Chapter 365: Chapter 365: The Predator’s Plan

Yvonne York sighed from the side. "That’s right. Since the deed has Gregory’s name on it, this apartment naturally belongs to him."

"Joyce, you’re the older sister. You should have bought your brother a house in the first place. How can you even think about fighting with him over things? You’re not a child anymore. Be more sensible and stop disappointing your mother, okay?"

The moment Yvonne York finished speaking, the color drained from Joyce Lawson’s face. Her lips trembled, and tears welled in her eyes.

She said nothing, just stared silently at Yvonne York. Through a haze of tears, her gaze met Yvonne’s look of disappointment.

Gregory Lawson was still whining and grumbling, "I want pumpkin! I don’t care! Go out and buy me some pumpkin! I want pumpkin!"

Seeing this, Gregory’s grandmother hugged him, her heart aching as she cooed, "There, there, Grandma’s precious boy. Grandma will mix some potatoes with white sugar for you. It tastes just as good as pumpkin..."

Mason Lawson and Yvonne York hurried over as well, joining in to comfort Gregory.

The three of them coaxed Gregory back to his bedroom, leaving Joyce standing there all alone...

Joyce stood alone in the living room for a while. Once she had composed herself, she quietly began to move.

First, she used melted snow to wipe the blood from her face, then she moved the supplies from the handcart to a corner, stacking them neatly.

After arranging the supplies, Joyce dragged the empty handcart toward Apartment 1603.

Standing before the door to 1603, Joyce took a deep breath, pasted on a smile, and knocked lightly.

A man’s voice soon came from inside. "Come in! The door code is 123456!"

Joyce hesitated for a moment but did as he said, keying in the code. She then gently opened the door and stepped inside.

As soon as she entered, Joyce saw Titus Lowell standing in the middle of the living room. His tall, imposing figure made the entire space feel cramped.

At the sight of him, Joyce quickly pushed the handcart forward.

She walked up to Titus Lowell and gave him a slight bow. "Thank you for letting me borrow the handcart for my supplies," she said politely. "I’m finished now, so I’m returning it!"

With that, she gently pushed the handcart toward him.

Titus Lowell smiled at Joyce, and the swastika tattoo on his face twitched along with it.

"You’re welcome, little beauty," he said. "We’re neighbors. It’s only right to help each other out."

***

After Joyce left, the door to a side bedroom opened, and two tall, burly men walked out.

The two men were Titus Lowell’s second brother, Leopold Lowell, and their third brother, Drake Lowell.

Drake looked at the handcart, scratched his head, and asked in confusion, "Boss, since when are you so nice, lending the handcart to that chick? ... Chicks like her are arrogant and act all high and mighty. They don’t let men screw them easily. Even if you help her, it’s a waste of effort! She won’t sleep with you!"

Titus ignored him, turning instead to pull a roll of tape from a drawer.

He took the tape to the door, opened it, and pressed it onto the keypad lock outside.

Joyce hadn’t noticed earlier, but the electronic lock was covered with a thin layer of powder.

With practiced ease, Titus used the tape to lift fingerprints from the keypad and then from the doorknob.

Once he was done, Titus carefully put the tape away.

Then, he glanced in the direction of 1601 and gave a cold, sinister smile.

***

Walking back into the living room, Titus saw Drake rummaging through the supplies they had just collected.

Seeing Titus return, Drake couldn’t help but complain, "Boss, how come you only got this little bit of stuff? For the three of us, this is only enough for about ten days! It won’t last two months!"

Hearing this, Titus flared up with anger.

He smacked Drake on the back of the head and growled, "And whose fault is that? You two are always out there screwing around! Now you have the nerve to complain there isn’t enough food!"

"...You two. One of you forged documents and covered for someone, and got fired from the hotel. The other made a move on some old widow in the village and got put on the official blacklist!"

"You two idiots can’t even do stupid things without leaving evidence! Now, out of the three of us, I’m the only one who can collect supplies! This is a one-person share, so of course it’s not enough for three people!"

Hearing this, Drake scratched his head guiltily and looked down, not daring to say another word.

Leopold, meanwhile, stood sullenly to the side, silent.

He had been in low spirits ever since he lost his job at The Nimbus Hotel for covering for Wyatt Warren and Supervisor Walsh.

He now regretted it immensely.

That was The Nimbus Hotel, a place everyone dreamed of working at! It had a huge salary and benefits that made everyone jealous!

And he’d thrown it all away in a moment of stupidity.

’I’ve been living in regret these past few days,’ Leopold thought. ’If I could get another chance, I would never do something so stupid! I used to be the most successful of the three of us, but now I’m reduced to mooching off my big brother just to get by. I can’t accept this!’

Titus glanced at his two brothers, snorted, and continued, "Alright, you two don’t need to worry. Just be patient for a few more days... When the time comes, all the supplies in this entire building will belong to the three of us!"

Hearing this, Drake scurried over like a suck-up. "Boss, you always have a plan! What are you going to do?"

Titus stroked the swastika tattoo on his head and said with a dark gaze, "I’ve been scouting things out these past few days. On this floor, the Lawson family in 1601 is the biggest problem. I hear there are five of them—two men and three women."

The only person from 1601 who ever went out was Joyce Lawson; the rest stayed cooped up inside. Titus didn’t know what the two men were like, so he didn’t dare use force.

’What if they’re two brawny giants?’ Titus thought. ’Then it’s just the three of us. If a real fight breaks out, we probably won’t have the upper hand. Better to find another way than to suffer heavy losses just to win.’

So, Titus decided to play dirty.

He waved the tape with the fingerprint impressions and said to Leopold, "I managed to get the chick’s fingerprints today. Second Brother, when the time comes, you figure out a way to quietly open their door. We’ll sneak in at night while they’re asleep and wipe out their whole family of five!"

Leopold had learned lock-picking before working at The Nimbus Hotel and was an expert at it. With fingerprints, cracking this kind of electronic lock would be easy for him.

Leopold nodded silently. "Got it."

Titus continued, "The family in 1606 should be relatively easy. I heard it’s four women and one man, all old, weak, or sick. We just need to find a way to lure the man out and get him under control. That bunch of women will be powerless to resist!"

Titus was confident he could handle one man. After all, no matter how tough a guy was, it was hard to win a three-on-one fight.

"1604 also used to have just one man, but they moved out... What a pity. That was a fat sheep! Oh well, forget about them."

"As for our next-door neighbors in 1602, they’ll be the easiest! Just one man and one woman. The guy is a total pushover, and the woman is delicate and weak. No fight in them at all!"

At this, a sharp glint flashed in Titus’s eyes. "In a few days, we’ll start with 1602!"

***

Unaware that Titus Lowell had deemed her "relatively easy to deal with" and "powerless to resist," Melody Summers had just received a message from Mrs. Vance:

[Miss Summers! Something’s happened at 1506 across the hall today! I saw a strange woman go into their apartment!]

Melody stared at her phone screen in confusion.

’A strange woman?’

’A woman connected to the Sutton Family... who could it be?’

’Could it be...’

As a possibility struck her, her eyes widened. ’Could it be Sylvia Lancaster?!’