Chapter 168: People Change

"Is this your friend?"

Louis Grant watched Stella Sterling with a teasing expression, hoping to see a hint of embarrassment in her eyes.

But he was disappointed. Even when her previous lie was exposed right to her face, Stella Sterling’s expression remained perfectly composed, without a trace of awkwardness.

She shot him a sideways glance. "I guess so."

’At least we are in this life. Nothing happened between us.’

Beside them, Lydia Magnus found Stella’s answer a bit strange.

’But then again,’ she thought, ’it’s probably because we haven’t seen each other in two years. It’s only natural for Stella to be a little distant.’

However, she believed that with a relationship as good as theirs once was, all they needed was a little more time together to get back to how they used to be.

She curiously sized up the slightly heavyset man who had walked over.

’Is he Stella’s friend?’

’Did they come together?’

’No wonder Stella didn’t answer when I asked her to join me earlier. She already has a companion.’

’I just don’t know what their relationship is. Are they just friends traveling together, or are they lovers?’

She took two steps closer to Stella Sterling. Even though Stella was being cold, to Lydia, she was still her best friend. With no one else by her side at that moment, she subconsciously wanted to be near her.

She gave Louis Grant a polite nod, then said to Stella Sterling, "I’m not alone. I boarded the ship with Claire Xavier, but something happened to us earlier. She was injured and is still recovering."

As she spoke, she reached out to take Stella Sterling’s arm.

It was pitch-black on the ship, and you could get pushed anywhere in the crowd if you weren’t careful. Having finally run into Stella, she had so much she wanted to say. She didn’t want to get separated by the crowd again and lose her.

But her hand found only empty air. Stella Sterling had taken two steps back.

Seeing the confusion and disappointment in Lydia’s eyes, Stella Sterling felt a headache coming on. She didn’t know how to talk to her.

After a moment of silence, she finally spoke. "This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go over there."

With that, she walked ahead and said to Louis Grant, "Could you please look after my friend for me?"

’I never wanted to cross paths with Lydia Magnus again, precisely because I was afraid of this kind of situation.’

’Anyway, the world is a big place. With communications down and transportation limited, the chances of us meeting again after we get off this ship would have been slim.’

’I didn’t plan on getting revenge, nor did I plan on remaining friends with her. My plan was for us to never meet again and slowly become strangers. That would have been the best outcome for us.’

’But against all odds, I still ran into her.’

’Now that we’ve met, avoiding her is impossible. It’s better to just make things clear.’

Stella Sterling led her directly to her small room.

Lydia Magnus was a little shocked when she saw it.

She had been on the ship for several days and knew that everyone else was crammed into the cargo hold. Even though Claire Xavier needed to recover from her injuries, she didn’t have a private space either and just had to find the medical staff for treatment every day.

Even so, she could feel that the base members were giving her and Claire special consideration.

As for everyone else, the base members treated them all the same.

She had assumed Stella was like them, staying in some corner out on the deck. She was just about to suggest that Stella and her friend come over to where she and Claire were.

That way, they could all look out for each other.

Her few days on the ship had taught her that even though the base’s rules forbade trouble, there was still safety in numbers. It made you less likely to be bullied.

But she never expected that Stella would have a private room. Although it was small and looked more like a storage closet than a proper cabin, it was still a room.

Even so, her situation was countless times better than Lydia’s.

She said excitedly, "Stella, you get to stay in here? This is great!"

Louis Grant hadn’t gone back to his spot; he had stayed behind.

He now watched this woman he didn’t know with a strange expression. ’Can’t this person see that the friend she’s talking about is being incredibly cold to her?’

Not only did she seem not to notice, but she was also relentlessly enthusiastic.

Stella Sterling lit a candle in the room, breaking the darkness and illuminating everyone’s expressions.

Louis Grant watched Stella Sterling with great interest, wondering if she could maintain her cold demeanor in the face of such a warm friend.

"Stella, I feel like you haven’t been talking much. You’ve changed a lot."

When Stella Sterling once again didn’t respond, the warm smile on Lydia Magnus’s face gradually faded. She was confused and hurt.

"Aren’t we best friends? We promised we’d be best friends forever. Aren’t you happy to see me?"

Hearing this, Louis Grant, who was standing to the side, became even more interested.

"People change. Feelings even more so."

Faced with Lydia Magnus’s sorrow, Stella Sterling’s tone remained just as calm.

When Lydia Magnus heard this, the expression on her face grew even more hurt.

She never expected to receive such an answer.

But Stella Sterling ignored her for the moment, turning to the spectating Louis Grant. "Shouldn’t you take a hint and leave?"

Louis Grant, who had been trying to be invisible, rubbed his nose helplessly. He shrugged and started to walk out. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly grinned at Stella Sterling. "Your real name must be Stella Sterling, right? It sounds much better than Quincy Sterling."

With that, he left and closed the door.

Lydia Magnus hadn’t paid attention to Louis Grant. She lowered her head. "Why?"

Stella Sterling let out a light, helpless laugh. "I just told you. People change. Some relationships just fade over time."

"But we’re different."

Lydia Magnus cried out, "Do you have any idea how happy I was when I found out you were still alive? But I never thought... you wouldn’t consider me a friend anymore."

’Different?’

Stella Sterling smiled, her expression unreadable. Lydia Magnus understood it even less.

After a long moment, she continued calmly, "I’m sorry. Too much has happened to me these past two years of the apocalypse. It’s impossible for me to be the person I used to be."

Lydia Magnus looked at the perpetually calm Stella Sterling and finally, at that moment, believed that her relationship with Stella could never go back to the way it was.

She thought about the rumors she’d heard over the past two years—of the bloody fights people got into over food, of some even turning on their own friends and family.

After going through something like that, it was only normal for a person’s personality to change drastically.

’Maybe something like that happened to Stella, too. That’s why she doesn’t trust friends anymore, why she’s being so cold to me.’