"Open the door! Hurry up and open the door!"

Stella Sterling emerged from the kitchen carrying a freshly cooked dish. A series of knocks came from outside, accompanied by pounding and shouting, but Stella paid it no mind.

She dished up a bowl of rice for herself and started eating while it was still steaming hot.

Today, she’d made a spicy dry pot with some vegetables, meatballs, and fatty beef rolls she had prepared. The sight of the vibrant red food before her whetted her appetite. She didn’t even turn on a show, simply wolfing down her meal. Despite the heavy snow outside, she ate until she was dripping with sweat, feeling incredibly satisfied.

Only after she had eaten her fill did she wipe her mouth, finally having the time to deal with the person outside.

The knocking continued, but she had no intention of opening the door. She walked over to her computer to check the security monitor.

On the screen, she saw the young wife from the first floor standing at her door with her child. Beside them, her husband had somehow been dug out of the snow again, but his face was deathly pale, as if he wasn’t breathing.

Stella couldn’t tell if the man was fortunate or unfortunate. After being tormented like this multiple times, he was somehow still alive. However, no matter how you looked at it, his condition was dire. Even if he survived, his body was likely ruined.

Looking at the young woman, her hair was disheveled, and she was soaked to the bone. The hand she was using to pound on the door was swollen like a pig’s trotter, probably frozen from digging in the snow just moments before.

"Stella Sterling, I know you’re in there! Open up!" the young wife, Lily Pence, shouted, her eyes glinting with malice as she hammered on the door. "Don’t play deaf! You did this to my husband! You have to take responsibility for my family!"

Somehow, she had learned Stella Sterling’s name and address and had come looking for her.

Lily Pence’s voice was growing weak from shouting, but she hadn’t given up. She kept yelling, determined to make Stella open the door.

’If it weren’t for her, would my family be in such a miserable state?’

No matter what, she had to make Stella take in her family of three. Otherwise, with her husband in his current state, her two children so young, and their home uninhabitable, how could they possibly survive?

"’Trying to leech off me?’ Stella muttered, finding it somewhat amusing. ’What part of me screams "easy target" that would give someone such a ridiculous idea?’"

The woman outside continued to shout and pound on the door, the noise growing louder. A wicked smile spread across Stella’s face. She laughed, then walked into the kitchen, grabbed a whetstone, and returned to the door. Reaching into her space, she pulled out her large cleaver and began to sharpen it.

The scraping sound of the blade grew louder and louder, so clear that even the people outside could hear it distinctly.

The knocking from outside abruptly stopped. Lily Pence’s tone was laced with suspicion and uncertainty. "Stella Sterling, is that you by the door? What are you trying to do?"

There was no answer, but the sound of the sharpening knife grew even louder. Now Lily could hear it clearly, and a flicker of terror crossed her eyes.

’This Stella Sterling was always freakishly vicious,’ she thought. ’Don’t tell me she’s actually planning to kill someone?’

Fear urged her to retreat, but she was unwilling to leave just like that.

After a moment, she gritted her teeth. Instead of leaving, she stepped forward and resumed knocking. "Stop with the spooky act! You can’t scare me! I’m not leaving! If you don’t give us an explanation for what happened today, this isn’t over! I’ll go to the police and report you, even in this snow!"

Still, no one inside answered her. There was only the sound of the sharpening blade, growing ever louder. Then, the door that had been shut tight suddenly began to move. Lily, who should have been happy, instead felt her heart inexplicably start to race, a growing sense of unease creeping over her.

She was suddenly overcome with the urge to retreat. She pulled her child back with her just as the door swung open. A large, gleaming cleaver appeared before her eyes. Stella stepped out, a brilliant smile on her face. "You want an explanation, right? Easy enough..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the woman let out a sudden shriek, grabbed her two children, and fled, completely forgetting about her husband.

"Don’t run! Weren’t you the one who kept telling me to open the door?"

Stella smiled, hefting the cleaver as she walked toward them. Her small steps turned into long strides, and then she broke into a run—

"She’s crazy! She’s crazy!"

Lily Pence screamed. Once inside the elevator, she frantically mashed the close-door button, the terror in her eyes threatening to spill over. Thankfully, the doors slid shut just as Stella charged toward them. But before she could even sigh in relief, she clearly saw through the crack in the doors that Stella had turned and headed for the stairs. Her heart pounded violently, and her body trembled with fear.

’Stella Sterling hadn’t given up on killing her!!!’

As the thought flashed through her mind, her body trembled uncontrollably. The sound of her child crying grated on her nerves, and she spun around and roared, "Cry, cry, cry! What is there to cry about? Shut up!"

The child was startled and shakily closed their mouth. The little girl whispered, "Mommy, Daddy... Daddy’s still up there!"

Lily Pence froze, only then remembering the husband she had left behind. Her expression changed instantly.

’My husband... My husband is still up there.’

But after what had just happened, how could she possibly have the courage to go back for him?

She squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, they were filled with hatred. "You two remember this. If anything happens to your father, that woman back there is the one who killed him."

’I still have my children,’ she thought. ’I can’t go back to save him. Besides, we haven’t even escaped that madwoman ourselves yet.’

When the elevator doors opened, she didn’t see Stella Sterling and breathed a sigh of relief. ’Good. No matter how terrifying that woman is, she can’t be faster than an elevator. As long as I can find a family to let me in, I’ll be safe.’ Just then, she saw a figure move in the stairwell. She was scared out of her wits and started running again, screaming, "Help! Murder! Someone’s trying to kill me!"

Her sharp, miserable cry echoed throughout the entire building.

Many people were drawn out by the noise, unsure of what was happening.

Lily Pence ran to one apartment and pounded frantically on the door. "Open up! Please, open up! Help me! Someone is trying to kill us!"

Hearing this, the person inside who had been about to open the door immediately snatched their hand back and yelled angrily, "Get lost! Don’t drag me into your mess!"

She could only run to the next door and knock. Her children helped, and the three of them filled the hallway with their cries for help. Someone in another apartment couldn’t bear it, opening their door to let her in before quickly slamming it shut.

The commotion was significant. Several people came downstairs with makeshift weapons, cautiously investigating the situation. But they found no murderer—only the woman having a breakdown. There was no one behind her at all.

Recalling how unreasonable the woman had been earlier that day, everyone frowned.

"Is she nuts or something?"

With a curse, the group grumbled and muttered as they returned to their own apartments.