Chapter 99: Why Don't You Go Accompany Her?
Time stretched infinitely at this moment.
The noisy chatter in the airport terminal, the sweet female voice on the PA system, the sound of luggage wheels rolling across the floor—everything instantly faded, becoming a silent backdrop.
In Cecilia's world, all that remained was Rufus walking toward the boarding gate.
Rufus seemed to sense something too.
He stopped, turned his head, and his penetrating gaze cut precisely through the surging crowd, locking onto her.
Their eyes met.
There was no trace of surprise on Rufus's handsome face, only the cold, calm demeanor of a predator who had locked onto its prey.
He calmly picked up his phone.
This action instantly jolted Cecilia awake from her bone-chilling fear.
He was going to have people lock down the airport!
Cecilia's survival instinct overwhelmed everything else.
She abandoned her suitcase, turned, and plunged into the crowd in the opposite direction. She frantically pushed past one stranger after another, desperate to hide herself in this sea of people.
Behind her, no sharp alarm sounded.
But she could feel that gaze still stuck to her back, following her like a shadow.
"Hello, may I help you?" Hazel, an airport staff member in uniform, stopped her.
Cecilia grabbed Hazel's arm with such force that the young woman winced in pain.
"Save me!" She gasped, her voice sharp and broken from extreme panic. "That man in the black coat behind me—he's trying to kidnap me! Call the police!"
Hazel looked in the direction she pointed and saw Rufus, tall and distinguished, walking slowly toward them.
Rufus showed no signs of frantic pursuit. His steps were steady, though his face was filled with helplessness and exhaustion.
"Amelia, stop this." Rufus reached them, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of sleep, sounding full of tolerance and indulgence.
He didn't look at Hazel, only focused on Cecilia with a devotion that could move any observer.
"Let's go home, okay?"
Hazel's doubts mostly dissolved the moment she saw Rufus.
The man before her was well-dressed and refined. Though he looked tired, his concern seemed genuine.
Looking at Amelia again—pale-faced and agitated—she really did seem like someone who'd run away from home in a fit of anger.
"I don't know him! Don't believe him!" Cecilia was nearly hysterical, shaking her head frantically. "He's crazy! Help me!"
Rufus sighed and turned to Hazel with an apologetic explanation: "I'm sorry for the trouble. My girlfriend, she had a high fever a few days ago. It messed with her head a bit—she keeps thinking someone's out to get her."
As he spoke, he reached out, seemingly to stroke Cecilia's hair.
Cecilia recoiled in terror, dodging his touch. This reaction, in Hazel's eyes, only confirmed her suspicion of "unreasonable behavior."
Rufus didn't force it. He just moved closer, lowering his body. To others, this looked like an intimate gesture of a lover offering comfort.
But the breath against her ear was as cold as a serpent's tongue.
"Amelia."
"After your second set of foster parents abandoned you, when you were at your lowest, you happened to meet your biological parents who regretted abandoning you and had been searching for you all along, right?"
"So you reunited with them. They tried to make it up to you in every way, and your relationship improved, didn't it?"
Cecilia's whole body went rigid.
"They're getting old now, running a small noodle shop in the old part of town to make ends meet."
"What do you think would happen if one night, the shop exploded due to a gas leak? Or if, on their way home after closing, they got hit by an out-of-control truck?"
"What would happen?"
In an instant, the blood in Cecilia's veins froze.
She jerked her head up to look at Rufus.
He still gazed at her with that affectionate manner, but those dark eyes held only bottomless darkness and warning.
The demon who would smile while breaking her bones had returned.
All her struggle, all her resistance, all her strength—everything was drained from her in that moment.
Seeing Cecilia suddenly quiet down, Hazel thought Rufus's comforting had worked and felt relieved.
She offered a formulaic suggestion: "Ma'am, talk things out nicely. It's normal for couples to have conflicts, but the airport isn't the place to solve them."
Rufus nodded politely at Hazel in thanks.
Then he naturally extended his arm, wrapped it around Cecilia's stiff shoulders, and turned her toward the exit.
Cecilia had lost all strength to resist. She let him guide her, walking forward mechanically.
They didn't speak the entire way.
Not until they returned to that familiar villa, and the heavy door slammed shut behind them.
Rufus released her. The warmth and exhaustion he'd faked the whole way instantly vanished, replaced by the oppressive calm before a storm.
He didn't shout or strike her. He just stood there.
"I can let you smash this place, burn it down, even let you stab me."
"But Cecilia, the one thing you cannot do is leave me."
His voice suddenly turned harsh, filled with madness.
"If there's a next time, I'll break your legs and chain you to the bed. Let's see how you run then!"
This threat actually sparked a twisted smile from Cecilia's depths of despair.
She couldn't help but laugh wildly, the sound particularly jarring in the empty living room.
"Disgusting." Cecilia raised her reddened eyes to look directly at him. "Rufus, you're truly disgusting."
Meeting his furious gaze, she said clearly: "I've told you—I'm not her! You're staring at a similar face, putting on this act of undying devotion?"
"If you really loved her so much, if you miss her so much."
"Then since she's dead, why don't you go join her?"
The rage about to explode on Rufus's face instantly froze, then shattered piece by piece, turning into blank emptiness. His tall frame even staggered before he barely managed to steady himself.
Her overwhelming hatred and accusation destroyed all his pretenses.
"I tried."
Rufus finally spoke, his voice so soft it was barely audible, yet carrying a heavy self-loathing that couldn't be dissolved.
His gaze drifted vaguely to the empty carpet.
"After you left, I swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills."
"But they still saved me."
The entire living room fell deathly silent.
Cecilia didn't answer him.
After all, what did it matter?
Even if Rufus had tried to die, he ultimately survived.
But she—the person named "Cecilia"—had truly died once.
Therefore, she absolutely couldn't make another mistake. She absolutely couldn't fall into the hands of this heartless Rufus again.
Rufus seemed to have exhausted all his energy too. He didn't want to linger on this topic.
He walked past her, and that terrifying oppressive presence disappeared, leaving only endless exhaustion.
"Your cold isn't better yet."
Rufus stopped at the staircase without turning around, just dropping a cold, hard command.
"Go back to your room and rest."