A Graduation Gift

"You mean, it was Joel who sent someone to blackmail Vernon into taking the blame?"
Rufus asked with his back turned to Victor. His words did not give away any of his thoughts. Standing in front of the huge window
of his personal office, he projected a very dangerous vibe.
"Yes. Also, he is Ivy's brother,"
Victor replied calmly. His face showed no emotion.
"Right, then. Find a way to come up with evidence that Joel was the one who stole Cassandra's works, and do it fast,"
Rufus ordered as he turned to face Victor. His eyes were stone cold and menacing.
Victor nodded obediently and quickly left the room. Now alone, Rufus threw a hard punch on his heavy wooden desk.
He was frustrated with himself. Why didn't he act on this sooner? He turned a blind eye the first time Joel set Cassandra up. He
did not expect it to happen again. Now, Joel was back causing them even more trouble. He should have ended it the first time,
and he regretted now that he did not.
He must get rid of Joel. This man was too dangerous with his vile ideas. He almost killed Vernon with his stint.
Finding proof of his plagiarism would be a good leverage to get rid of him once and for all. Then, all this would end.
Rufus swore that he would make him pay for hurting Cassandra, and he was determined to get it done no matter what it took.
"Mom, I need your bank account number so I can transfer Cloris's tuition fee to you,"
Cassandra said. Even she scolded Cloris, she was still her sister, after all. Cassandra was determined to help her out in spite of
anything.
"What? Cloris told me that she already got the money. Was that not from you?"
Edith asked, surprised. When Cloris told her that her tuition fee was covered, she assumed that the money was from Cassandra.
Now that Cassandra was requesting for her account number, she realized that she was wrong.
"She already got it? How is that possible? I borrowed money from my friend just now!"

Cassandra was confused. She borrowed money from her friend, Stella. She also sold her car to come up with Cloris's tuition fee,
even if it meant that she would need to go to work using the Tang family's car or taking a cab.
"I got a scholarship so I don't need her money anymore,"
Cloris, who had her face covered with a face mask, told her mother after overhearing the conversation. She looked at Edith with
a trace of smugness in her eyes.
"Oh, Cloris said that she managed to get a scholarship so she doesn't need your money now,"
Edith relayed the message to Cassandra joyfully. She was very proud that Cloris was resourceful enough to solve her own
problem. She had always been very proud of her daughters. They always had good grades and were growing up to be very
responsible and independent young ladies.
Cassandra acknowledged the update and hung up the call. A proud smile spread on her face. It also made her proud to see that
her sister was becoming more independent.
Meanwhile, Cloris, who just finished applying face mask, proceeded to do her make up and change her clothes. When she came
out of her room, Edith looked at her with surprise.
"Cloris, are you going out? It's already late,"
she said, worried. Cloris was a girl, it was dangerous to go out so late at night.
"It's going to be okay, mom. I'm hanging out with some classmates. We'll just be out for a karaoke session. You know we're about
to graduate so we just want to spend as much time as we could with each other before it all comes to an end,"
Cloris explained casually. Then, she walked out of the house with her limited edition bag at hand.
A slick Porsche was already parked outside. Behind the steering wheel was Arthur. He looked very handsome.
"Where are we going, Arthur?"
Cloris asked happily as she hopped in. She gave him a very sweet smile.
"It's a surprise. You will know when we get there,"
Arthur replied in a cryptic tone. He gently smiled back at her.

They arrived at a high-end club. Arthur got off the car and opened the door for Cloris. Then, they walked inside, arm-in-arm.
A group of guys walked up to them when they arrived. They all seemed surprised that Arthur brought a girl with him.
"Since when did you have a beautiful girlfriend, Arthur? How come you never told us? You are quite good at keeping secrets,
aren't you? Haha!"
one of them teased Arthur with a glint of envy on his face. Throughout the night, he could not help stealing glances at Cloris,
who, in turn, pretended to be oblivious. In reality, it flattered her that she could still catch another man's eye.
"Where are we, Arthur?"
Cloris asked, batting her eyelashes.
The place was beautifully decorated, stylish and modern. It had hints of both eastern and western influences. One could easily
tell that it was just as expensive as it looked.
"It's just where my friends and I like to hang out in the North District. I come here all the time. Let's go inside,"
Arthur replied, maintaining a gentle smile on his face. His eyes, on the other hand, gave a knowing glint. As to what it meant,
was a mystery.
Cloris nodded as she followed Arthur into a box. As soon as they sat down, the men started talking about business. They
excitedly discussed the real estate industry in G City.
The topic did not interest Cloris at all, but she knew she couldn't show that in front of Arthur's friends. Pretending to be more
interested than she was, she concentrated on listening intently. In truth, a part of her regretted coming.
This was a party for businessmen and it bored her so much. Cloris expected Arthur to take her somewhere fun with his friends,
but all they talked about was business. Pretty soon, she found herself starting to get sleepy. It took so much effort for her to
concentrate.
"Oh, Arthur, I heard that the Union is about to start voting to decide who the new director will be. You're one of the top
candidates!"
said one of Arthur's friends. He had a very round face that made him look quite comical.
"To be honest, I am not very interested in that position. I think that it's more practical to take up more projects,"

Arthur responded casually with a carefree smile on his face. He pretended that the position did not interest him, but in reality,
there's more than meets the eye.
In order to sign a contract with the TY Group, he promised Jasper that he would give up on the position. Because of this, he had
to pretend that he was not interested even though everything in him said otherwise.
"Yeah, you are probably right. Speaking of projects, did you know that there's going to be a new amusement park?"
the round-faced man said, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, I heard. But it's not totally new. They are just going to renovate it, that's all,"
Arthur replied as he picked up his tea on the table and took a sip.
"The Tang Group is in charge of this project. I also heard that the designer is a woman. Her name is... Damn, I forgot her name.
But I heard that she won third place in an American design competition. What's more, she is the first Chinese designer to
manage to bag an award at that competition! It was the best prize any Chinese contender has ever gotten, so far. It also won her
a lot of cash. Quite impressive!"
the round-faced man added. He seemed to know a lot of information.
Cloris's eyes shone when she heard his words. They were finally talking about something she was interested in.
"Oh, you mean Cassandra Qin, right? I met her before, and she is really talented. I've actually lost to her in a bidding,"
Arthur admitted. It seemed that he did not mind sharing about his defeat to Cassandra.
Hearing his words, Cloris glanced at him, confused. She stole the flash drive that contained Cassandra's designs before the
presentation, but she did not expect her sister to still be smart enough to find a way to win the bid in spite of that.
"That designer is immensely capable and she is bound to be famous one day. The Tang Group is really lucky to have such a
great employee like her. I heard that she just came back from abroad. The Tang Group must have spent a good amount of
money on her!"
the round-faced man continued, shaking his head. Envy and regret seemed to be drawn on his face.
"Don't be so jealous! You'll find a good designer too! Money is all you need to find a designer as good as Cassandra,"

a dark-skinned man interrupted, patting his round-faced friend on the back.
"Well, sometimes even money can't buy people with talents like her. Cassandra's relationship with the Tang family is special. Isn't
that right, Cloris?"
Arthur said, taking another sip of his tea. He liked the tea, it was really good. A bit bitter, but it had a sweet and fresh aftertaste.
He looked at Cloris affectionately, making her heart skip a beat.
"What do you mean? You seem to know some insider info here."
The round-faced man stared at Arthur with curiosity. He looked at him and then at Cloris, hanging on to their next words.
"I mean, Cassandra is part of the Tang family. That said, no amount of money can persuade her to work for somebody else,"
Arthur answered. He didn't say straight away that Cassandra was Horace's daughter-in-law, but it did not take a genius to figure
this out after Arthur's hints.
The round-faced man thought for a few seconds and then appeared shocked at his own realization.
"You mean, Cassandra is Horace's daughter-in-law ?"
the man asked as his eyes widened in surprise. He looked even more ridiculous that way.
"Hey, you can ask Cloris here. Cassandra is her sister and she has been married for several years by now," Arthur said, looking
at Cloris with an unreadable look in his eyes.
Cassandra's marriage was a secret that both the Tang family and the Qin family tried to keep.
She was still very young when she got married and only a few close friends were informed. It was very intimate so the news did
not get out.
Apart from that, Cassandra and Lionel did not seem to get along. Both of them did not want a big wedding so even after years of
marriage, there were only a few people who knew about it.
Arthur's friends were all realtors. Even though they were not that influential, they all knew a lot of people.

Now that they knew of Cassandra's real identity, Arthur believed that the news would soon spread fast. It wouldn't be long before
everybody in this industry knew the truth.
For big companies like the Tang Group and the Dawn Star Company, it was very beneficial to have a top designer like
Cassandra. Ever since she entered the Tang Group, she had helped them get a lot of projects and was instrumental to their
successful completion. This made Arthur wary. He couldn't afford losing more projects to the Tang Group.
Cassandra was a great designer and employee. He wanted to get her to help him. But if he couldn't get what he wanted, then he
would destroy her.