Bella wanted to stop, but others clearly didn't share that sentiment. Just because you're ready to walk away doesn't mean the world will let you.
After wrapping up the pension lawsuit, Natasha returned to Prosperity Town to continue school. As a sophomore, she still had two more years of laid-back high school ahead of her. Bella, meanwhile, followed the compensation proceedings for Flight 180's crash for a couple more days.
She had made a little money from the pension case. Taking nothing at all would have been un-American. Besides, she still had to cover Miss Hogarth's legal fees. The old men gave her some cash and a handful of unregistered checks. After deducting various expenses, she had less than five thousand dollars left.
She split it with Natasha—two thousand each.
That kind of money didn't last. A bit of food, a bit of shopping, and it was gone. Bella was far more interested in the flight compensation case anyway. That was where the real money was.
After another full day in court, she stopped by a convenience store and bought a mountain of food. According to Natasha's "experience," developing one's... ahem... figure required plenty of nutrition. So Bella stocked up heavily.
While she was checking out, a slightly overweight middle-aged man suddenly jumped out from behind a shelf, pointing a pistol straight at her.
"Remember me, Miss Swan? Why aren't you smiling now? Weren't you happy before?" The defendant's representative from the pension case—the same clown from court—glared at her with murderous intent. His hand trembled as he aimed the gun.
Oh, for—! Bella hated America's gun obsession. How could any random idiot just pull out a firearm?
They were five meters apart. If she went all out, she could dodge before he pulled the trigger. Handguns couldn't hurt her. But the environment was wrong—standing in front of her was a middle-aged cashier with stubble on his chin. Behind her were two female customers waiting to pay. There was barely any room to maneuver.
"Calm down. This is between us—you and me. We can handle it ourselves. Let the bystanders go first."
Her Infatuation Spell was completely useless against someone consumed by hatred, so she could only try to reason with him and clear the area.
The chubby middle-aged man let out a broken, bitter laugh.
"You think I'll let you go? I got fired! The bank took my house and my car! My wife and kids left me! Since I'm already this miserable... why shouldn't I take a few people with me? Huh? Nobody moves! Anyone moves, I shoot!"
As his expression grew more and more twisted, several men in black suits rushed in through the store entrance. Leading them was a heavyset man.
"Mr. Todd! Stark Industries will provide you with a proper severance package! Please calm down and put the gun down!" the man shouted, while the others spread out, half-encircling Todd, ready to rush him.
"Stay back! Stay back! Happy Hogan—Mr. Hogan—I gave so much to the company, and what did I get? Mockery! Cold insults! Termination! What did I do wrong?!"
You embarrassed the entire company, Bella thought coldly. What do you mean 'nothing'?
At this point, Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark were still close—uncle and nephew in all but blood. Happy Hogan, Tony's trusted bodyguard, had been sent along with another executive to handle the Phoenix situation.
The public-facing work—media statements and pension payouts—was handled by headquarters. Happy was responsible for the dirty work, including quietly dealing with people like Todd. Somehow, despite all precautions, things had gone sideways.
Happy was no negotiator. All he could do was keep telling Todd to calm down.
Todd finally snapped. His money, reputation, and dignity were gone—what was left to fear?
He clenched his teeth and fired three shots at Bella.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bella stopped caring about exposing her abilities. She shoved the two female customers aside, then tracked the bullet trajectories with her eyes. Without moving her feet, she twisted her torso—tilting, turning, bending backward—dodging all three bullets with inhuman precision.
The rounds sliced past her afterimages and struck—
The middle-aged cashier behind her.
Bella: Σ(⊙▽⊙)!
She had deliberately adjusted Todd's shooting angle through positioning and conversation. By all logic, there should have been no one behind her.
That cashier had been on her right just moments ago—she had even tried to push him earlier and missed. Why the hell did he move behind her?!
Before she could process it, gunfire erupted again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Stark Industries' bodyguards opened fire, riddling Todd with bullets and killing him on the spot.
Happy Hogan clearly knew who Bella was, but since his focus had been on Todd, he hadn't seen her dodge the bullets. He rushed over, worried about her safety, while the other guards evacuated the panicked customers. One of them was already calling the company's legal department.
"Someone help! A civilian was shot—A civilian—Huh? Wait... where... where is he?"
Bella shoved Happy aside, trying to get them to save the cashier who had taken three bullets. But when she turned around—there was only a pool of blood on the floor.
The man was gone.
What the hell? Are Americans built different? Took three bullets and just walked off during the chaos?!
That guy clearly had secrets. An ordinary passerby couldn't just vanish after being shot three times.
"What I mean is... Miss Swan, this must be some kind of misunderstanding. Stark Industries..." Happy fumbled for words, trying desperately to convince her not to pursue the matter.
Bella was irritated too. She had never intended to hurt anyone. But Todd's tragedy was undeniably connected to her, and she had no desire to become some public anti-Stark crusader.
She cut Happy off impatiently.
"This isn't personal revenge. I can pretend today never happened. But what about the police?"
Happy immediately promised, "The police won't be a problem. You can leave right now. Also... this."
He handed her a check—an unregistered check for fifty thousand dollars.
Bella glanced at it and felt unexpectedly disappointed.
"This was supposed to be Todd's severance, right? And now it's hush money for me? ...Forget it. This amount is useless to me anyway—it won't make me rich. If you don't know what to do with it... give it to Todd's family."
She returned the check, placed fifty dollars on the counter, grabbed her bags of food, sighed, and walked out of the convenience store.