The man walked up to Stella Sterling’s door and raised his hand to knock, putting on a smile to make himself seem more approachable.

But the next moment, as if remembering something, he lowered his raised hand, turned back to the crowd, and asked hesitantly, "Wait, this is the 28th floor?"

The crowd nodded in unison.

And with that, the man’s expression changed. He remembered—they were on the 28th floor, and the woman who lived there was not to be trifled with.

Besides her crazy temper and tendency to lash out at the slightest disagreement, her strength was also anything but ordinary. She had completely overpowered Quinn Chase and his wife.

Those who had come to investigate were all residents of these upper floors, and most of them had been there for the last incident.

He had been part of the crowd last time, and he had watched with his own eyes as that woman suddenly went berserk, beating Quinn Chase and his wife to a bloody pulp with her bare fists.

He suddenly shivered and turned to walk back. "We just came to get some clarification. She was polite enough to explain that it has nothing to do with her, so it has nothing to do with her. No need to ask again!"

This girl on the 28th floor was clearly emotionally unstable. Both the incident with the first-floor resident and the one with Quinn Chase and his wife showed that she was dangerously unhinged. The slightest thing could set her off, and when she went crazy, she held nothing back.

They didn’t want to provoke someone like that unless they had absolutely no other choice.

"Didn’t you say her word alone wasn’t enough?"

Someone teased, and the others looked at him mockingly.

"I didn’t know it was *her*! She’s so beautiful. You can tell just by looking at her that she’s an honest person who wouldn’t lie!"

Everyone knew to quit while they were ahead and didn’t say any more. They then turned their gazes to the apartment across the hall from Stella Sterling’s.

Compared to how they treated Stella Sterling, they weren’t so polite this time. One of them went right up and started banging on the door. "Open up! We have questions for you!"

Inside, Stella Sterling was watching a show with her headphones on, blocking out everything that was happening outside.

She knew, of course, that those people hadn’t left, but it had nothing to do with her. As long as they didn’t bother her, they could do whatever they wanted.

She had already given her explanation. Whether they believed her or not was none of her business.

Besides, she hadn’t lied.

’Mrs. Ward did come looking for me, but I never even touched her. Her death has nothing to do with me. Even if the body needs to be dealt with, that’s a problem for the Sterling family.’

The commotion outside continued for a while before it quieted down again.

The people across the hall must have sent them away. After all, this incident had nothing to do with them either, so the crowd had no choice but to leave.

As for how those people dealt with Mrs. Ward, Stella Sterling had no idea. Seeing that it was getting late, she quickly washed up, changed her clothes, and went to bed.

KNOCK KNOCK, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

In the middle of the night, a crisp knocking sound reached Stella Sterling’s ears. In her past life, she had developed a habit of constant vigilance, no matter the time or place. The sound seemed to be coming from inside her apartment, and she was instantly awake.

She got up. Her clothes were by her bed. She got dressed as she walked toward the living room.

It wasn’t the sound of knocking on the door, but the sound of glass being struck. Her gaze went directly to the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

The next moment, her heart skipped a beat. Outside the dark window, a human head was pressed against the glass.

The person had snow-white hair that was still dripping with water. Their eyes were black and bruised, and their face was deathly pale, looking exceptionally terrifying in the darkness of the night.

Even Stella Sterling’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden sight, but her face betrayed no emotion.

Her expression calm, she walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window without a hint of fear.

When the person outside saw that Stella Sterling had noticed him, a flash of joy crossed his eyes. He waved one hand but nearly fell, hastily grabbing onto the wire mesh of a nearby ventilation opening in the window to steady himself.

Only when Stella Sterling got closer did she slowly make out his face, recognizing the man outside the window as River Larkin, whom she hadn’t seen in days.

He had actually climbed from the outside of his own apartment window to hers.

She opened a half-meter-tall ventilation window. It was fitted with a wire mesh and a lock. If unlocked, a person could get out through it—a feature the developers had designed for emergencies, to allow rescuers to enter.

Looking down at River Larkin, who was clinging precariously to the windowsill, she sneered, "What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of the night, trying to get yourself killed?"

"Stella, open it, quick! Let me in! I’m losing my strength! You’ll have to give me a hand!"

Seeing Stella Sterling open the window, River Larkin was overjoyed. He ignored her question and immediately blurted out his plea.

They lived on adjacent floors, so the distance wasn’t great, and there were ledges on the exterior wall. With his physical strength, climbing up shouldn’t have been difficult.

But the temperature outside was too low. The cold made his hands and feet stiff, not nearly as nimble as usual. On top of that, having been outside for a while, his body temperature was dropping rapidly. He was about to lose his grip.

A cold wind was also blowing. His footing was already unsteady, and it took all his strength just to stand there. The veins on the hand gripping the wire mesh were bulging. Right now, all he wanted was to get inside quickly.

If he wasn’t completely out of options, he wouldn’t have taken such a risk.

For a long moment, Stella Sterling didn’t move, just watched him. River Larkin looked up, hiding the anger in his eyes. "Stella, hurry and open it! I’m about to fall!"

She stared at him, her expression flat. "It’s the middle of the night, and you’ve climbed onto my windowsill. If you were in my shoes, would you dare let me in?"

River Larkin was stunned. He never imagined Stella Sterling could be so heartless. "But I’m your partner!"

"But you haven’t passed my test yet. You don’t count as my partner."

"We can talk about that later! I’ll help you take care of them. Just let me in first. I came to find you so we could deal with them together!"

Stella Sterling laughed lightly, her voice dripping with contempt. "River Larkin, it was just a matter of dealing with them. But it’s been this long, and not only have you not taken them down, you’ve ended up in this pathetic state. Tell me, how am I supposed to believe in your abilities? How could I possibly cooperate with you?"

River Larkin was taken aback. Stella Sterling’s attitude toward him had never been good, but it had never been like this.

He looked at her. Her eyes held nothing but contempt and indifference; there was no trace of concern for him struggling desperately outside. He suddenly fell silent. After a long moment, he said, "You’ve been playing me from the very beginning. You never intended to cooperate with me, did you!"

Stella Sterling smiled without a word, but what was there for River Larkin not to understand? He was furious, but helpless. After a while, his tone softened into a plea. "No matter what, I only offended the three Bell brothers because of you. Are you really this cruel? Let me in, and I’ll never mention cooperation again!"

When Stella Sterling didn’t react, he roared in anger, "Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell those three brothers that you were the one who told me to go after them!"

The moment he said it, he saw the look on Stella Sterling’s face and was instantly filled with regret—