Chapter 107 Cutting Off All Her Hopes
Rufus paused for half a second.
This was the first time he'd shown an unplanned reaction in front of Cecilia. It was a flash of surprise that, though fleeting, was still caught precisely by Cecilia.
"Why?" he asked.
In Rufus's view, this should be her only and best option.
He'd given her a way out; all she had to do was take it.
Her refusal wasn't in his script.
"No reason," Cecilia met his gaze and replied coldly. "I'll pay you back using other methods, every single cent. But working at the Chapman Group? Impossible."
She didn't want any more entanglement with him.
Even breathing the same air in the same building would remind her of the desperate, hopeless days from her past life.
Just as the two were locked in confrontation, Cecilia's ears caught a familiar sound of footsteps.
Her body stiffened, and she glanced back from the corner of her eye.
Sure enough, it was Mabel. Still worried, Mabel had followed her.
Cecilia's heart leaped into her throat.
If Mabel saw her and Rufus confronting each other like this, the peaceful facade she'd worked so hard to maintain would shatter instantly.
Rufus clearly noticed Cecilia's sudden panic.
He followed her gaze and easily spotted Mabel, who was peering around anxiously.
A knowing smile quietly appeared on Rufus's lips.
"Since Mrs. Martinez is worried, we can't just stand here making her anxious." He stepped forward, cleverly using his body to block Mabel's view of Cecilia.
"Get in the car," Rufus said in a volume only the two of them could hear. "Just think of it as having a meal with me. Didn't you say I was your friend? We'll take a photo and send it to her to put her mind at ease."
Cecilia trembled with rage.
He was reminding her that once a lie begins, it must be maintained with countless new lies.
And he was the only person who could expose all her lies.
She had no choice.
"Fine."
The word was practically squeezed out through her clenched teeth.
Cecilia forcibly suppressed the surging hatred in her heart, walked past him expressionlessly, and headed straight for the black sedan.
The driver opened the car door for her. She bent down and got in, not looking at Rufus once the entire time.
The pressure inside the car was suffocating.
The vehicle smoothly left the hospital and eventually stopped in front of a luxuriously decorated high-end Western restaurant.
A waiter respectfully led them to a reserved window seat, surrounded by elegant classical music and softly conversing guests. The elegance and tranquility here formed a completely different world from the chaos and despair at the hospital.
Rufus ordered their meal with practiced ease, while Cecilia remained silent throughout.
It wasn't until the dishes were served one by one that Rufus finally broke the silence.
He took Cecilia's phone, switched it to selfie mode, and then leaned in quite naturally.
"To put Mrs. Martinez's mind at ease," Rufus offered a dignified reason.
The familiar, aggressively cold aura from Rufus instantly surrounded her, and Cecilia's body stiffened uncontrollably.
But she endured it.
She even forced herself to produce an extremely stiff, barely noticeable smile.
The shutter clicked, freezing the moment.
In the photo, Rufus looked handsome and distinguished, his head tilted slightly toward her in an intimate posture; while she sat across from him, and though she tried to smile, the distance and resistance couldn't be hidden.
Rufus seemed satisfied. He handed the phone back to her.
Cecilia took it, her fingertips ice-cold. She opened WeChat, sent the photo to Mabel, and added a message.
"Mom, I'm already eating. Don't worry about me, just rest well at the hospital."
Almost instantly, Mabel's reply popped up.
"Good, good, eat more, don't let yourself go hungry!"
Cecilia sighed softly and put down her phone.
"Now you can tell me your real purpose."
Rufus methodically cut the steak on his plate, his movements elegant, each action precise and graceful.
"I thought my purpose was already quite clear." He looked up, gently dabbing the corner of his mouth with his napkin. "I want you to come work at my company."
"I refuse!" Cecilia repeated without hesitation.
"Really?" Rufus put down his knife and fork, leaning forward slightly as that invisible sense of oppression descended again. "Ms. Martinez, for your father's post-operative recovery, the Phoenix Institute team is the best choice in the world. Dr. Ramos, who just operated on your father, should know this better than you."
Rufus's voice was calm, yet every word cut deep.
"Have you considered that you—or rather, your family in its current situation—don't have the qualifications to engage them at all? Never mind that astronomical fee, even getting them into the country smoothly and obtaining the various permits for them to practice medicine here—you couldn't handle any of it."
Cecilia's breathing caught.
She'd thought about these practical problems, but in that brief moment of relief, she'd deliberately ignored them.
"Rufus!" She stared at him intently, every word trembling. "You're forcing me!"
"No." Rufus denied her accusation, his face even wearing a smile that could be called gentle. "I never force anyone. I'm simply offering you a choice."
"A choice that would give your father the best treatment, the greatest chance of returning to a normal life."
Rufus's gaze stuck to her face, that condescending sense of control leaving her nowhere to escape.
"Or you can refuse me. And then watch helplessly as your father, unable to get professional follow-up care, deteriorates day by day, until eventually he might not even be able to take care of himself."
"So, Amelia, tell me your choice."
"It's not that you can't escape my grasp." He corrected softly, "It's that you don't want to escape at all."
With a crash, the tightly wound string in Cecilia's mind finally snapped.
She finally saw his intention completely clearly.
Rufus wasn't offering her a so-called job opportunity at all.
He was cutting off all her escape routes, blocking every channel where she might seek help, making her struggle desperately in the mud of reality until she exhausted all her strength and had no choice but to crawl back to the place he'd already prepared for her!
"In your dreams!"
Cecilia completely lost control. She shot up from her seat, hands bracing against the table, breathing heavily from anger.
"Let me tell you, Rufus, I'd rather beg on the streets, I'd rather haul bricks at a construction site, than ever go back to your side and let you control me! You devil! Don't even think about using this method to trap me again!"
Her voice was shrill, filled with reckless determination, instantly shattering the restaurant's elegant atmosphere.
Guests around them turned to look, their shocked, confused, and entertained gazes shooting from all directions, pinning her in place.
However, faced with her loss of control and the surrounding stares, Rufus didn't show even a trace of annoyance.
He simply leaned back leisurely in his chair, watching with interest as she displayed this angry yet helpless appearance.
To him, this was just a game whose ending he'd already foreseen.
And her fierce resistance would only make this hunt more interesting.