Chapter 215 Cemetery Secrets Revealed
The Clark Mansion, study.
Anna held a few photos between her fingers, looking at them over and over.
The photos showed the chaos at the cemetery - Bronte out of her mind throwing a fit, Amelia's face pale with anger, and Stefan and Rufus confronting each other.
That night, Stefan had brought too many people. Anna didn't dare let her men get too close, and in the end only managed to capture these few blurry shots.
Anna's initial judgment was that Amelia had a crazy mother, which became the trigger for the entanglement between Amelia, Stefan, and Rufus.
But this didn't match the information Anna had dug up on "Amelia."
The cemetery surveillance had been wiped clean by Rufus's people, but those security guards' mouths were the best breakthrough point.
A bar, a few security guards, a few bottles of hard liquor, and once the alcohol hit, those "secrets" they'd been strictly ordered to keep weren't secrets anymore.
When Anna's subordinate reported back exactly what he'd gotten out of them, she finally confirmed the guess that even she found incredible.
"Cecilia and Amelia... are actually the same person."
Anna murmured softly, her voice trembling with barely suppressed excitement.
No wonder Stefan and Rufus, who were rivals in business, were both madly obsessed with Amelia.
Everything connected now.
That Cecilia who was supposed to have died in the fire, Rufus's dead wife, had actually come back!
Every cell in Anna's body was trembling with excitement.
But after the brief rush, she felt an even deeper layer of anger.
Stefan would rather like that Cecilia who'd been married before than marry me, a socialite of noble status?
Why?
Anna picked up her phone and dialed Dione's number.
"Mrs. Hensley, something terrible has happened." The moment the call connected, Anna precisely switched her tone to one of panic and concern.
"Anna?" On the other end, Dione's voice was as graceful as always. "What's wrong? Take your time, don't rush."
"Mrs. Hensley..." Anna's voice took on a crying tone. "I just confirmed the news. Stefan, he... he got into a huge fight with Rufus at the cemetery in the suburbs last night over Amelia. The scene was really ugly."
"What?" Dione's voice suddenly shot up.
"Please don't be angry," Anna immediately soothed, though her tone was adding fuel to the fire. "The thing is, I was really worried, so I asked someone to find out what caused the conflict... It seems like it was because of Amelia's mother..."
Anna deliberately paused, building up the suspense.
"What about her mother?"
Only then did Anna drop the bombshell in an extremely reluctant yet sympathetic tone.
"I heard... Ms. Martinez's mother is a lunatic."
On the other end of the line, there were a few seconds of deathly silence.
And on Anna's end where Dione couldn't hear, the curve of her lips silently widened.
She knew exactly where Dione's weak spot was.
Though Dione was the high and mighty female head of the Hensley family, in her youth she too had been a Saunders family socialite who lost her head over love.
She had eloped with a poor man, only to end up being sold like merchandise.
That experience of being imprisoned and humiliated was a stain Dione could never wash away, and the root cause of her near mental breakdown.
So what Dione hated most were people from the lower classes who climbed up using dirty methods to change their fate, whether men or women.
And Amelia's mother being a lunatic...
This wouldn't arouse Dione's sympathy at all. Instead, it would remind her of herself back then, when she nearly went crazy too, triggering her strongest stress response and disgust.
"What did you say?" Sure enough, after the silence came Dione's voice, suppressed to the extreme and ice-cold.
"Amelia's mother... is a lunatic?"
"Yes, Mrs. Hensley," Anna's voice was full of tactful hesitation. "I couldn't believe it either. I'm afraid Stefan is being deceived by this common girl..."
"That damn Amelia!"
Dione gritted her teeth on the other end, her voice seeming to squeeze through her clenched teeth.
"That bitch Amelia will never set foot in The Hensley Mansion again!"
Eastern suburbs private estate.
Light returned before consciousness.
Not the harsh white kind, but after being filtered through layers of heavy velvet curtains, what remained was a warm-toned gray glow.
A faint smell entered Cecilia's nostrils - disinfectant mixed with crisp cedar scent. It wasn't unpleasant, even carried a certain reassuring sense of cleanliness.
She moved her fingers. The surface beneath her body felt dry and soft. Though that bone-deep exhaustion was still there, the burning sensation in her throat had faded.
She turned her head.
Stefan's figure was still in her line of sight.
Stefan sat in a single sofa about six feet from the headboard, his long legs crossed somewhat awkwardly. The Stefan who usually had every hair in place and wore wrinkle-free suits now looked completely exhausted.
There was an obvious dark circle under his eyelids. Two buttons of his white shirt collar were undone, revealing a collarbone line that seemed somewhat tense. A layer of dark stubble had sprouted on his chin, adding a rough realness to his usually sharp jawline.
Cecilia quietly watched him.
In two lifetimes, only he had kept watch at her bedside. In her past life when she had fevers and got sick, there was only the echo of an empty villa and the impatient footsteps of the housekeeper.
Rufus? Rufus back then was probably busy accompanying Blair to some boring art exhibition.
As if sensing that focused gaze, Stefan's eyelashes on the sofa trembled, then he opened his eyes.
The moment those eyes met Cecilia's gaze, the originally sharp defensive mechanism immediately dropped, transforming into an unfathomably deep gentleness.
"You're awake?"
Stefan stood up. Without any unnecessary pleasantries, a warm large hand naturally covered her forehead.
"The fever's gone." His tone showed obvious relief. "Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?"
Cecilia shook her head. She wanted to speak but found her throat terribly dry.
Stefan turned to pour a glass of water, tested the temperature, then brought it to her lips.
Cecilia drank most of the glass with his help. The warm liquid slid down her throat, finally relieving that parched, scorching feeling.
"Are you hungry?" He took the empty glass and casually set it on the nightstand. "You didn't eat anything last night."
Cecilia actually didn't have much appetite, but looking at Stefan's bloodshot eyes, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. She nodded.
"Get up and freshen up. I'll wait for you in the study." Stefan rubbed his somewhat stiff neck. "The bathroom here has new toiletries."
When Cecilia finished washing up and pushed open the study door, Stefan was already sitting behind the large black walnut desk.
The huge floor-to-ceiling windows welcomed in the morning's best sunlight without reservation. Outside the window was a carefully manicured lawn and rolling hills in the distance.
The desk wasn't piled with documents but instead had several delicate white porcelain bowls and plates. Light oatmeal porridge steamed gently, accompanied by several dishes of fresh-looking side dishes and a steamer of translucent dumplings.
Stefan had changed into a clean shirt. His slender fingers were sliding rapidly across the screen, his brow slightly furrowed, clearly dealing with the mess left by last night's drama.
"Come sit." He seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.