DING.

The elevator dinged. As the doors opened, the middle-aged woman made no move to leave. Instead, she glared at Stella Sterling, about to launch into a lecture. But her eyes widened when Stella suddenly pulled a small knife from her sleeve and began toying with it. Stella chuckled softly. "Ma’am, was there something you wanted to say?"

GULP.

The sound of someone swallowing hard echoed in the small space. The woman took two steps back. "N-nothing..."

With that, she scurried out of the elevator. Stella could still hear her muttering, "Damn it, are all the young girls these days so crazy and scary?"

Stella Sterling put the knife away and leaned against the elevator wall, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on her lips.

The elevator doors opened again, and someone else walked in. She glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, what a coincidence!" River Larkin immediately greeted her with a beaming smile.

Stella Sterling thought for a moment before responding, "Mm, hello."

River Larkin’s smile deepened. He eagerly stood next to Stella Sterling. "Did you hear the news those people brought back just now? I’m telling you, the apocalypse is really coming! The world is about to fall into chaos!"

He chattered endlessly in Stella Sterling’s ear. She would occasionally offer a one or two-word reply, but he kept the conversation going with great enthusiasm—an enthusiasm that was, of course, entirely one-sided.

"This is your floor," Stella Sterling said suddenly. While he was still processing her words, she gave him a light push, shoving him out of the elevator.

’So noisy,’ she thought, her tone impatient. She was used to the cold indifference and personal distance of the apocalypse. Dealing with someone as talkative as River Larkin felt strange and taxing.

Pushed out of the elevator, River Larkin stood stunned for a moment. He stared at the closing doors, then, after a brief pause, he chuckled. "Heh, interesting. Very good. Stella Sterling from 2808, I’ll remember you!"

He had seen the impatience in her eyes as clear as day. He didn’t consider himself exceptionally handsome, but he thought he was the type who grew on you. Plus, with his humor, wit, and gentlemanly manners, he’d always been popular with girls.

Even if a girl didn’t like him at first, she at least wouldn’t be averse to him. But this girl... she seemed to genuinely dislike him.

He chuckled softly to himself and turned to leave.

Stella Sterling didn’t give him a second thought. She returned to her apartment and shut the door firmly behind her.

She took out the jade and jewelry she had gotten from the Sterling Family. After taking them that day, she had stored them in her space and was only just now remembering them.

She picked out a palm-sized piece of jadeite and tossed it into the space’s exchange area, her heart pounding with nervous anticipation.

She still hadn’t fully understood all the functions of this space, even in her past life. The features she knew of now were all things she had discovered by accident and slowly figured out through trial and error.

She knew that the space would undergo some kind of change when it absorbed special materials, granting her certain benefits. But she wasn’t sure what those benefits were. In her last life, just surviving had been a struggle; she never had the ability to find such special items.

After she threw the item in, the space trembled for a moment before falling still again.

Stella Sterling waited, but nothing happened. She raised her eyebrows. ’That’s it?’

’Nothing at all?’

But Stella Sterling wasn’t worried. After waiting a little longer with no results, she didn’t just stand around. She went to the planting area to check on the fruit tree seeds she had sown a few days ago. They had already sprouted and taken root, growing well. Seeing the vibrant green, Stella Sterling’s mood improved considerably.

It was a sign of vigorous life, something that gave people hope.

After tinkering around in her space for a while longer, Stella Sterling moved another batch of supplies out and into her bedroom.

’Although the space can store supplies, this kind of intangible, mystical thing always feels unreliable,’ she thought. ’I should keep a batch of supplies outside the space too. That way, if something unexpected happens to it, I’ll have a backup and won’t be left with no way out.’

Only after exiting her space did she notice she had several missed calls on her phone, all from Mr. Quinn and Mrs. Sterling.

Ever since she got the three hundred million from them, the Sterling family hadn’t contacted her. In fact, she had pretty much burned her bridges with them last time.

This time, they had called more than ten times in a row. It was as if they would keep calling until she finally picked up.

Just as she was thinking this, her phone rang again. It was a call from her mother, Wanda Larkin.

She answered, and an accusatory voice came from the other end. "Why are you only just now answering your phone..."

Stella Sterling wasn’t about to indulge her. "If you don’t have anything important to say, I’m hanging up."

Hearing this, Mrs. Larkin paused, seemingly afraid that Stella Sterling would actually hang up on her. She quickly continued, "Stella, your sister Yara is missing!"

Her voice was frantic and panicked. "We haven’t seen her since this morning. At first, I thought she just didn’t want to get out of bed because of the cold, so I didn’t have anyone wake her. But it’s already afternoon, and there’s still no sign of her. She hasn’t eaten all day, so she must be hungry by now. I felt something was wrong, so I went up to check, only to find that Yara isn’t home! And her phone won’t go through! With this heavy snow, where could she have possibly gone?"

Every single word she spoke was filled with a mother’s worry for her daughter. Such touching emotion only sounded comical and dull to Stella Sterling’s ears.

’If I had installed cameras in the Sterling Family home back then,’ she thought, ’I’d surely be able to see a frantic mother pacing around right now.’

’But the Sterling Family has servants, so it would have been inconvenient to install them.’

The thought that she couldn’t see Mr. Quinn and Mrs. Sterling’s worried faces was actually a little disappointing to her.

’They care so much about their adopted daughter, Yara Sterling. I’d love to know who they consider more important: their biological son or Yara Sterling?’

’If I get the chance, maybe I can test that.’

"Why aren’t you saying anything? Your sister is missing, aren’t you worried at all?"

Mrs. Sterling’s displeased voice came through the phone.

Stella Sterling lowered her gaze. "Oh, I see. Yara Sterling is missing. But what does that have to do with me?"

Her tone was cold. Mrs. Larkin was stunned. ’Stella was never like this before,’ she thought. ’How did she become so cold?’

She was displeased but suppressed her temper and said in a placating tone, "She’s your sister. Now that she’s missing, you need to go find her quickly, or something bad will happen!"

"Ms. Larkin, are you joking? If there’s something wrong with your head, you should see a doctor now. Maybe there’s still a chance to fix it."

Stella Sterling’s tone was calm, but Wanda Larkin seemed oblivious to her sarcasm. She just said, "This isn’t the time for that. It’s snowing heavily out there! If we don’t find Yara soon, something will happen to her! Stella, you’re sisters! Your father and I are getting old; you’re the only one who can go out and look for her!"

"Alright. You two just wait at home," Stella Sterling said with a smile. Then she hung up the phone and turned to walk into the kitchen.