A Graduation Gift

Whitney looked sad and frustrated. What Cassandra said even gave her more pain.
"I know why Courtney is acting like this. It is because of that man. He left Courtney and no one knows where he is now. I can't
seem to find him no matter how hard I tried," she said.
Whitney furrowed her brows and looked at Courtney who was picking out clothes from her closet happily. Tears filled her eyes.
"Considering Courtney's mental state, how can I leave her? I can't afford to try to find the guy myself. Someone has to stay with
Courtney. Also, that man hurt her. I don't know what will happen to her if he comes back in her life again. What if she goes out of
control? I can't afford to lose my only daughter.
I don't expect her to fully recover. All I want is that she becomes capable of living her life without trying to hurt herself again,"
Whitney sighed. She became even more sorrowful as she looked at her daughter.
Cassandra followed her gaze. The sunshine lit the room beautifully. Under the warm sunlight, Courtney looked young and
beautiful.
It could have been a very wonderful sight to see a girl picking out dresses for her date so happily on a warm afternoon, thinking
about the love of her life.
Courtney, who indulged herself in her memory, must be very happy now.
"Sometimes, she acts like this, happily dreaming about the man. But after a few moments, she will suddenly return to the present
and go back to her cold, indifferent self," Whitney explained.
It was difficult to watch her. Whitney looked at the ceiling to keep her tears from falling.
"Why don't you stay for a few more days in Norway, Cassandra, since you seldom come here? I have a lot of guest rooms. You
can pick whichever you like. Remember to lock the door before you go to sleep so Courtney won't startle you. Please think about
it," Whitney offered. "Anyway, I have a meeting with a securities agent. I should go now."
Whitney ended and left, leaving Cassandra with Courtney.
Cassandra went into deep thought.
"Pink, no. I wore pink last time,"

Courtney muttered to herself as she threw the pink dress away. Pouting, she looked like a three-year-old little girl.
"Black, no. He doesn't like me in black,"
she whispered as she threw away another batch of clothes.
"Purple? He thinks I look old in purple. No purple!"
Courtney still couldn't choose what to wear.
Cassandra walked over to her.
"Courtney, what does he like?"
she asked, being observant of Courtney's facial expression.
The girl suddenly stopped. The smile on her face disappeared gradually.
Her bright and sparkling eyes turned gloomy. Just as suddenly as it arrived, the excitement was gone.
Now, she looked confused. It was as if she turned into a different person in just a few seconds.
"He...doesn't like me,"
her voice which was happy and cheery a few seconds ago was now low and miserable. It was almost like a whisper.
Cassandra's heart sunk. She felt sorry for Courtney.
Even though Courtney didn't exactly answer her question about the clothes, her response told Cassandra how much Courtney
cared about the man and how sad it made her when he left.
"Then who does he like?"
Cassandra asked carefully, hoping to know more information.
Courtney furrowed her brows. Her face became cold again.
"He doesn't like me because I can't do the things he wants me to do. I can't...I just can't..."
Courtney choked up. There were tears in her eyes. She looked very upset.

Cassandra knew that she had to stop asking Courtney more questions. She didn't want her to suffer from more painful
memories.
"It's okay, Courtney. You're just tired. Come here. I'm with you. Let's have some rest,"
Cassandra said to Courtney gently. She walked to the closet, helped her put back the clothes and walked her to the bed.
Courtney did feel tired after her busy morning picking out clothes.
She seldom went out the house because she was sick. In normal circumstances, it would have freaked her out to see a stranger
in the house. But Cassandra intrigued her.
"What's your name? I have never seen you before,"
Courtney asked as she looked at Cassandra up and down. Her eyes were wide in wonder.
"My name is Cassandra Qin,"
Cassandra knew that Courtney must have already forgotten her, so she explained to her patiently.
Surprisingly, Courtney seemed to hold back her smile. Instead, she looked at Cassandra coldly.
Cassandra could feel that something was wrong. It felt as if Courtney was still in her painful memories.
Suddenly, Courtney stood up.
"I'm tired and I need to have some rest. Please leave my bedroom," she said coldly.
Cassandra opened her mouth but said nothing.
Courtney might have returned to the person she used to be.
Seeing Courtney so calm, Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief. At least, she wouldn't hurt herself now.
Cassandra walked out and closed the door quietly.
She went downstairs and saw Whitney working on her computer.

"I'm sorry, Cassandra, I'm quite busy with some stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have time to show you around. How about I ask
someone to take you for a tour?"
Whitney said to Cassandra apologetically when she saw her.
The massive amount of market data on the screen dazzled Cassandra.
"That's all right, Auntie. I can walk around by myself. The air in Norway is so fresh, much better than my hometown. I would like
to get some fresh air,"
Cassandra said giving a gentle smile to Whitney, and went for a walk outside.
There was a meadow outside the courtyard. Not far from it was a forest. Blue sky, white cloud, green forest and grassy meadow.
It was a breathtaking view. Still, Cassandra could not set herself to enjoy it.
When she came to Norway and met Whitney, Cassandra realized how silly and naive she was. What made her think that
Whitney would sell her shares to her?
Whitney was a huge client of TY Securities. She was very wealthy seeing that the President of the company handled her case
first-hand.
The last thing Whitney needed was money. The money she could lose from her 20% shares in Qin Group was nothing compared
to her fortune.
Cassandra was almost sure that Whitney would not really care how high her offer might be for it.
She wasn't the kind of person who could easily be persuaded to change her mind. Her daughter, Courtney, might be the only
person who could do that.
It brought Cassandra sadness thinking about Courtney.
If Courtney were not sick, it would have been easier for Cassandra to talk to her and ask for her help to convince her mother.
Given that she was ill, though, Cassandra was at a loss to what to do. She found herself at a dead end.
This was a very tricky situation, and yet, the pressure from Lionel reminded Cassandra that she had to keep going. But how
could she maneuver this situation?

Suddenly, her phone rang. Relief filled her when she saw Rufus's name on the caller ID.
The past two days had been tough. It would be great to have someone to talk to.
However, when she answered the phone, she didn't know where to start.
"How's everything going? Are you doing okay?"
Rufus sounded calm and was a comfort to Cassandra. She could picture him raising his eyebrows when talking to her.
"Not very well. I don't know how to bring this up to Whitney,"
Cassandra confessed.
"Your father and her husband are best friends. I thought she would support you,"
Rufus replied. He did not expect Cassandra to be in such a sad mood. He actually expected the meeting to go smoothly.
"She understands me and I understand her too. Since she needs to take care of her daughter and their assets at the same time,
she does not have time to think about me or my father's business,"
Cassandra explained as she turned around, looking at the castle behind her. Under the blue sky, there was a dysfunctional
princess and her unfortunate mother living inside that beautiful place. What a pity.
Wait, a princess?
Suddenly, an idea gripped her.
She seemed to have overlooked a very important fact.
"Cassandra? Cassandra Qin?"
Rufus raised his voice on the other end of the line after Cassandra didn't answer him, which brought back her attention.
"Sorry, I zoned out for a minute,"
Cassandra apologized.
"What are you thinking? I thought you were hypnotized. You scared me!"

Rufus said, a little disappointed with Cassandra's absent-mindedness. He felt as if he bored her.
Hypnosis?!
Suddenly, Cassandra felt as if it all made sense.
"Rufus! Thank you! Now I know how to solve the problem!"