Chapter 82: Let Me Live Up to This Bad Reputation

"But it seems they’ve made a mistake. I’m the last person to be swayed by moral blackmail!" Stella Sterling smiled, sipping her tea while enjoying the show outside.

If they wanted to kneel, then let them kneel a while longer. It’s not like she felt any pity for them.

’That person isn’t crying loud enough.’

’Their expressions aren’t vivid enough. It’s just so fake. You should at least try to make your acting realistic!’

Stella Sterling produced a bag of sunflower seeds from somewhere, critiquing the group’s acting skills as she watched the show.

As expected, watching a drama unfold live was much more exciting than watching it on a phone.

’Should I add a little something extra to this big show?’

Thinking this, Stella Sterling spat out the sunflower seed shell in her mouth, got up, and strode toward them.

The door was suddenly thrown open. The people outside, who had been pounding on it with gusto, hadn’t expected it to open so abruptly. They froze in place, eyes wide with confusion.

Two seconds later, they snapped back to their senses. All six of them dropped to their knees. The same people who had looked so menacing moments ago now wore pitiful expressions and began to desperately play the victim.

"Stop—" Stella Sterling’s voice cut them off. The two men kneeling in front stopped, but their eyes kept darting around shiftily.

One of them looked up at Stella Sterling and saw that her gaze wasn’t on them. Then, the two men exchanged a look.

Suddenly, they sprang up. One charged directly into Stella Sterling’s apartment, while the other tried to grab her.

At the same time, they shouted, "Quick, stop her! She must have a ton of food in there! If we can just grab some, it’ll be enough for us to eat!"

Hearing this, the eyes of the other few flickered. Just moments ago, they were begging Stella Sterling for mercy with pitiful expressions, but now a subtle change appeared in their eyes.

They didn’t need much, just a few bites would be enough—

BANG— But before the others could act, two figures flew toward them and landed right in front of their eyes.

They looked down and saw it was the two men who had just tried to charge into Stella Sterling’s apartment.

Before they could even get close to Stella Sterling, she had sent them flying with a single kick each, and they crashed heavily in front of the others.

The four who hadn’t yet acted were shocked. They silently knelt back down.

The old man among them quickly said, "I can’t believe they were so vicious! Miss, we’re not like them. We’re really just here to ask for food!"

"Yeah, yeah! It has nothing to do with us! We didn’t plan on doing anything!"

The four of them hurriedly distanced themselves from the other two.

They were inwardly relieved. Luckily, they hadn’t made a move at the beginning, or they might have been in real trouble now.

The two men on the ground also had expressions of terror. Their chests ached unbearably, and they felt as if their bodies were about to fall apart.

They had long known the young woman on the 28th floor was not to be trifled with. That’s why they hadn’t considered anything else at first, only planning to beg her as a group. They had hoped she might give them some food out of pity for so many people pleading, and hadn’t dared to harbor any other intentions.

But just now, seeing she was just one young woman and wasn’t carrying a knife this time, they figured that with so many of them, they’d have nothing to fear as long as they subdued her first.

They never expected this would be the outcome.

The two men said to the other four, "Don’t you pretend to be so innocent! You think we don’t all know what you were thinking?"

A woman in her twenties spat at the two of them and said angrily, "You were clearly the ones with malicious intentions! We agreed to just ask for food! We’re not like Bell’s gang, who do all sorts of evil. Who knew you’d pull something like this on the spot!"

"Exactly! If we’d known you were this kind of people, we never would have teamed up with you!"

The two sides started arguing. The four who hadn’t attacked saw how formidable Stella Sterling was and no longer dared to provoke her. Fearing she would turn her anger on them, they were now desperately cursing the other two men.

Stella Sterling leaned against the doorframe, enjoying the sight of them turning on each other. Just moments ago, they were a single group. Now, with just one turn of events, they had become a scattered mess, attacking one another. How ironic.

Once she had enjoyed the show long enough, she spoke slowly, "You just said you’re starving to death, and that if I don’t give you food, I’ll be the one who killed you?"

The arguing parties stopped, looking at Stella Sterling with some confusion. They didn’t understand why she would suddenly ask such a question.

’Could it be that she’s afraid of having a few deaths on her hands, so she’s going to give them some food?’

At this thought, their eyes—including those of the two men who had attacked earlier—lit up, and they looked at Stella Sterling, filled with hope.

They had noticed before that the young woman on the 28th floor hadn’t left her apartment much this past month. She must still have food at home; otherwise, how would she dare to act this way?

Moreover, her complexion was good right now, not at all like theirs, which made them even more certain that she still had food at home.

If only she would give them some, they could survive for a while longer.

Besides, if she gave them food this time, they could come back for more next time!

The two men were even more regretful. If they had known this Stella Sterling was thinking this way, why would they have attacked her just now?

Seeing they remained silent, Stella Sterling took it as their tacit agreement. She smiled. "So many other people haven’t given you food, and you don’t blame them. But if I don’t give you any, you say I’ll be to blame for your deaths. Do I look like some kind of pushover?"

Stella Sterling was smiling, but for some reason, everyone felt that something wasn’t right. Her words didn’t sound like good news at all.

One of the men who had tried to charge into Stella Sterling’s apartment looked at her and suddenly recalled the rumors in the building. He’d heard this person was emotionally unstable and did things in a bizarre way. Seeing her like this now, he thought, ’Is she about to go crazy?’

A bad premonition crept into his heart. He began to back away quietly, already preparing to bolt!

"Since you say I’ll be the one who killed you if you starve to death, it seems I’ll have to bear that infamous reputation no matter what. In that case, why don’t I just kill you myself and get it over with? That would also spare you the suffering of starvation. How about it?"

After saying this, Stella Sterling pulled a large blade from behind the door and swung it at the man closest to her. He dodged quickly, but the blade still struck his arm, severing it completely!

"AHHH—" The others screamed and scattered, their faces filled with horror. They didn’t dare say another word.

They just screamed, "Murder! She’s a murderer!"

They ran frantically downstairs. Someone, in their panic, missed a step and went tumbling down the stairs. For a moment, the scene descended into chaos.

As for the man with the severed arm, he was too preoccupied to feel the pain and tried to run, but the old man behind him—the one who had seemed to have trouble moving—shoved him aside, and he fell to the ground.

"A bunch of cowards. Didn’t you want food? With guts this small, what business do you have trying to commit evil!"

Stella Sterling scoffed, then finished off a man with a single slash of her blade. He collapsed, his eyes wide in disbelief.