18 Floors Above the Apocalypse

Facing his dim-witted cousin, Bentley remained impassive. "Dozens of boxes of Scotch, a collection of antiques, a million-dollar set of golf clubs, diving gear, wristwatches, cash, pistols and bullets, a five-million-dollar Samurai sword, as well as a batch of high-grade food." "Pistols and bullets?" Bran was astonished. "You're quite the rascal."

Bentley glanced at him, "You're one to talk."

Ramming other cars, starting brawls, and tax issues, if it weren't for the apocalypse, these wouldn't be issues you could solve with a stint in the slammer.

"What you lost doesn't even amount to the cost of my car." Bran was meant to find this amusing, but instead, he felt more despondent. "How the hell did you keep all this stuff at your office?"

"I had kept Lindsay trapped in the villa. She was extremely unruly, not just smashing everything in sight, but she even stabbed me a few times. She would go crazy every time she saw me."

So, for a long period of time, he lived in his office, only returning to the villa when he really wanted to see her.

Trapped? Bran was taken aback, "With your status and position, you could have any woman you want. Just a snap of your fingers and there'd be a line of women ready to orbit the earth three times. Is it necessary to resort to such measures?"

"You wouldn't understand her worth." Bentley's intense gaze revealed sadness. "I broke her legs, chained her up, all in the hopes of winning her heart. There are plenty of women in this world, but I only want her."

This wasn't his cousin, this was a criminal. Bran's worldview was challenged, "What happened next?"

"She was disobedient, so I starved her for half a month as punishment. All she had to do was apologize, but she'd rather drink toilet water and chew on tissues, than bow to me. Then the hurricane came, she stabbed me and jumped from the second floor." "Did she die?"

"No." Bentley was engulfed in painful memories, "She starved for half a month, was skin and bones, had a broken leg, and was carried away by the hurricane."

He had searched frantically for a long time but didn't even find a trace of her.

In the backseat, Stella with her excellent hearing, felt silent.

Wasn't this just Bentley and Bran, two law-breaking individuals, casually discussing their crimes as if she wasn't there?

Right, it was the apocalypse now. Even if there were no legal boundaries before the disaster, who would hold them accountable now?

But why did the list of items Bentley reported missing sound so familiar to her?

Stella racked her brains and her pupils dilated in realization. Damn, all the stuff Bentley lost was in her Arcadia. There were still a few bottles of Scotch left, and plenty of steak and ham. If they found out, she probably wouldn't even be left with a scrap of bone. It was the apocalypse though. Who hadn't gotten their hands dirty?

Initially timid Stella suddenly brimmed with courage; there was no way she was returning anything. You want a fight? Bring it on!

Despite her internal bravery, she maintained a low profile, making sure they didn't notice her. So she pretended to be engrossed in the meeting.

Everyone living in Hopefield was well-off, and they all agreed to pay property fees based on the size of their villas.

Stella was all for it. Her house was the smallest, but she still had to pay 20 kilograms of food every month. The Porras family had to pay no less than 150 kilograms.

In this way, the property management got a lot of grain.

The vice-chair suggested hiring some cleaning and gardening staff. After all, many families had pets that needed to be walked and relieved, and there was also the matter of handling household waste.

The Porras family had no objections, and neither did anyone else.

...

In reality, Bran was just bored. He missed cars. Sigh, a Range Rover would do. Better than nothing.

Who knew Bentley's Range Rover wouldn't be easy to get. Despite Bran's carefree demeanor, he had a solid network. "You need to find a way to find Lindsay for me."

Bran was stunned, bluntly saying, "Cousin, can you snap out of it? She broke one leg, jumped from the second floor and broke another, and then got swept away by a hurricane. The chances of her being alive..." Bentley refused to accept the reality, "No, I believe she's still alive."

"Fine, give me the car first."

There was no saving his cousin. Bran decided to secure the car first. As for that Lindsay, she must have destroyed the earth in her past life to be so unlucky in this one.

Bran had even given up on finding his own able-bodied girlfriend, let alone helping him find a crippled captive. She was probably blown to the Pacific by the hurricane.

Bentley nodded, "You can have the car, but I'm curious. Who was it that dared to turn your Maybach into scrap metal?"

What a provocative question. Bran slowly turned around, smiling especially cheeky, "Well, it was this lady right here." Bentley followed his gaze.

Stella smiled sarcastically, her voice exceptionally gentle, "Hello, gentlemen."

Bentley was aloof, turning away without saying a word.

Bran, on the other hand, was like someone who had been injected with adrenaline, instantly became the village fool when he saw Stella smile at him, "Miss, it was indeed my fault for accidentally bumping into your car last time. These days, the more I reflect on it, the more guilty I feel. How about giving me a chance to make it up to you?"

Stella was shocked, "Didn't I wreck your car? We're even."

"No, no, no, how can we be even? My family even called the police later, causing you guys to be scared. So, I still need to compensate. How about I treat you all to dinner?"

"No need, just stay away from us in the future."

"Sure, if you feel it's inconvenient, I can come over to your place for dinner."

Stella was speechless, "Stay away, OK?"

Bran was hurt, "Just give me a chance to make up for it. We'll be even, and I'll stay away from you for good."

Bentley, who was sitting upright, felt speechless. His cousin must have a serious brain disorder.

The homeowner's meeting ended, the weather was getting colder, and Stella got up to leave quickly.

Afraid that Stella would get cold, Jasper took her hand and tucked it into his coat pocket.

Bentley spoke without any consideration, "Are you interested in her?"

Bran was speechless. His cousin must have a serious brain disorder. How did he come to the conclusion that he was interested in Stella? Well, he was interested, but not in the romantic sense.

It was only due to the crowd at the Homeowners Association meeting that Stella didn't blast these two troublemakers.

No sooner had she left than Stella felt the prying eyes on her. It was Tracy from building 39, and it wasn't the first time tonight. Pretending not to notice, Stella wrapped her coat tighter around her, hurriedly linking arms with Jasper, and rushed home. It was so cold. The moment they opened the door, Cooper and Rosie came running to greet them. The space heater was on in the living room upstairs, making it cozily warm.

Feeling a bit hungry, they pulled out some stir-fried noodles and barbecued ribs for late supper, washing it down with half a bottle of chilled beer.

Cooper and Rosie, having eaten their fill, quickly succumbed to sleep, snuggling into their beds with contentment.

Jasper, however, was wide awake. He took clean pajamas and followed Stella into the bathroom before carefully closing the door behind him.

That night, Stella had a nightmare. Bentley was showing a fierce face, first breaking her leg, then chaining her up. She was forced to drink tap water and to gnaw on toilet paper to sate her hunger. In the end, he raised a five-million-dollar samurai sword and began hacking wildly. "It was you. I knew it was you! Give it back to me!" The splattered blood on his golden-rimmed glasses was chillingly vivid.