Crossroads

Last night. Stephanie was kept up for most of the night by the crazy person upstairs. Thankfully, he quieted down after midnight. Otherwise, she might have gone upstairs to give him a piece of her mind.

She couldn't shake off the residents stories about the haunted Room 402.

Combined with the noise from above, she ended up and spent the whole night having nightmares.

with frayed nerven In her dream, she was in a spacious, unfamiliar room. The room was empty except for a large white bed in the center, and she was tied to it, unable to move her limbs.

Stephanie struggled in fear, but the ropes were thick and firmly bound her hands and feet. She couldn't break free. A dark figure then entered the room, but she couldn't see his face dearly, likely because she was restrained. From the angle of her position, the figure seemed extremely tall and terrifying.

"Who are you! Are you trying to hurt me! What did I do to offend you!" She tried to stay calm and negotiate. "If I really did something wrong. I apologize. Ill make it up to you. You can ask whatever you want."

But the person just stood silently by the bedside, not saying a word.

Finally, Stephanie couldn't suppress her fear and screamed, "Hurt me if you want. I don't care about the pain or suffering Just give me back my children. They're just babies. Please, don't hurt them just give them back!"

She then woke up with tears still streaming down her face.

Stephanie sat up, leaning against the headboard in a daze. Ever since that night, nightmares had become a nightly ritual, a terror that seeped into Late her very bones.

She couldn't forget what had happened, but whenever she tried to delve deeper, she was afraid to remember too clearly She was trapped in this conflicting emotion, like being lost in a maze, unable to find her way out. Fear and anxiety gnawed at her, her spirit nearly shattered. She didn't know how much longer she could hold on or what she was even living for anymore, Stephanie grabbed the medicine from her bedside table and took a pill without caring if it was on an empty stomach.

She closed her eyes, silently repeating her prayer in her mind. She didn't dare speak the words aloud, convinced that saying them might somehow negate their power. It wasn't superstition, just pure fear.

Stephanie knew she couldn't wallow in misery. She jumped out of bed, freshened up, and threw open all the windows, flooding the house with sunlight and a renewed sense of life.

The air was crisp after last night's downpour. She inhaled deeply changed into her running clothes, and decided to jog around the block. A little exercise could work wonders for her mood.

The moment she depped outside, she spotted the white drone still sitting there.

"Who leaves an expensive toy like this lying around!" she wondered.

This time, curiosity got the better of her She knelt down for a closer look and was impressed by the drone's intricate design. She picked up the remate and pressed a few buttons, Suddenly, it lit up and took off into the air.

Stephanie was stunned. She chased after it but could only watch helplessly as it zipped out the stairwell window and vanished.

She felt guilty. It wasn't her thing, after all. She leaned against the window, anxiety grawing at her. Unsure how to fix this, her eyes darted to the elevator, and in a moment of panic, she decided to ditch it and take the stairs.

After last night's heavy rain, the lawn was quite damp, but fortunately, the concrete dried quickly. Stephanie ran frantically after the drone, splashing water and getting her pants dirty. Finally, she retrieved it on a concrete patch on the west side.

Panting, she glared at the toy drone on the ground, tempted to kick it in frustration But it wasn't hers to destroy. She fiddled with the remote control, unable to resist pushing a button.

The drone ripped across the concrete, turned on a dime, and even shot up into the air surprisingly fast. After playing around with it for a bit, she realized it wasn't so hard to control.

Just as Stephanie thought she was being silly and decided to put it back in its place, a large dog suddenly appeared.

It was a husky, jumping as high as an adult, excitedly chasing the drone. It barked and bared its teeth, trying to bite it down.

Stephanie was startled. She n quickly flew the toy higher to keep it safe. However, after half a minute, she calmed down. The husky was probably a pet from one of the residents. It didn't bite people, just keeping running after the drone in the sky.

With a mischievous grin. Stephanie controlled the electric toy, making the drone fly erratically up and down. The energetic husky jumped

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countless times, trying to catch it until it eventually got tired, panting with its tongur hanging out.

Before long, the thirsty dog ran back home for water. Stephanie guessed it would return soon, so she brought the drone down to ground level. making it zigzag in 5 and 2 shapes. Her original plan was to continue playing with the dog to pass the time To her surprise, she heard a faint rustling from the neatly trimmed lawn ahead. She focused her attention, and a small head popped out of the grass.

It was a tiny boy, about a year old, with soft skin and dressed in a cute little Spider-Man nutit. His big curious eyes were locked onto Stephanie froze, watching g this unexpected little visitor. The todiller, a bit wobbly on his feet, toddled towards her and sweetly called out "Mommy She was completely stunned.

It was nine in the morning, the sun playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds. It was a lovely Saturday morning, with plenty of people from the neighborhood out for a stroll.

Molly, full of energy, had brought Andy over to hang our with Stephanie for the day.

But before they could head upstairs, Andy tugged on Molly's sleeve, his tiny finger pointing towards an empty spot on the west side of the neighborhood. Molly instantly recognized the woman sitting cross-legged on the ground with her back to them. It was Stephanie, absorbed in whatever she was. doing

"What are you doing"" Molly asked.

Just keeping the title guy company, Stephanie replied calmly, then looked up and recognized Molly Abhish crept onto her cheeks as she tried to tuck the remote behind her back like a kid caught playing with something silly.

Molly shook her head and gave herself a facepalm.

Stephanie was a grown-up, yet she was still playing with an electric toy a and letting the baby crawl around the floor.

"He's not quite walking yet, Stephanie explained, feeling a bit flustered. She hadn't meant to let him get dirty, but a little mess was okay if he was happy and exploring.

As they spoke, Stephanie finally noticed the boy, maybe five or six, standing behind Molly. "And who's this?" she asked. Andy, the boy she'd glanced at, suddenly blushed for no apparent reason, his little face turning bright red Molly looked down at Andy, even more speechless. She couldn't believe that Scott's son would actually blush.

"It's Saturday, so he doesn't have preschool. Scott has something to discuss with Dominick tonight, so I thought I'd bring him out for a bit..."

When Stephanie heard the name "Dominick", her expression noticeably froze for a moment Meanwhile, the lively toddler up ahead finally got what he wanted. His small hands wrapped around the drone, and he excitedly squealed with joy before trying to bite it

"Hey, no eating that! Stephanie said. hurrying over.

Before she could reach him, a worried woman's voice called from a distance. The toddler instantly perked up and began to crawl away.

Stephanie watched as the little guy clutched the corner of the drone in his right hand and eagerly moved toward his mother.

Soon, the child's mother rushed over and scooped him up. Noticing his dirty clothes, she frowned briefly but felt relieved once she saw he wasn't

"Sweetie, what's this? Where did you get it! Don't put everything in your mouth. You can't eat this. Let's go home. Daddy brought back a birthday cake for you."

Stephanie stood still, watching the mother and son walk away, feeling a pang of envy at their warm r relationship.

She looked down at the remote control in her hand. The drone had been taken by the child, and she N considered giving them the remote as well. She took a step to catch up with them.

Although the drone was lightweight, it was about the size of a small stool, and the child couldn't hold it properly. It crashed straight onto the This high-tech gadget was quite fragile, and its parts scattered everywhere.

The cabd's nother glanced at the ground but didn't pay much attention and walked away. Stephanar stepped forward, crouched down, and began die gather the broken pieces.

12:13 PM C Chapter 270

She sighed, wondering who it belonged to and if they would need to compensate someone for it.

"What's this?" Andy was also curious. He came over to help her clean up, picking up a small black piece with a reflective surface.

Molly's expression turned serious. "Stephanie, is this one of those micro surveillance cameras?"

Stephanie took the piece and put it in her jacket pocket without a word. She finished cleaning up the debris on the floor and then led Molly and Andy back to Room 402,

"Stephanie, where did this drone come from?" Molly asked, a bit uneasy.

Once the door was closed, Stephanie took the special component out of her pocket, tossed it on the floor, and said to Molly, "Don't worry about it” With an icy glare, she raised her right foot and stomped on the electronic part. It sizzled and then went dead.

The screen went dark.

"Dominick, what are you looking at on your phone?" In the other room, Scott noticed that the max across from him seemed upset for some reason. Dominick was staring intently at his phone, looking quite angry.

"Nothing," Dominick replied, his face darkening as he slammed the phone down on the table.