A Graduation Gift

The frown on his face did not relax, and the muscles of his mouth grew, if anything, tenser, as he had already guessed the
reason behind her unexpected visit.
Evidently, Amanda had already known about his short visit to Cassandra's office and she had showed up at his door to unburden
her soul. However, Rufus wasn't aware of this just yet.
"Rufus, You haven't forgotten Cassandra, have you?"
Amanda's voice trembled. Her breath came so hard that Rufus could hear its suspiration where he stood.
"So, you know that I went to see her, right?"
Rufus was as sharp as a tack. Hardly anything could slip past his sharp mind without being noticed and Amanda's thoughts were
of no exception.
'Now that she's here to talk to me about this matter, I might as well tell her everything I've got in my mind.' Rufus wanted to take
advantage of this opportunity that had presented itself to him.
"Amanda, you know exactly what happened that night. And I don't think it was a coincidence that your father came into that room
the next morning to witness the scene first-hand. You orchestrated all of that, didn't you?"
As he peered into her pretty face, he thought to himself, 'She is not as innocent as she tries to appear. She didn't hesitate to drug
me with a philter just so she could become my woman.'
"Rufus, you can't make such baseless accusations about me just because you don't want to be with me!"
'Of course, I am not going to admit it. If I were foolish enough to admit to something like that, I wouldn't have any chance to
become his girlfriend.' Amanda's flawless facade masked her private guilt.
"Yeah, well. If you say so, Amanda. I'm clearly aware of what you're capable of, thinking now."
His bitter frown transformed itself into a sneer smile and then a contemptuous one.
"I stayed with you for one whole month because of your illness, but I don't think I can hide my real thoughts to spend the rest of
my life with you. The fact that I love Cassandra can't be changed. Someday you will meet a person who will love and cherish
you, but that person is not me. I hope that one day you will understand me, Amanda."

A trace of tenderness crept into his face again. Even just uttering Cassandra's name could change his mood in an instant.
"Rufus, I hate you! How could you be so cruel? You won't even give me a chance."
Salty tears spilled over onto her cheeks leaving a tight and dry feeling. Amanda felt her chest tighten into a knot like a cramp and
a quiet rage formed inside.
"Amanda, I'm so sorry."
Rufus could tell that all kinds of thoughts were whirling around in her head; so rather than keeping silent, he told her the truth.
Even if he knew that it would break her heart, he had to do so.
Without another word, Amanda quickly ran into her car and drove away. Glancing at her helplessly, Rufus turned back and
walked into the villa.
Brick by brick, her walls came tumbling down. Blinking lashes heavy with tears blurred her vision. Every word that came out of
Rufus's mouth lingered in her ears, haunting her.
"I love Cassandra..."
'Rufus, I don't know why you have to be so heartless. I'm ready to give up everything in my life just to be with you, but you still
love that bitch.' Amanda was swamped with negative emotion.
All of a sudden, she pulled over to the side of the road and dialled Cassandra's number.
"Cassandra Qin, you bitch! I pray that you rot in hell! I curse you die alone in agony! You and Rufus will never have a happy life
together!"
Needless to say, Cassandra was utterly baffled by the hurricane the woman on the other end of the line was subjecting her to.
She paused in her mind for a moment to recollect herself, trying to figure out what was going on here.
"I'm sorry, but... who is this?"
When she answered the phone, Cassandra wasn't expecting to be bombarded with curses and foul-mouthed swear words.
"This is Amanda Ke! You can't possibly understand how I felt when Rufus told me that he still loved you. But mark my words,
Cassandra, don't be so complacent. Nothing good can come from the two of you getting together!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Amanda hung up the phone. Her gasping wails echoed, as she sobbed unceasingly, hands
clutching at the steering wheel.
Upon hearing the busy tone from the other end of the line, Cassandra slowly recovered from her own thoughts.
'Amanda sounded so heartbroken, which can only mean... Rufus must have told her the truth about how he felt about me, didn't
he?'
Beads of joy formed on her skin like dew on spring grass. She could even feel it radiating and soothing her from within.
Although she felt pretty bad, Cassandra was ready to accept the earful she had just received from Amanda, because she was
over the moon with happiness to know that Rufus still loved her.
She gave out a radiant and loving smile of relief. She wanted to laugh, but she resisted the urge to do so.
Closing her mouth and covering her face with her hands, Cassandra turned back and forth on the bed, as if she were a gleeful
little bird flapping its wings, ready to fly out of the cage and into Rufus's heart.
In the meantime, Rufus had just received a piece of news that shocked him to the core.
Apparently, the new investor Cassandra was talking about was none other than Charlie.
The news he received from Victor was so out of character, so far from what he could ever expect, that his brain formulated no
thoughts other than to register that he was shocked.
A million questions flooded his mind, but the one that stood out from the rest was why would Charlie invest in her company?
Rufus's brain desperately tried to connect the dots but failed miserably. 'Charlie has never invested in anyone other than the
members of the Dark Night Group. It's so unlike him.
Maybe...' he thought.
A bad presentiment came over him, as if vines had emerged from the floor beneath his feet, slowly winding his ankles, legs, his
heart and then his soul, draining him of all hope and strength.
'Could it be? Could it be that Cassandra is unwilling to be with me because she wants Charlie to invest in her company?'
Once the negative thoughts poured in, he couldn't get them out of his mind.

Even in the face of doubt, he kept telling himself, 'Don't think too much about it. Cassandra is not that kind of a person. But this is
all too strange to be just a mere coincidence. Why would she ignore me? Moreover, Charlie just popped out of nowhere offering
to help her for no reason? I don't think so.
I am going to find out what happened.'
Early morning mist began to clear over dew laden grass as the sun rose casting orange and pink onto a thin layer of cloud,
ushering in a new day.
Slowly, Cassandra's eyelids fluttered open. She got up from bed and stretched out her arms and legs, feeling like a giddy miss
fresh out of the schoolroom.
After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she was ready to put on her clothes: a casual shirt and loose pants. Something
felt wrong, however, when she tied the belt.
"That's strange. I haven't been eating a lot lately, but somehow I am still gaining weight," she muttered to herself with a puzzled
expression on her face.
'I usually buckle up my belt in a fixed position, but now I have to move a few centimeters outward to buckle my belt.
I have been so busy lately that I don't even have time to drink water. I wonder how I am still gaining weight. I really don't
understand what's going on, ' she mused.