"Please, save my father-in-law and mother-in-law! They’re still inside!"

After digging the man out, Stella Sterling was about to leave when his wife suddenly knelt before her.

The woman was crying pitifully, but Stella Sterling remained unmoved. She shook her head. "I can’t save them."

They were buried inside the house, and the snow was simply impossible to dig through unless the entire house was demolished. But the consequences of that would be anything but trivial.

Besides, even if she spent a huge amount of effort digging them out, the chances of two elderly people surviving were slim.

It would be a huge effort for nothing, and she didn’t have that kind of time.

"You haven’t even tried, so how do you know you can’t save them?"

the man’s wife immediately demanded.

Stella Sterling stopped and looked at her with a half-smile. "You should know, I have no obligation to do this."

After speaking, she ignored the woman’s ugly expression and moved to walk past her. When the woman tried to grab her, Stella forcefully shook her off.

Her actions weren’t always kind, but she could at least live with her own conscience. She had done what she could today, within her power. Anything more was unnecessary, and she certainly had no obligation to do it.

Besides, if someone was trying to force her to do it, she had even less inclination.

"Everyone, please, save them! My in-laws are good people! I’m begging you, please save them!"

The woman went from person to person, grabbing at their pant legs and begging pitifully. Some couldn’t bear it, and despite their hands being frozen, they kept digging.

Hearing the sounds behind her, Stella Sterling paid them no mind. If others wanted to keep trying to save them, that was their business. She didn’t want to do it, but she wouldn’t stop anyone else.

But just as she was about to step into the elevator, she heard the woman say to the others, "You all are so kind, not like that woman just now. If she wasn’t going to help, why pretend to be a good person in the first place? And to think I was so grateful to her at first. She’s just too heartless! We’re all neighbors, and she won’t even lend a hand!"

During the rescue just moments ago, Stella Sterling’s small shovel had been the main tool. But now, hearing her spoken of like this, everyone remained silent, their expressions a little strange.

Stella Sterling, who had just stepped into the elevator, held the closing doors open, strode out, and walked quickly toward them.

A flash of delight crossed the woman’s eyes, and a hint of secret joy bloomed in her heart, something she herself didn’t even notice. Her gaze toward Stella Sterling even held a faint, triumphant smile.

"Young lady, you’ve come to your senses, have you? You know that between neighbors—AHHH—"

Before she could finish her sentence, she let out a bloodcurdling scream. Stella Sterling had kicked her square in the chest, knocking her to the ground. "You ungrateful thing!"

The onlookers, who had been either helping or just watching the drama, were shocked by Stella Sterling’s actions. Someone quickly stepped forward to mediate. "Young lady, calm down, calm down! Don’t stoop to her level!"

The woman was clearly stunned. For a moment, she stared blankly without a word, looking at Stella Sterling, having never expected her to react this way.

A moment later, she suddenly charged at Stella Sterling like a madwoman. "You psycho, you—"

"Don’t be rash! Everyone, calm down!"

The people around her held her back. Stella Sterling glanced at them and sneered, "You’re right. I am a cold-blooded, heartless person."

After saying this, she gave the young woman a meaningful look, then turned and walked toward the semi-conscious man.

The woman suddenly felt a wave of unease. A pang of regret hit her, and she shouted, "What do you think you’re doing?"

Seeing Stella Sterling ignore her, her voice shot up an octave. "What are you doing—"

The others also watched Stella Sterling with suspicion and uncertainty. From the look of her, she clearly wasn’t about to do anything good.

With one hand, Stella Sterling lifted the woman’s husband and, amidst her screams, tossed him back into the snowdrift.

Seeing this, the onlookers were utterly dumbfounded, staring as if they’d forgotten how to react.

By the time they snapped out of it, Stella Sterling was already shoveling snow onto the man, and he was already half-buried.

No one had truly expected the young woman to be so aggressive. They started to step forward to talk her down and save the man, but Stella Sterling pulled a small knife from her sleeve. "I’d advise you all to mind your own business. Otherwise, don’t blame me if someone gets hurt by accident."

Everyone cried out and backed away, seemingly shocked that a young woman would carry a knife on her. For a moment, no one dared to make a rash move.

"AHHH! Let my husband go! You’re a murderer!" the young woman shrieked, though she didn’t dare step forward to stop her either.

Her two children had long since been frightened into tears.

In no time, Stella Sterling had returned the man to his original state—buried up to his neck in snow with only his head exposed. Exactly as he was before they had started digging, not a single detail out of place.

Only after finishing all this did she stop. Without a glance at the crowd, she walked past them and into the elevator. The group of people watched her go, each with a different expression.

The woman, meanwhile, was the first to rush forward. "Quick! Everybody, save my husband! Why didn’t you stop that psycho just now?"

"You cowards! Why did you just stand there and watch her do that without stopping her?!"

She wailed, cursing at the crowd.

The crowd was also unhappy now and refused to help. "We don’t owe you anything!"

"Exactly! Why didn’t you stop her yourself? He’s your husband, not ours!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Yeah! We helped out of the kindness of our hearts and we still get cursed out? What did we ever do to deserve this?!"

Everyone dropped what they were holding, threw out a sarcastic remark or two, and left. No one cared anymore.

The young wife shouted, trying to stop everyone from leaving, alternating between curses and pleas. But no one could be bothered with her anymore. In the end, helpless, the woman could only cry as she started digging with her bare hands.

Also crying nearby was the family of three who had escaped death. They sat to one side, stunned and sobbing quietly. With their home buried in snow, where were they supposed to live now?

What’s more, their food supplies were still in the house. What would they eat from now on?

This wasn’t like before. They couldn’t go stay in a hotel, nor could they go out to buy things.

They had no idea what the future held.

Suddenly, the husband from that family ran toward his house and started clawing at the snow with his hands, calling out to his wife, "Quick! We have to at least dig out the food! Otherwise, how will the three of us survive?"

Meanwhile, Stella Sterling, having returned home, was in a great mood. ’Turns out, being a good person really isn’t for me,’ she thought. ’Being the villain is much more satisfying.’

’You’ve got to live in a way that makes you happy. Otherwise, if you keep all that anger bottled up, you’ll only make yourself miserable.’

’If I get cursed out for doing a good deed, then I might as well undo it. At the very least, I should live up to the names they’re calling me.’

Humming a little tune, she began to prepare lunch.