beautiful—both were deadly liabilities.
Of course, so leveraged these assets to get what they needed. It all ca down to personal perspective and the choices one made. Everyone finds their own path to survival.
Just like the woman before her now, who was using her advantages to trade for her life—except she hadn’t sought out a man like most others would.
Instead, she had co to her, another woman.
Seeing the woman had just about cried herself out, Stella Sterling said coldly, "Stop crying. It’s annoying."
"Oh!" Yasmine Holloway responded dazedly. Wiping her tears, she stared at Stella Sterling, not understanding what she ant at all.
"Rely on mountains, and they will collapse. Rely on people, and they will flee. Instead of relying on others, it’s better to rely on yourself," Stella Sterling stated once the other woman had dried her tears.
Yasmine Holloway froze, a bitter smile on her face. "I understand the principle, but I don’t have any skills, not like you—"
"I’m not soone you can rely on, so you’ve co to the wrong person," Stella Sterling cut her off. She had no intention of shouldering the burden of another person’s fate.
Whether she had skills or not, whether she could survive or not—it had absolutely nothing to do with her.
This person was a complete stranger. Letting her go before was already a sign that she had a shred of conscience left.
’Does she really think that just because I let them off the hook once, she can beg , act pitiful, and I’ll agree to be her protector?’
’As for having no skills?’
’You can train to get them. As long as you want to live, you’ll find a way to make yourself stronger. If you really can’t, that’s not my problem either. Acting pitiful in front of is useless.’
"So things, they can do, and you can do them too. You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to be bullied."
With that, Stella Sterling said no more, her voice laced with a warning. "Don’t bother again. I don’t like you."
Saying this, she shut the door in the woman’s face.
Her words were a hint, nothing more. Whether the other woman understood, and what choices she would make, had nothing to do with her.
Outside the door, Yasmine Holloway stood for a long ti. Staring at the closed door, she bit her lip, her eyes filled with resentnt.
After a good while, she finally turned and left, still unwilling to accept it.
After returning to her room, Stella Sterling went about her business, completely unaffected by the woman’s words.
The afternoon passed quickly. By around ten o’clock at night, the residential complex had usually fallen quiet.
But just then, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the building before quickly falling silent again.
The miserable cry made everyone who was preparing for bed shudder, but no one was curious about what had happened.
After all, too many tragedies had occurred recently. After the initial shock, everyone had learned to calmly accept it.
And the scream had only lasted for a second before silence returned, as if nothing had happened.
Stella Sterling changed into more practical clothes, put on a face mask, and swapped into a pair of warm but lightweight shoes. Looking at her unrecognizable reflection in the mirror, she gave a satisfied chuckle.
CLICK. The small lamp in her apartnt went out, and Stella Sterling’s face was plunged into darkness. She opened the door and left her ho.
The corridor was pitch-black and silent. Stella Sterling felt her way down the stairs in the dark, moving without a sound in the dead of night.
When she reached the 26th floor, she heard the sound of sothing being dragged across the floor. Stella Sterling stopped and turned to look.
Even in the darkness, she could make out a small, slender figure, hunched over and dragging sothing toward the corridor window on the 26th floor.
Stella Sterling glanced down. The object being dragged looked like a person, and the thick scent of blood in the air told her what had happened.
’Looks like I’ve stumbled upon a murder and a body disposal on my way out!’
’Should I just pretend I saw nothing and stay out of it?’
Just then, the person dragging the object seed to sense they were being watched and turned her head to look back.
In the darkness, she saw a figure standing at the top of the stairs, looking in her direction. Yasmine Holloway was so startled she nearly collapsed to the floor.
Stella Sterling had no intention of getting involved or interrupting, so she said flatly, "Carry on."
She then made to continue down the stairs.
But Yasmine Holloway froze when she heard the voice, recognizing it as Stella Sterling’s. She quickly ran to Stella’s side. "It’s , Yasmine Holloway!"
As the woman approached, the sll of blood grew stronger. Stella Sterling calmly took two steps back.
Up close, she could finally see the woman’s appearance clearly. It was indeed Yasmine Holloway, but she looked vastly different from when Stella had seen her during the day.
Her hair was a ss, her red coat was torn to shreds, and the clothes underneath were also ripped. The exposed skin was a patchwork of black and blue bruises. There were cuts on her face, stained with fresh tears, making it easy to guess what had happened to her.
Yasmine Holloway had intended to play the victim, but seeing that Stella Sterling’s gaze remained cold and that she showed no sign of asking what happened, Yasmine could only abandon the idea.
’So heartless!’
She grumbled to herself again.
Outwardly, however, she put on a carefree smile. "Do you know who I killed? It was that man who was trying to hit on you earlier. He saw and tried to force himself on , but I killed him!"
"Turns out, killing soone isn’t that hard!"
She said this with a deliberately casual and breezy tone, but she never stopped observing Stella Sterling.
"Oh," Stella Sterling replied calmly, her brow furrowed. "You’re blocking my way."
Yasmine Holloway subconsciously retreated several steps, and Stella Sterling started down the stairs.
Yasmine Holloway muttered resentfully, "Aren’t you even a little curious about what happened to ?"
"I’m not the sa as I was before! I’ve killed soone now. I can protect myself. We’re the sa kind of person!"
But Stella Sterling didn’t pause for a single mont at her words, quickly disappearing into the darkness of the stairwell below.
Yasmine Holloway could only fall silent. She glanced at the corpse on the floor, then turned and continued dragging it away.
’Even without relying on Stella Sterling, I will definitely survive...’
Stella Sterling, completely unmoved by Yasmine Holloway, made her way in the dark to the front door of the three Bell brothers. A "gentle" smile spread across her lips.
She took sothing from her pocket and easily opened their door. She slipped inside quickly.
The three Bell brothers were still awake. The youngest had just offered up half of the rations they’d acquired yesterday, and the trio was celebrating.
And so, as the three brothers heard a noise and turned to look, they ca face-to-face with Stella Sterling.
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