Chapter 277: Forcing Him to Compromise

When the servant brought in lunch, Cecilia did not even glance at it.

"Ms. Martinez, please eat something, or Mr. Chapman will blame us," the servant said carefully.

"Take it away." Cecilia's voice was completely cold.

The servant did not dare say more and could only carry the untouched food back out.

It was the same at dinner.

By the time Rufus got the news, it was already evening.

He had just finished an international video conference and dealt with a pile of problems left in the wake of Stefan's downfall. He was already irritated and frustrated.

When he heard from the servant that Cecilia had not eaten anything all day, anger flared up inside him.

He stormed into the master bedroom.

"Cecilia! What game are you trying to play now?" He kicked the door open and roared at the figure curled up on the sofa.

Cecilia slowly lifted her head.

The face he was so obsessed with was completely pale, her eyes empty, like a silent wasteland.

"You want to starve yourself?"

Rufus was stung by her desperate appearance and laughed bitterly in anger.

"You think this is going to threaten me? Let me tell you, even if you die today, you are still going to eat this food!"

He picked up the tray, walked up to her, roughly grabbed her chin, and was about to force the food into her mouth.

Cecilia did not resist. She just stared at him with extremely cold and hateful eyes.

That look made Rufus freeze.

"What... what do you want?"

His voice softened without him even noticing, carrying a hint of awkwardness.

"Rufus, do you not think you are disgusting?" Cecilia suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse.

"What?" Rufus did not understand what she meant.

"You say you love me while sleeping with other women and planning to have them give you children." A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Cecilia's mouth. "Every day you look at my face, say those sweet words, then go and hold other women in your arms. Do you not think you are disgusting?"

Rufus's expression instantly turned ugly.

"Did Elodie fill your head with nonsense?" His voice grew heavy.

"You know very well whether she is talking nonsense or not." Cecilia looked at him coldly. "Rufus, you make me sick. Just thinking about you touching that woman and then touching me makes me want to throw up. How can you expect me to eat?"

She deliberately attributed her hunger strike to protesting his infidelity.

She wanted him to think she cared, that she was jealous.

Only then would he follow her lead.

Sure enough, after hearing her words, although Rufus's expression was ugly, a hint of joy flashed deep in his eyes.

She still cared.

She was angry that he had slept with another woman.

The realization gave his heart, which had been tormented by her coldness, a twisted sense of satisfaction.

"Cecilia, let me explain." His tone became softer than ever before. "She and I, it is not what you think. I just... I just..."

He wanted to explain, but did not know where to start.

He could not tell her that he was being threatened by Elodie.

"I do not want to hear it." Cecilia interrupted him, slowly turning her head away, closing herself off again, refusing any communication.

Her silent resistance was more suffocating than any heated argument.

Rufus looked at her pale, fragile profile, at her tightly pressed lips, and felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart — anxious and in pain, yet completely helpless.

He knew her character.

She meant what she said.

If this continued, Cecilia really would die here.

He was scared.

When this thought crossed his mind, Rufus himself found it absurd, but he could not deny it — he was truly scared.

He had finally found her again; he could not lose her once more.

After a long silence, Rufus finally spoke.

"...What do you want?"

Cecilia showed no reaction.

Rufus's fists clenched tightly. As if using up all his strength, he lowered himself and spoke in a tentative, almost coaxing tone.

"How about... going out for a bit?"

"To the garden, to get some fresh air?"

As his words fell, he saw Cecilia's long lashes tremble ever so slightly.

Just for a moment.

But it was like lightning splitting open the despair before his eyes.

She had responded.

It was like grabbing a lifeline; his heart surged with joy, and he immediately added more incentive. "I will go with you, just in the garden. You can clear your head. How about it?"

Cecilia was silent for a long time. Finally, she slowly turned her head and looked at the bowl in his hand.

Rufus quickly handed her the bowl.

Cecilia took it and began drinking in small sips.

Watching her eat again, Rufus's anxious heart finally settled.

The next afternoon, the sunlight was warm and bright.

Rufus kept his promise and brought Cecilia to the garden behind the villa.

The garden was large, with various rare flowers meticulously maintained by expert gardeners. At the end of the neatly trimmed lawn was a steep cliff, dropping sheer into the endless blue sea below.

Cecilia could clearly sense that the gardeners who seemed to be trimming flowers and the black-clad bodyguards hidden in the building's shadows were all Rufus's watchers.

Countless pairs of eyes were discreetly fixed on her.

Rufus walked beside her, keeping a step's distance. He said nothing, but his eyes never left her.

Cecilia ignored him.

She focused entirely on observing and memorizing her surroundings.

She walked slowly, using her peripheral vision to piece together every scrap of information in her mind.

The villa's main structure had red tile roofs and white walls. This style of architecture was favored by designers around the world.

It was three in the afternoon.

Sunlight at a specific angle passed through the second-floor arched window and reflected on the distant sea surface.

That angle... meant this place was in a subtropical region.

The air carried the salty sea breeze, mixed with the fragrance of white jacaranda that only bloomed in certain seasons.

Somewhere on the eastern coast.

In Cecilia's mind, a vague geographic range began to take shape more clearly with these clues.

She looked up at the sky. A small private plane was cutting across the horizon nearby, with a family crest visible on its wing.

She recognized that crest.

It was the symbol of the Foster family from Harmony City. And the Foster family's private flight routes passed through which areas...

The range narrowed again.

A bold plan slowly formed in Cecilia's mind.

Just knowing the general location was not enough.

She needed a more precise way for people on the outside to pinpoint this place.

She needed a signal she could send out.