A Graduation Gift

As per Cassandra, Rufus was a symbol of calmness. She had never seen him lose his composure.
'Had someone hurt him? But who was able to do that?'
At the sight of Cassandra standing in front of the President's office, Rufus's assistant hurriedly pressed a button.
"Mr Luo, Manager Qin is here to see you."
Several seconds later, Rufus's languid reply came, "Let her in."
Cassandra steeled herself against all her thoughts and doubts, took one last look at herself and strode into the office.
He had recovered and was waiting for her, sitting behind his desk.
"Mr Luo, the owner of the script is Joel, I would like to report this revelation to the police right away."
Cassandra was resolute. However, aside from his knitting eyebrows, Rufus's terse reply was also surprising.
"I don't think it is a good solution for now. If he divulges all his actions, all your previous pains to hold them back was in vain."
Rufus seemed to have already prepared for this.
To allow the lady to find the answer herself, he had instructed Victor to place Joel's report on top of the stack of files. Thus,
making it very easy for Cassandra.
As expected, Cassandra demanded that the case be handed over to the police immediately. However, this action would not
serve its purpose. It would instead create a scandal that would bring to the front the fact that she had been drugged by Joel. Her
reputation would suffer.
In truth, he had made sure Joel was being watched. He was just waiting for the right time to catch him.
He planned to negotiate with Joel to ensure that he confessed to the charge of plagiarism. He was not evil enough to
compromise on his reputation knowingly.
As for his sister Ivy, she was an untamed bomb in the Tang family, yet she might be used for something later.
Rufus had everything measured out; therefore, any reaction from the pretty woman wouldn't surprise him.

"All right. I will send someone to look into it, it will be better for us to get to him before the police do."
Rufus gazed at her unemotionally. Watching his face in front of her, Cassandra could not associate his current calmness to his
ferocity from earlier, which she heard from outside the room.
'Maybe I was being paranoid?', she doubted herself.
Rufus stood up, made his way to Cassandra. He reached over and gently smoothed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"Don't worry about that! You have me."
Cassandra looked up, into his dark brown eyes.
"Fetus: 28 weeks; heart rate: 135 times per minute..."
Lying in bed, Ivy appeared to be listening to her doctor attentively, yet she was gripped by anxiety inside.
She knew it was getting more and more inconvenient for her to move around since her belly had grown so much bigger. What
was worse, she had made no progress according to her plan yet.
These days, Cassandra left early in the morning and came back home late at night; she found no overlapping chance to have a
talk with her.
Ivy walked out of the Ultrasound Room with the analysis report. At the sight of her, Lionel got up and walked over to her to
inspect the report himself.
"So, everything seems alright?"
asked Lionel while he scanned the report.
"Yes, it is healthy. I am afraid my belly will grow like an inflated balloon after thirty weeks."
Ivy looked a little downcast. Lionel suspected that it was due to her fear that she won't recover her figure post giving birth.
Lionel felt hopeful seeing the reports of his baby's steady development.
Horace cared deeply for Ivy. He had given special instructions to Jill to prepare the tonic herself for Ivy.
Lionel felt content watching his family bustle around awaiting his baby.

The election for the Director of the Union was imminent. The Tang group stood the highest chance to win. If they succeeded they
would benefit from the identity greatly, regardless of any business expansion.
The Tang group was set on a promising future and Lionel would not easily allow it to fall in the hands of Rufus.
When both of them returned home, Horace was animatedly chatting with Jill.
"Cassandra made it onto the TV news channels. She has gained a significant reward. Now, the national media is covering it. We
will have a celebration when she comes back."
Ivy's eyes light up with the hope that she could finally get a chance to talk with Cassandra.
In a jovial mood, Horace instructed Jill to let the servers to cook lavishly and set the table with finery. Unlike other days, today
they would celebrate.
Cassandra came home by taxi. When Horace questioned her about the it she explained that she had sold her Beetle because
she was looking to replace it. She omitted to tell him that she had sold it to pay the fine.
Since Cassandra had bought the Beetle herself, Horace didn't ask any further questions.
Rufus arrived home soon after. When he reached the dining room, the others were already at the table.
He seated himself opposite Cassandra and waited patiently for the opening.
Horace asked the servers to fill everyone's glasses as he lifted up his glass cheerfully.
"The award Cassandra has won is not only a personal victory for her but a glory to the Tang Group! I hope that Cassandra will
achieve much greater things and take the Design Department to new heights. More people should know about the Tang group!"
Everybody rose to their feet, to toast her achievement, however, Cassandra remained silent.
Everyone noticed her unusual calmness; Horace raised his eyebrow slightly, "Cassandra, what is the matter?"
She paused and mustered the courage, then rose to her feet with a solemn look stated her mind.
"Father, I want to divorce Lionel!"
The room fell silent all of a sudden.

"Cassandra, it is not April Fool's day!"
Jill managed a chuckle, trying to diffuse the situation.
"I am not kidding! I am serious. I want to divorce Lionel. Let him marry Ivy!"
Cassandra glanced at Ivy and her baby bump...Something tugged at her heartstrings which solidified her determination.
It was not because she did not want to care for Ivy's baby. But, Ivy would leave the Tang house post giving birth, Cassandra
believed that the infant should remain with its biological mother. It was a choice that even the baby would make if it could.
Earlier, she couldn't think about divorcing Lionel due to the constraints of her maiden family. However, now, the Qin family had
become fragile. Like a flower swaying in a storm. Eventually, she might hamper the Tang family more by staying.
Vernon faced a hefty fine and it was unlikely that Horace had no knowledge of it even though he had remained tight-lipped about
it.
Cassandra would never allow herself to ask him for help to pay off Vernon's fine. Horace knew that and had been secretly happy
that he could stay out of it.
She noted the indifference of the whole family, with the exception of Rufus who was trying his best to help her out. But Jill had
never viewed him as part of the Tang family.
She would be more than happy to see Ivy staying with her baby and the Tangs.
Rufus's face was masked and gave nothing away of the turmoil that lay beneath.
He had never expected that she would ask for the divorce voluntarily.
It hadn't taken long for him to understand that she must have retained the idea in her heart for a long time. Since she was now
free of the shackles of the Qin family, she now had fewer reasons to hold back.
Lionel stared at Cassandra with an unfathomable look in his eyes, his fists clenched into balls.
Did she really hate him so deeply? That she was this desperate to escape from him?

Only a few people sitting at the table did not find the appeal to be too bad. The most delighted of all was Ivy. She had never
dreamed that Cassandra would voluntarily raise the white flag. She was pleased that she had won without too much effort.
"Cassandra, we know you have won the award and now you have taken up a keen position at the company. But you cannot do
this to us! Have we ever treated you shabbily? All your education expenses in Rome were paid by us!"
The first thought that sprung into Jill's mind was that Cassandra wanted to exit the marriage due to her professional ambitions.
Besides that, Jill couldn't think of any other reasons that would cause her to leave.
"I promise I can still work for the Tang Group after Lionel and I separate, unless you choose to dismiss me."
Cassandra had no doubts that Jill mistook her reason for the divorce. The latter had never understood her anyway so it did not
surprise her.
While Horace, the head of the family, remained silent, his face had darkened.
"Father, Lionel and I have no attachment to one another. Forcing us to remain together is not going to be agreeable. Please
allow us a divorce!"
Cassandra looked at Horace imploringly.
"A divorce? Over my dead body!" His voice rang clear across the room.