Chapter 293: Chapter 293: Don’t Care
The woman before her had lost all trace of her former, delicate appearance.
Not only were her clothes a filthy mess, but her face was also caked with grime and blood.
The Yara Sterling of the past had always been meticulous about her appearance, especially her face.
She had spent a fortune maintaining it.
Now? If it weren’t for a vague sense of familiarity, Stella wouldn’t have even recognized her. If she had passed this woman on the street, she would never have believed it was Yara Sterling.
The difference was staggering!
The two words that came to mind—’how pathetic’—deeply stung Yara Sterling’s pride.
Of course, she knew how wretched she looked. She hadn’t cared before. In this apocalypse, wasn’t everyone struggling just as hard to survive?
Plenty of people were worse off than her. The fact that she was still alive was, in her opinion, a remarkable achievement.
But of all people, Stella Sterling had to be living so well.
Compared to her, Yara’s own situation was just pathetic.
If it had been anyone else standing before her, she could have swallowed her pride to flatter and grovel.
After all, that was how she had survived for the past two years. She had long since lost the pride and arrogance she once held as a young lady of the Sterling Family.
Pleasing others to survive was nothing. She would do far worse, as long as it meant she could stay alive.
But the person before her just had to be Stella Sterling. With her, Yara couldn’t overcome her own inhibitions. She simply couldn’t bring herself to flatter her.
Not only could she not flatter her, she couldn’t even suppress the urge to hate her, to *do* something to her. The only thing that would make her happy would be to grind Stella under her heel.
Forget about flattery. Right now, she didn’t even want to say a single nice word to Stella Sterling.
Besides, after everything that had happened, she already knew that submitting to Stella Sterling was useless.
Stella hated her just as much. So even if Yara were to act subservient, Stella wouldn’t fall for it and wouldn’t treat her any better.
Since she couldn’t get close to Stella, she gave up the struggle. Lying on the ground, she forced herself to sit up and yelled at Stella, "If you’ve got the guts, then kill me! Otherwise, I swear I’ll get my revenge the first chance I get!"
Hearing this, Stella Sterling just watched her quietly for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. "You don’t actually think the only reason I didn’t kill you before was because I was afraid to, do you?"
"Isn’t that it?"
Yara Sterling shot back.
Before, Stella had gone to great lengths to get her away from the Sterling Family, only to leave her to fend for herself. She hadn’t done anything to her then.
When they met again later, Stella had just moved her to another location, but she’d always spared her life, never killing her.
’Wasn’t that because Stella was afraid?’
’Mom and Dad love me the most. If Stella were to kill me, they would never forgive her.’
’And Stella has always cared so much about what Mom and Dad think.’
’She doesn’t dare kill me, because Mom and Dad would blame her.’
At this thought, she burst into triumphant laughter. "So what if you’re powerful, Stella Sterling? So what if you’re living the good life now? You will never have Mom and Dad’s love!"
"I’m the one Mom and Dad love the most! Believe it or not, even if you’re the leader of Caeluna Base now, if they had to choose between us, Mom and Dad would definitely choose me, Yara Sterling!"
As she said this, Yara Sterling’s face was filled with absolute confidence.
Even her ashen, defeated face seemed to glow with a triumphant light.
’So what if Stella is more accomplished? In this one thing, she’ll never be able to compare to me. She’ll never be better than me.’
After speaking, she looked at Stella Sterling triumphantly.
But a moment later, Yara Sterling’s brow furrowed.
She looked at Stella with suspicion, disappointed that she didn’t see the reaction she’d hoped for on Stella’s face.
’In the past, wouldn’t words like that have made Stella miserable?’
’So why is she so calm now? It’s like she doesn’t care at all.’
’Impossible. How could she not care? She must be pretending, right?’
Stella Sterling showed no reaction. Hearing Yara’s words, she didn’t feel the slightest ripple of emotion.
In the past, words like that would have indeed hurt her. She would have been unable to stop herself from wondering who their parents would really choose.
But now?
’They can choose whoever they want. I couldn’t care less!’
She was living a good life now, with more than she could ask for. She was immeasurably happier than most people.
Why should she bother forcing herself to want something that was never hers to begin with?
Besides, she had stopped caring about those parents in her past life. She couldn’t even be bothered with whether they lived or died.
As for their love? She had even less use for it.
While Yara Sterling was saying all this,
Stella simply raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you finished? And what is that supposed to prove?"
Yara Sterling’s expression suddenly turned savage. "I said Mom and Dad love *me*! They don’t love you! Didn’t you hear me? Are you deaf, Stella Sterling?"
Stella Sterling stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. A clear red handprint bloomed on Yara Sterling’s cheek.
Looking at the lone handprint, Stella felt a pang of dissatisfaction. It was asymmetrical.
So, she backhanded Yara’s other cheek, evening things out. Only then did she nod in satisfaction, her mood finally improving.
She smiled. "Such a loud voice. Who are you trying to scare to death?"
The two slaps left Yara Sterling completely stunned.
A trickle of blood ran from the corner of Yara Sterling’s mouth, her head was BUZZING, and she was silent for a long moment.
When Yara Sterling finally looked up, she was met with Stella’s disdainful expression. "After all these years, is that still the only thing you know how to talk about?"
"If your parents love you so much, then why are you still here suffering? Why haven’t they come looking for you? Why haven’t they taken you away to live a life of comfort?"
Every single word was a vicious stab to Yara Sterling’s heart.
This was a question that had been bothering her for a long time: why hadn’t Mom and Dad come looking for her?
Seeing Yara Sterling remain silent for so long, Stella Sterling sneered inwardly. ’See? The so-called parental love between them is just that fragile.’
’All it took was a few choice words to make Yara Sterling doubt everything. How pathetic.’
After a pause, Yara Sterling continued, "It’s not that Mom and Dad aren’t looking for me. It’s just that in this apocalypse, their hearts are willing but their hands are tied. They must be incredibly worried now that I’m missing."
"But as for you," she spat, "I don’t think they care one bit whether you live or die."
Yara Sterling’s words showed no weakness. She targeted all the things that used to matter to Stella, the things that she knew would once have hurt her to hear.
It was the only area left where she could feel superior to Stella.
