Chapter 63: A Total Mess

Bell’s face was dark. He pretended not to hear anything as he walked upstairs, cursing to himself. ’Damn it, if I hadn’t been so pissed off by those rumors lately, I never would’ve lost my cool and approached her. I wouldn’t be in this mess!’

’If I find out who ratted me out, I’ll beat them to death!’

River Larkin, who was beside him and overheard the muttering, stiffened for a moment before quickly composing himself to look nonchalant.

’He didn’t know if he’d made the right move. His original plan was to use Quinn Chase to cause some trouble for Bell, maybe even tarnish the three brothers’ reputation a bit more. That would have made his own plans run more smoothly.’

’But he never expected things to escalate like this.’

’He especially hadn’t expected this Stella Sterling to be even crazier than he’d imagined. She had actually gotten involved in today’s mess too.’

’Now that things had reached this point, he had completely lost control.’

"Bell, you coward! I’m your woman now, but you won’t even save me! You just hide and watch. Are you even a man?"

Seeing Bell remain indifferent, Quinn Chase’s wife seemed to snap. She started screaming hysterically and crawling toward him, but after just two steps, her husband grabbed her by the hair. "You bitch! You still dare to go to him!"

At that moment, the two of them seemed to forget the beating they had just received from Stella Sterling and began tearing at each other again.

Meanwhile, the crowd was now staring at Bell with strange expressions because of what Quinn Chase’s wife had said.

’This Bell really has no guts. It was understandable that he wouldn’t admit to what he’d done; it wasn’t exactly something to be proud of, after all.’

’But for him to be so heartless toward Quinn Chase’s wife, especially after she’d sided with him...’

Being stared at like that, Bell, who was already bottling up a stomach full of rage from the recent rumors, finally couldn’t take it anymore. He bellowed, "What are you looking at? Look again and I’ll beat the shit out of you!"

The onlookers took a couple of steps back, their expressions turning even more disgusted. They started cursing at Bell without reservation.

With so many of them, they weren’t afraid of Bell on his own.

And Bell, in truth, didn’t dare to make a move. His two older brothers hadn’t come out. He had only come downstairs on his own initiative because he’d heard the commotion coming from the 22nd floor and thought it might concern him. He had no idea this was the cause.

With no other outlet for his anger, he suddenly spun around and kicked the woman several times. "Damn it! I only gave you some food because I felt sorry for you! You’re the one who came on to me! What do you mean, ’my woman’? What’s this nonsense you’re spouting? Your family drama has nothing to do with me!"

He didn’t hold back with his kicks at all. The woman’s stream of curses stopped for a moment. Then, with a sudden burst of strength from nowhere, she scrambled to her feet and lunged at Bell. "You bastard! It was you, it was you! All you men are heartless, faithless bastards!"

"You seductress! I’ll kill you!"

"You hit my wife! I’ll kill you!"

The three of them devolved into a chaotic brawl, and the scene descended into mayhem once more. The onlookers were dumbstruck, thinking that real life was far more exciting and dramatic than anything on TV.

Quinn Chase and his wife had just taken a severe beating from Stella Sterling; they were no match for the burly Bell. As the two were beaten and screamed in pain again, Quinn looked toward River Larkin. "Brother Larkin! Didn’t you say you couldn’t stand to see this son of a bitch Bell do this? Help me! Help me take him on, and I’ll be sure to thank you properly afterward!"

Yet another person was dragged into the mess. At this point, the crowd seemed to have grown numb to it all.

The color drained from River Larkin’s face. He had been hiding at the back of the crowd precisely to avoid being noticed, but he never thought that man would spot him, let alone call him out directly.

He didn’t bother with an explanation. He just turned and ran. At this moment, any explanation would be useless; the enraged Bell wouldn’t believe a word of it.

Besides, he had already seen Bell yesterday afternoon, which was enough to arouse suspicion. Now, with what Quinn Chase had just said—

He turned and fled without a second’s hesitation.

"You bastard, so it was you!" Bell roared and gave chase. The onlookers sighed as they watched the dramatic scene unfold.

Someone in the crowd even expressed concern for River Larkin. "Brother Larkin was just trying to do a good thing, warning Quinn Chase that he was being cheated on. I can’t believe Quinn sold him out like that!"

The crowd began to disperse as they talked amongst themselves. Stella Sterling, who had been watching the show from the side, raised an eyebrow. ’It seems River Larkin has built up quite a good reputation for himself these days.’

’Tonight’s events have entangled both River Larkin and the three Bell brothers. It’s like I got to watch a preview of the main act. All in all, not a bad night!’

With that thought, she hummed a little tune as she went upstairs. The rest of the chaos had nothing to do with her. While everyone else was caught up in their own turmoil, she was probably the only one who was thoroughly enjoying herself.

Quinn Chase and his wife had also calmed down by now. Perhaps the beating had knocked some sense into them. Their heads were clear, and they were no longer acting hysterical. They supported each other as they walked home, moving cautiously, terrified of drawing anyone’s attention.

Quinn’s wife, in particular, shot several glances in Stella Sterling’s direction, her eyes filled with a mixture of resentment and fear.

She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Stella heading upstairs. Though she cursed Stella a thousand times in her heart, her steps quickened considerably.

"Quinn Chase, you killed someone! Do you think you can just walk away from this?"

"Who killed anyone? It was an accident! He shouldn’t have been meddling in other people’s business! If you’ve got the guts, go call the cops!"

The farce behind them didn’t end there. This was destined to be a sleepless night, but none of it had anything to do with Stella Sterling anymore.

She returned to her room, went into the bathroom to wash up, then got into bed. Popping in a pair of earplugs to block out the commotion, she went to sleep.

But the night’s commotion didn’t stop there. It was so loud it even roused people in the next building. Someone braved the wind and snow to come over to their building, but upon seeing the chaos and learning that someone had been killed, they scrambled away in terror, calling for others who had come to investigate to leave as well.

That night, it seemed as if everything had descended into chaos. Many people couldn’t sleep a wink.

Having exerted a fair bit of energy in the first half of the night, Stella Sterling slept soundly through the second. When she woke up the next day, her head ached a little.

The moment she got up, she sneezed, and her nose started to run.

’I’ve caught a cold!’ she thought, touching her head. It felt a little warm. She got out of bed, took some medicine, and went right back to sleep.

Meanwhile, inside their building, a new round of chaos was beginning.

The friends of the man who died last night had failed to win their argument against Quinn Chase and his wife. Afraid Quinn would go berserk again, they hadn’t dared to stay long and had taken their people and left. But today at noon, the family of the dead man showed up at Quinn’s door, armed with weapons.

At the same time, the three Bell brothers were blocking River Larkin’s door.