A Graduation Gift

A tense silence had settled in the room as Charlie stood wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. He could hardly believe his eyes.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. After a few moments of stunned and confused silence, he turned around and
walked outside before shutting the door behind him.
Amanda's face burned with embarrassment. She turned to Rufus and said, "What do we do now, Rufus? My father saw us..."
Her voice dropped in a seductive tone and she looked at him through half-lidded eyes. Any man in the right mind would find her
tantalizing.
However, Rufus's mind was in a place very far from the alluring sight in front of him. His face darkened as he remained silent.
'How was Charlie able to enter the room?' he wondered thoughtfully.
As a matter of fact, what he didn't know was that it was a carefully orchestrated plan by none other than Amanda. She had
secretly left the door unlocked, and after finding the right moment, she sent a message to her father asking him to come straight
inside using Rufus's phone.
At the moment, Rufus's angry face was putting a damper to Amanda's mood. However, she brightened up when she thought of
the success of her plan. Her father had seen her and Rufus. There was no way he would just let things be as they were. A thrill
ran through her as she thought of a wedding that would not be far off.
Rufus sat up and wrapped the thin quilt around his body. He stood up and walked to the rest room to get changed without so
much as a word.
When he walked out, Amanda had already put her clothes on. She peeked at him coyly, her face still dusted in red.
She turned her eyes to look outside and then looked back to Rufus, giving off an air of hesitation. She asked in a low voice,
"Should I ask my father to come in?"
Her face turned even redder after she had uttered the words.
Rufus gave her no reply and proceeded to open the door. Charlie was standing outside. The older was staring blankly at nothing,
as if he had not yet fully processed the earlier scene.
He snapped back to himself immediately when he noticed Rufus's presence. Charlie walked over to him, pausing just as he was
beside the young man to meet his eyes and pat him on the shoulder. Then he walked inside the room.

The incidents from last night were slowly becoming less and less hazy to Rufus, and he began to piece the images together.
However, there were plenty of blind spots that he could not recall no matter how much he tried.
He remembered that sending Amanda away, so how was it possible that she was with him in the same room, on the same bed
even, when morning came?
Whatever drug he had taken was too strong. It was messing with his head.
Amanda sat down beside Charlie with her head lowered. A smile broke on Charlie's face. At this, Rufus found it impossible to try
explaining.
Everyone was well aware how much Charlie adored his beloved daughter. If Rufus told him the truth about the scene his saw
and that his daughter drugged him, he would surely turn out to be the bad person. Charlie would never be able to believe that his
precious daughter would be capable of doing such acts. Rufus would be at a disadvantage with the father and daughter's
relationship. He would be painted as a liar.
"When is the wedding, Rufus?"
Charlie didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"Father!" Amanda burst out, taking his father's arm. "We are still only dating! It's still too early to think about engagements and
weddings,"
she reasoned. Amanda was perfectly playing the part of an embarrassed young lady.
"Too early? You have already been dating before. You're just picking up where you left off, right? If I didn't get in your way back
then, the two of you probably would have been married by now," he said as he reached out a hand to touch his daughter's head.
"Don't worry. Leave the wedding arrangements to me. There would be nothing but the best for the two of you. I can guarantee
that you will like it!" he exclaimed.
Charlie accepted the fact that Amanda and Rufus had shared the same bed rather easily. In fact, he was happy about the matter.
He couldn't stop himself from beaming at this development.
Rufus was no longer just a boy. He had grown into a fine man, and was in charge of two of the most powerful groups in
business: TY Group and Tang Group. Charlie found himself more and more impressed with him as time went by. In just a short
time, he had become an excellent man and made great achievements.

And now, he and Amanda met and fell in love once again. He had come between them before, with the best interest of his
daughter in mind, but things were different now. As long as his daughter was happy, there was no reason for him to stop them
anymore.
Rufus had not spoken a single word since he had entered the room. Charlie frowned slightly as he noticed his silence. He could
not help feeling that something was amiss.
"What do you think Rufus? I don't believe you have any problems with Amanda, right?"
Charlie asked, his frown deepening.
"No, she's good. But..." Rufus trailed off.
His heart felt heavy in his chest as he swallowed the unspoken words. In truth, Amanda was the last thing on his mind. All he
could think of that moment was Cassandra. However, before he could continue his explanation, Amanda spoke, "Father! You are
embarrassing us! Stop asking, please. Leave it to us, okay?"
She shook her father's arm and begged coquettishly.
Charlie burst into laughter upon seeing his daughter's embarrassed expression, and then continued, "You've already gone this
far. What are you so shy about? Just pick a date and I'll handle the preparations. It's going to be a grand celebration. I'm sure
you will love it!"
Charlie beamed at his daughter and stroked her hair. To him, Amanda would always be his little girl.
"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll let you know when we decide it. So can you please stop talking about it now?" she grumbled, pouting.
Amanda looked like a doll as she looked up at her father.
Charlie laughed out once again, and Rufus found no opening. He didn't know what to say now.
His eyes darkened. Amanda's embarrassed demeanor pulled at his nerves. The sight of her, playing the shy, innocent girl in front
of Charlie made him sick to his stomach.
There was no way that Charlie's appearance had been a mere coincidence, and there was only one person who could have
planned everything.

'How ironic!' Rufus chuckled darkly to himself. 'With such an innocent face, she managed to get her hands on that drug.' Amanda
continued the act perfectly, her expressions not missing a beat. Rufus wanted to scoff out loud. 'She's an excellent actress, I'll
give her that, ' he thought sarcastically.
Rufus was pulled away from his thoughts at Charlie's next words. "Amanda, can I have a word with Rufus? There's something I
want to discuss with him alone," he said.
Amanda stood up obediently and smiled to her father as she left the two men in the room.