Chapter 125 Her Anonymous Account, Echo
Cecilia felt the world spinning around her, her body completely out of control as she fell straight backward.
The sharp pain she expected never came.
A strong arm caught her waist at the last moment, steadily catching her falling body. Another warm palm cradled the back of her head, protecting her from hitting the hard floor.
The powerful momentum sent Cecilia crashing into that embrace.
The fabric of Stefan's dark gray silk pajamas brushed against her cheek, the touch cool and smooth, yet burning with his body heat beneath the fabric.
The fresh scent of soap after a shower mixed with Stefan's unique scent instantly enveloped her.
Everything happened within a single second.
Cecilia's body went completely rigid.
Her heart began to beat wildly out of control, both from the shock and from their current proximity. She could clearly feel the solid strength of the arm wrapped around her waist, and Stefan's body heat transmitted through the thin bathrobe.
This position was far too intimate.
Danger signals blared frantically in her mind.
"Sorry."
Cecilia's body tensed as she struggled to stand steady, trying to quickly put distance between them.
Stefan didn't let go.
"Stand steady first." His arm tightened instead, supporting her more firmly.
Cecilia quickly straightened up and stepped back sharply.
She kept her head down, not daring to look at his expression, only awkwardly adjusting her somewhat disheveled bathrobe.
"Thank you, Mr. Hensley. Sorry for the trouble."
Stefan didn't respond immediately.
Cecilia felt a gaze land on the top of her head, that gaze carrying weight and a probing quality.
Just when she thought he would say something, Stefan suddenly took a step forward.
The distance they had just created was completely closed by this one movement.
This action set all of Cecilia's nerves on high alert.
She jerked her head up, her body instinctively tensing backward, assuming a fully defensive posture, her eyes full of wariness.
"Mr. Hensley," her voice turned cold, shedding the earlier panic and leaving only an icy challenge, "what are you trying to do?"
That look again.
She was guarded, distant, treating everyone as a potential threat.
Stefan looked at her, the emotions in those eyes behind his glasses deep and difficult to read.
He just quietly watched her, saying nothing.
The silent standoff made the air in the room increasingly stagnant and heavy.
Cecilia didn't like this feeling of being observed.
She frowned, about to speak again to break this suffocating silence, when Stefan moved.
He stepped past her and bent down to pick something up from the floor.
Following his movement, Cecilia realized it was a room key card that had fallen from her bathrobe pocket when she fell.
Stefan held the key card but didn't hand it directly to her. Instead, he turned and calmly placed it on the console table in the entryway.
"Nothing." He finally spoke, answering her earlier question, his voice so flat it revealed no emotion.
"The hotel repairman just called. He's already at your room," he added. "The pipe problem isn't serious. It'll be fixed soon."
What he meant was, she couldn't go back yet.
Cecilia's heart sank.
This meant she would have to stay in this room that made her thoroughly uncomfortable for a while longer.
Before she figured out Stefan, any extreme reaction might expose her weaknesses.
Since she couldn't leave, she could only wait.
Cecilia suppressed all the restlessness and anxiety in her heart, forcing herself to calm down.
She didn't look at Stefan again, but walked straight to the sofa in the living room and picked up her handbag that she had left there earlier.
"In that case, I won't disturb Mr. Hensley's work." After speaking, she clutched her bag and sat down on the single sofa farthest from him.
Rather than standing there awkwardly, she might as well find something to do.
She unzipped her handbag and took out a tablet and a stylus.
These were her tools for dealing with the outside world, and also the shield that could give her peace of mind.
As long as she immersed herself in design, all the disturbances of the outside world could be shut out.
Cecilia opened a professional design software and pulled up the draft of "Fractured" from before.
The light from the screen illuminated her face, replacing that overly guarded expression with one of concentration.
Stefan watched this series of smooth movements but didn't disturb her, just sat back down on his own sofa.
But his gaze occasionally fell on that figure absorbed in work.
The room fell quiet again, with only the soft sound of the stylus gliding across the screen.
After some time, Stefan suddenly spoke, his voice not loud but breaking the silence.
"Your drawing style reminds me of someone."
Cecilia's movement paused, the pen tip hovering above the screen.
"Really?" She responded casually, her mind still on the detail modifications of the design.
"Yes." Stefan's gaze fell on her tablet screen. "Bold composition, sharp use of color, and a unique understanding of light and shadow..."
He paused, as if organizing his words.
"Especially in expressing inspiration, showing a strong, unwilling-to-be-defined personal style. This highly overlaps with a designer I used to follow."
"Her account was called 'Echo'."
The moment that name left his lips, Cecilia felt her heart gripped by an invisible hand.
That was the anonymous account she had once used on an international designer platform.
Back then, Cecilia hadn't yet married Rufus, hadn't yet been locked in the cage of marriage, and was filled with the purest love and passion for design. She had posted some immature but highly personal works under that account, gained some attention in small circles, and made friends with like-minded people.
Later, for Rufus, she gave up everything and sealed away the name Echo.
She thought that name had long been forgotten in some corner of the internet, turned to ashes along with the dead Cecilia.
Cecilia never expected that Stefan would know this name.
"Mr. Hensley follows designer platforms?" She forced her voice to sound casual enough.
"Occasionally." Stefan's answer was flat. "For investment purposes, I need to understand promising newcomers in various fields. This 'Echo' was on my list of prospects back then."
List of prospects? Cecilia's heartbeat stuttered again.
"Then why didn't Mr. Hensley invest in her?" She continued following his line of conversation—this was the most natural and safest response.
"I sent people to make contact. But we couldn't find the person. That account had anti-tracking links."
Cecilia's throat felt dry.
Stefan stood up, picked up a glass of water from the table, and slowly walked to her sofa.
"That designer was very talented, it's just a pity..." He changed direction, his tone carrying some regret.
"She hasn't updated any work in a very long time."