Stella Sterling didn’t give chase. After the other person got into the elevator, she feinted toward the stairwell to scare them, then turned and walked back.

When she reached her door, she saw the man lying on the ground in front of it. She paused for a moment, then stepped around him and went inside.

SLAM! The door shut. The man on the ground seemed to be startled awake; his fingers twitched, but then he went still again.

Stella Sterling didn’t touch him. In his condition, there was no telling if he would survive. There was no need for her to do anything more.

Whether the man lived or died was all up to fate.

「In the middle of the night」

Stella Sterling was sleeping when a sound at the door woke her. She got up and checked the security monitor. In the pitch-black hallway, a figure was furtively fumbling with her doorknob. She could see clearly that it was Lily Pence, the woman who had abandoned her husband earlier that day.

It looked like she was trying to pick the lock.

’This woman has some nerve. I scared her half to death today, and now she’s back at my door. Instead of getting her husband out of here, she dares to mess with my home.’

Lily Pence had been working on the lock for a while and was sweating profusely with anxiety, but the door showed no signs of opening. The longer it took, the more frantic she became.

Her family used to be in the locksmith business. Having learned from her father, she knew a lot about lock-picking and could open many types of locks, both old and new.

The idea had come to her in a flash while she was on her way to rescue her husband, but she never imagined the lock on this apartment would be so difficult.

"Forget it. This woman is a lunatic. I’d better not mess with her!"

Lily Pence muttered to herself, then turned, hoisted her husband onto her back, and left.

Stella Sterling, who had been preparing to grab a knife and deal with her, watched the retreating figure on the monitor. She raised an eyebrow. ’She’s lucky she left.’

If before she had only wanted to scare the woman, the moment Lily Pence started picking her lock, her killing intent had flared.

She stared at the woman’s back on the monitor for a moment longer, then turned and went back to bed.

Unaware that she had just escaped death, Lily Pence carried her husband back to the twelfth floor. She knocked on the door of the family that had taken them in before. Somehow, she managed to convince them to take in her family of three.

Meanwhile, another family of three from the first floor contacted property management. After learning that an owner on the 27th floor didn’t live there, they gave the management a pocket watch worth over a hundred thousand and got the keys to that apartment.

The day finally ended peacefully. Stella Sterling slept soundly until noon the next day.

Her curtains were closed, but when she woke up, she felt the sun on her skin. It was a little dazzling.

After days of heavy snow, the sky had been a constant gloomy gray. Looking outside, the sheer whiteness of the snow was almost blinding. As for the sun... she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen it. Feeling sunlight now was truly bizarre.

Stella Sterling got up and walked straight to the window. The moment she pulled back the curtains, sunlight streamed in, hitting her directly. She immediately shielded her eyes; the glare was intense.

Not only was the sun out, but it was dazzlingly bright. And yet, the snow hadn’t stopped; it was still falling relentlessly. The scene looked utterly surreal.

And this anomaly was something Stella Sterling hadn’t noticed in her previous life.

Just then, she heard someone in the complex shout, "The sun’s out! Did the snow stop?"

Someone even ran right out of their apartment and down into the courtyard, only to be covered in snow. Strangely, despite the bright sun, the snow wasn’t melting at all. In fact, it seemed to be freezing over, and the air felt even colder than before. The person who had rushed out immediately ran back inside, yelling, "It’s so cold! So cold! I’m freezing to death! I feel like I’m turning into an ice cube!"

The person’s shouts dissuaded others who had the same impulse. The joyful atmosphere evaporated, and everyone fell silent.

After a long moment, someone broke down and screamed, "The sun is out, so why won’t the snow stop?!"

"What the hell is this weather? Oh, God! What are you trying to do to us? Just give us a chance to live!"

After so many days, many people were already at their breaking point. Today’s sunlight had given them a glimmer of hope, but it turned out to be a cruel joke. This emotional roller coaster was too much for those already on the edge. Some started cursing furiously, while others’ curses turned into sobs.

The residential complex descended into chaos. Shouts, curses, and sobs blended into a deafening clamor.

"Don’t you know you bumped into me, you motherfucker?"

"So what if I bumped into you? Are you made of fucking porcelain? You gonna shatter? Are you missing an arm or a leg now?"

"What the fuck did you just say to me? Fuck it, I’m going to beat you until you’re missing an arm and a leg, I swear to God!"

"Bring it on! You think I’m scared of you? Whoever backs down is a fucking bitch!"

Everyone had come out to watch the commotion. A crowd had gathered on the third-floor corridor. Two people accidentally bumped into each other, and a simple disagreement escalated into a shouting match. Then, the shouting turned into a brawl.

Some people tried to break up the fight but got hit by mistake, so they joined the fray as well. In an instant, the scene devolved into a chaotic free-for-all, becoming even more of a spectacle.

The noise was enough to give anyone a headache. Stella Sterling rubbed her ears, frowned, and turned to go back. But River Larkin followed her. "People’s mindsets haven’t shifted yet. They’re still holding back. But if this continues, everyone will go crazy. The old rules won’t hold them for much longer. Soon, the most dangerous thing out there will be other people!"

Stella Sterling looked at him. "So? What are you trying to say?"

"I’m saying that the world has descended into chaos. It’s not like it was before. We should change the way we survive!"

River Larkin’s brows were tightly furrowed as he looked at Stella Sterling seriously. "And what you did yesterday was exactly right. To survive now, you have to be ruthless. That’s the only way to last longer!"

"And you are very smart!"

"Thanks for the compliment."

She nodded, accepting his praise, but leaned against the inside of the elevator without continuing the conversation.

"Wait, just hear me out. I’m extending the invitation again: let’s team up!"

River Larkin hastily grabbed Stella Sterling’s arm, desperate for her to hear him out.

Stella Sterling looked down at the hand gripping her arm, and her gaze turned ice-cold. "Let go."

River Larkin froze, then tactfully released her hand. "Sorry, I was out of line."

"But you should really consider what I said. If we work together, we can definitely survive the coming storm. I believe neither of us will disappoint the other!"