Chapter 153 It's Not Up to You to Define
Countless chaotic thoughts exploded in Cecilia's mind. Memories from her past life—being wrongly accused, misunderstood, and tortured—came flooding back like a tidal wave.
Her stomach churned violently, making Cecilia feel like she was about to throw up.
Rufus caught every bit of the sudden paleness and wavering on her face, and that obsessive guess in his heart was confirmed, almost bursting to the surface.
He moved the jade pendant in his hand even closer to her, his tone carrying an urgency and anticipation he himself hadn't even noticed.
"You remember now, don't you?"
Rufus stared intently at her eyes, trying to catch even the slightest trace of the dead Cecilia within them.
"This jade pendant—you gave it to me."
"On the ship, those ten days, we made a promise."
His voice became low, filled with heavy regret and pain.
"I got the wrong person. I shouldn't have mistaken her for you."
"I shouldn't have..."
"Enough!" Cecilia shouted sharply, abruptly cutting off his confession steeped in the past.
She lifted her head.
Her eyes, which still had traces of tears moments ago, were now frighteningly clear, containing not a shred of emotion or reminiscence—only an icy, see-through-everything mockery.
Rufus was stunned by her rebuke, all his remaining words stuck in his throat.
"Mr. Chapman." The corners of Cecilia's mouth curved into an extremely sarcastic arc.
"Are you done with your one-man show?"
She reached out her hand.
Under Rufus's astonished gaze, she took the jade pendant directly from his palm.
Her cold fingertips touched the smooth jade, which still carried Rufus's body warmth, making her feel intensely nauseous.
Rufus's heart pounded wildly.
She took it!
She actually took the jade pendant on her own!
Did this action mean she was finally willing to admit it? That she finally remembered everything?
However, before he could finish that thought, what happened next froze him completely in place.
Cecilia held the jade pendant, feeling disgusted even to look at it.
Her arm suddenly swung up, and then with all her strength, she smashed it hard onto the ground!
A sharp, piercing sound of shattering exploded through the quiet cemetery.
The jade pendant that Rufus treasured like a precious gem, his soul's last refuge, instantly shattered into pieces.
It became a pile of worthless pale fragments on the ground.
The soft luster disappeared, leaving only sharp, cutting edges scattered in the cold dust.
"You!"
Rufus's eyes instantly filled with blood, turning crimson red.
He looked sharply at Cecilia, his gaze vicious and full of murderous intent.
He couldn't believe it.
She actually dared, right in front of him, to smash his only keepsake, his only token of memory, to pieces!
"Are you crazy? Do you know what you just smashed?"
He roared out of control, rushing forward to grab her collar.
But Cecilia stepped back first, putting a safe distance between them.
She looked coldly at the pile of fragments at her feet, then raised her eyes to the furious Rufus who had almost lost his mind.
"What did I smash?" Cecilia spoke, each word clear, each sentence cutting to the heart.
"Isn't it just a broken stone? Does Mr. Chapman need to react this strongly?"
She took a step forward, her clear eyes full of pity—the kind of look a normal person gives a hopeless mental patient.
"Or is it that the 'her' you've imagined exists in this stone?"
"Now that the stone is broken, your emotional anchor is broken too?"
"Rufus, you're really seriously ill."
Cecilia's voice had no inflection, yet carried the heaviest contempt.
"Do you think all the women in the world should grovel before you? Should be grateful for that pitiful, self-moved past of yours?"
"What gives you the right? Your self-righteous displays of devotion?"
"Sorry, I just find it utterly disgusting."
"I suggest you stop wasting time on me."
"With that time, you'd be better off booking an appointment with a psychiatrist to treat your delusions."
She laughed lightly, that laugh full of mockery.
"I just find it ridiculous. Rufus, you don't love anyone at all."
"What you love is your own belated regret."
"What you love is the perfect victim image you've imagined."
"What you love is your current deeply devoted, heaven-and-earth-moving redemption act!"
"The real Cecilia was killed by your own hands long ago! Now you're performing in front of her tombstone, in front of her grandfather, in front of me, this 'replacement'—who are you performing for?"
Rufus was so provoked by these words that he completely lost his mind.
"Shut up! Shut up!"
He covered his ears, his body shaking violently, trying to block out these vicious words that exposed all his pretenses.
He couldn't accept it.
The memories he held dear, the source of his regret, his only redemption—in her mouth, they had become so unbearable, ridiculous, even nauseating.
Rufus suddenly looked up, his bloodshot eyes churning with crazy jealousy and unwillingness.
He had to find a reason!
A reason that could justify all his pain and embarrassment!
"It's because of Stefan, isn't it?"
Rufus roared out, finally finding that pivot point that could make his collapsed inner self stand again.
"You dare smash it, you dare talk to me like this, all because you think Stefan has your back!"
"Amelia, to climb up to him, you won't even admit who you are anymore?"
Just as Rufus's roar still echoed over the cemetery, a calm yet clearly angry voice came from not far away.
"Who she is isn't for you to define."
They both turned at the sound.
Stefan was striding toward them from the cemetery entrance. He still wore that well-tailored suit, but his face no longer showed its usual gentleness and ease—instead, it was icily grim.
How did Stefan find this place?
Cecilia's heart jumped, while Rufus's pupils suddenly contracted.
Stefan had waited downstairs for a long time without seeing her come down, and she didn't answer her phone either.
An ominous feeling welled up, and "Rufus's" name suddenly surfaced in Stefan's mind.
Without hesitation, Stefan had his assistant Garth use connections to check Rufus's vehicle tracking, finally pinpointing this location.
When Stefan saw Rufus gripping her arm, roaring at her with a twisted face, he felt all the blood in his body rush to his head.
Stefan rushed forward in a few steps and without a word, clenched his fist and threw a hard punch at Rufus's face, written all over with madness and obsession.
A dull thud of impact.
Rufus staggered from the blow, his head turning to the side, blood immediately appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"You don't deserve to touch her!"
Stefan shook his somewhat numb hand, pulled her behind him protectively, his eyes now filled with undisguised, chilling coldness.