Chapter 274: The Devil's Deal

Chapter 274: The Devil's Deal

"What did you say?" Rufus thought he'd misheard.

He froze for a moment, then looked at Elodie as if she were insane.

"Say that again?"

"I said, I want a child. Yours and mine." Elodie repeated, her eyes firm, without the slightest hesitation.

Silence fell over the balcony.

The sea breeze blew past, carrying a hint of salty dampness and coolness.

After a long half-minute, Rufus suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha!"

He laughed so hard he doubled over, tears almost spilling over as if this were the funniest joke in the world.

"A child? You want my child?"

He pointed at Elodie, laughing breathlessly.

"I thought you had such big ambitions, but after all this, that is all you want to get?"

"Use a child to trap me? Elodie, do you think if you get pregnant with my child, you'll become Mrs. Chapman? You think I'd marry a scheming woman like you just because of a child?"

To him, Elodie's demand was utterly stupid.

Who did she think she was? Cecilia?

Even if she really got pregnant, so what?

It took ten months to carry a baby to term.

In those ten months, he could do plenty.

He had countless ways to force the video's whereabouts out of her, to make her "accidentally miscarry" without anyone knowing, or even to make her disappear from this world completely.

He would be trading hard evidence that could immediately destroy his reputation for nothing more than the idea of a child.

This deal was simply too good.

Elodie watched his unrestrained mockery, but showed no sign of anger on her face.

She just waited quietly for him to finish laughing.

She knew exactly what Rufus was thinking.

He really underestimated her.

Of course, Elodie knew that a child would not make her Mrs. Chapman.

She had never hoped to marry this cold-blooded, heartless man, Rufus.

Her goal was no longer Rufus's love, nor the role of the Chapman family's matriarch.

What she wanted was control of the Chapman Group, that massive business empire.

As long as she got pregnant with Rufus's child, she would be carrying the Chapman family's only bloodline, their only heir.

Then, she could take that video and go to Dione.

She would use that video to make a deal with Dione.

She would help Dione send Rufus to prison and clear Stefan's name.

And Dione would need to use the Hensley family's power to help her, to support the child in her belly, to legitimately take the chairman's seat at the Chapman Group.

By then, though she would not be Mrs. Chapman, she could become the controller of the Chapman Group, holding the entire Chapman family firmly in her own hands.

This was her real ambition.

It was a crazy plan, shocking enough to stun anyone.

"Are you done laughing?"

When Rufus's laughter gradually subsided, Elodie finally spoke coldly.

"If you're done, give me an answer. Yes or no?"

Her eyes were cold and resolute, with a madness that would not stop short of her goal.

Rufus stopped smiling and looked at Elodie again.

He suddenly realized he had never truly known Elodie.

Interesting... this was getting more and more interesting.

A playful smile returned to Rufus's lips.

He liked ambitious women.

Because ambition meant weaknesses, he could leverage and control.

"Fine, I agree."

Rufus slowly exhaled a smoke ring, and through the swirling smoke, his face seemed somewhat unreal.

"As long as you hand over the source file of that video. Forget one child, I'll give you eight or ten if you want."

"Rufus, do you take me for a fool?" Elodie sneered. "I can't possibly give you the video now. Unless I confirm I'm pregnant and get the hospital's ultrasound and diagnosis certificate."

"Then, I'll send you a copy of the video first. As for the source file, you'll have to wait until the child is safely born."

She had already thought through every exit strategy.

She would not so easily hand over her only protection.

Rufus's eyes darkened.

Elodie was smarter and more cautious than he'd imagined.

But it did not matter.

The game had just begun.

He had plenty of time and patience to play along with her slowly.

"Fine."

Rufus nodded, agreeing to her conditions.

"But I also have a condition."

"What condition?" Elodie asked warily.

"Before I finish dealing with Stefan and the Hensley family, you will stay in line. No more tricks, and don't you dare go to Cecilia and start spouting nonsense."

His gaze passed through the balcony's glass door and fell on the figure lying quietly on the bed in the bedroom.

In his eyes was undisguised possessiveness and obsession.

"Otherwise, I can't guarantee your child will safely see this world."

This was a blatant threat.

Elodie's heart filled with unease, and familiar fear struck again.

"Fine, I agree." She wisely nodded.

She had already achieved her goal anyway.

As for Amelia... she was no longer worthy of being her opponent.

What trouble could a canary imprisoned in a cage possibly cause?

"Deal."

Rufus extended his hand.

Elodie looked at his slender, powerful hand with its defined knuckles, and extended her own hand.

The two hands were lightly clasped in the air.

They both thought they would be the final winner. A devil's bargain, each with their own schemes, was thus sealed.

Having made the deal, Elodie felt better than ever before.

She had been on edge for so long, but now, she had finally grasped a lifeline in desperate straits.

No, not just a lifeline.

But a path, a highway to the peak of power.

However, thinking of Amelia, the woman Rufus lovingly imprisoned in the master bedroom, the bit of satisfaction in Elodie's heart was instantly replaced by thick jealousy.

Why?

Why could Amelia get all of Rufus's love and obsession without doing anything?

While she had to scheme and gamble everything, only to get a cold transaction?

The promise she had just made to Rufus was instantly thrown to the back of Elodie's mind.

She could not let it go like this.

She had to go tell Amelia that she had won.

She wanted that high-and-mighty Amelia to know that she was now just a loser locked in a cage, while she, Elodie, was about to become the new mistress of this house.

Thinking this, Elodie picked up the food the servants had just brought and turned toward the master bedroom.