Apocalypse Rebirth: Crazy from Day One

Stephen Lawrence was confused, but his heart sank all the same.

’Is she asking this to judge my transgression and decide on my punishment?’

He swallowed hard. He desperately wanted to say the beating hadn’t been severe.

That way, at least his fate wouldn’t be quite so miserable.

But his mind wouldn’t let him utter a single lie to Stella Sterling. Instead, the words that came out of his mouth were, "Rough. I beat him pretty rough. He kept clutching something and wouldn’t hand it over, so I admit I got a little heavy-handed."

As soon as the words were out, Stephen Lawrence felt another wave of strength leave his body. He was one step away from collapsing right there on the ground.

A knot of fear tightened in his gut, but when he looked at Stella Sterling’s face, he saw no sign of anger. On the contrary, she wore an inscrutable smile he couldn’t begin to understand.

The more she smiled, the more terrified he became.

Stella Sterling looked down at him. "What are you doing sitting on the ground? Not bad. You handled this matter very well. Get up."

Stephen Lawrence wondered if he was so terrified that he was starting to hear things.

He couldn’t be sure what he had just heard. ’How is it possible? Not only is my master not angry, but she’s smiling and telling me I did the right thing.’

He shook his head, only to see Stella Sterling still wearing that same smile, with no trace of anger on her face.

His heart suddenly settled a little.

He sat up straighter and asked Stella Sterling tentatively, "Ma’am, you’re not angry?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Stella Sterling said with a smile, somehow producing a stool out of nowhere and sitting down on it.

’Has she gone mad from anger?’

Stephen Lawrence, shocked and uncertain, asked directly, "Isn’t that man... your father?"

"Yes, that’s right. He is my father."

Stella Sterling nodded.

Seeing her reaction, Stephen Lawrence was even more confused.

He pressed on, "Then how do you plan to punish me?"

Stella Sterling gazed at him with a smirk, but then her eyes turned ice-cold. "How about," she said menacingly, "I just kill you?"

Stephen Lawrence’s body shuddered. The little strength he had just managed to gather vanished once more, and a panicked look filled his eyes.

’Of course. Her not being angry before was just an act. I beat up her father. How could she possibly not be furious?’

’It’s over, it’s over. I’m a dead man!’

But as terrified as he was, he didn’t want to die just like that. He began to plead for his life. "Ma’am, Ma’am, I was wrong! I didn’t know who he was, I swear! If I’d known, I never would have done it! I would have brought him straight to you!"

"Please, just spare me on account of me still being useful to you! I’m completely loyal to you! And you just entrusted me with those design schematics, didn’t you? See? I’m still a little useful, so please, spare my life..."

"Hahahaha!"

But to his surprise, Stella Sterling suddenly burst out laughing, looking utterly delighted.

Stephen Lawrence watched her, his heart in his throat. He had no idea if she was still angry or if she had already forgiven him.

’Sometimes,’ he thought, ’this woman’s mental state doesn’t seem normal. I really can’t figure out what’s going on in her head.’

Still, he could tell from her laughter that she was genuinely amused.

He watched Stella Sterling cautiously, not daring to utter another word.

After she had her laugh, Stella Sterling finally said, "Get up. I’m not angry. You were right—you’re useful to me. Why would I kill you so easily? I was just joking with you."

Life’s ups and downs truly were a roller coaster.

Stephen Lawrence felt like his emotions were on that exact ride.

His heart had been yanked into his throat, only to be dropped back down. The whole thing felt surreal. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Stella Sterling tapped her fingers, her tone nonchalant. "Relax. To me, you’re far more important than he is. Why would I kill you over him?"

Seeing that Stella Sterling didn’t seem to be joking or toying with him anymore, Stephen Lawrence’s heart finally, truly settled.

And now that his sanity was returning, he finally realized something was off.

His master’s attitude toward her father was... wrong.

It seemed like her relationship with her father wasn’t just bad—it was downright hostile.

He thought back carefully and decided his guess was right.

’When she found out who the man was, she didn’t show the slightest bit of worry or anxiety. A normal person, hearing about their father in such a state, would immediately be worried sick and desperate to find him, right?’

’But his master displayed none of those emotions.’

’That alone spoke volumes.’

He knew his life was safe now.

He didn’t ask about her relationship with her father. Instead, he asked, "So, should we go find your father? I just ran into him yesterday. He’s probably still in the same area."

"No. Why would we bring him here? Let him be. That’s the last bit of mercy I have to give."

Stella Sterling shook her head with a faint smile. "He had best not appear before me again."

Those two short sentences confirmed his suspicions once more.

"I’ll go set up a place for us to stay."

Stephen Lawrence asked no more questions. He set the items down and scurried away.

Even though he now knew the father-daughter relationship was terrible, it wasn’t something an outsider like him could meddle in.

’It’s a blessing that my master isn’t holding it against me now. But who knows, maybe the two of them will patch things up someday. It’s better if I just keep my mouth shut about it.’

’Stephen Lawrence only mentioned Marcus Sterling,’ Stella mused. ’So what about that ’mother’ of mine? I wonder what her situation is. And their son... has he managed to meet up with them yet?’

’As for Yara Sterling... I haven’t paid her any mind in a long time.’

’They aren’t worth wasting my energy on, after all.’

For the past two years, she hadn’t paid much attention to Yara Sterling’s movements or given them much thought. She didn’t even know if Yara was still alive.

She found the phone she used to monitor Yara Sterling, charged it for a bit, and turned it on.

It turned out that after two years, Yara Sterling was still alive.

’That woman really is hard to kill.’ The location tracker showed Yara was a long, long way from her current position. Stella had no idea where she’d ended up.

After a few glances, she lost interest and tossed the phone back into her dimensional space. "Count yourselves lucky you haven’t run into me again," she muttered. "And you’d better pray you never cross my path in the future."

Stella Sterling murmured, the smile on her face tinged with an icy chill.

Soon enough, she had pushed all of them to the back of her mind.