A Graduation Gift

Amanda's chest tightened the moment she heard her father's warning. It was quite obvious to her that her father wasn't really
fond of Clark. Unfortunately, she had already made a deal with the devil, and it would be a gargantuan task getting herself out of
that hellhole.
"Yes, I know that full well. But I insist that you eat the soup soon, Father. It's probably getting cold already."
After giving him a sense of assurance, Amanda urged her father to eat the soup while it was still warm. Be that as it might, she
had some plans of her own.
A smile crept up on Charlie's face upon hearing her response. Moving the bowl of soup a little closer, he leisurely enjoyed eating
it. The soup not only make him feel warm, but it was actually quite delicious as well.
"Amanda, at this point in my life, there's not a lot of things or people that I have to worry about anymore. My only wish is for my
dearest daughter to keep smiling and of course, for her to always be safe and sound. You have to learn to take good care of
yourself and remember to keep yourself out of harm's way. Try not to get yourself too exhausted from taking care of lots of
things. Could you please promise me that?"
Charlie implored her, placing the empty bowl on the desk after he was done. Because he had Amanda in his late adulthood, she
had always been the most precious thing to him. If there was one thing in the world that he cared about the most, that would be
Amanda.
"Yes, I swear I will, Father. Concentrate on doing your work for now. I'm heading out in a while."
Grabbing the empty bowl from her father's desk, Amanda exited the study. The instant she walked out the door, the obedient
look she had on her face was replaced by a grim one.
She had just confirmed that her father's opinion of Clark was already dyed-in-the-wool. That meant the information Clark gave
her could possibly be true, that Charlie was planning to give Rufus a hand in replacing him to take over the Dark Night Group.
Just how on earth could she prevent that from happening?
If she could somehow change Charlie's mind, Clark would cease from doing his underhanded methods, and as a result, she
would be able to protect Rufus from getting in danger. Her main problem now was how to do it. What could she possibly do?
Visibly getting so irritated, Amanda let out a heavy sigh.

Meanwhile, in the study, Charlie was casually sitting in his chair. He closed his eyes and leaned back, with his mind drifting
somewhere far away.
Rufus, Clark...Those two names kept floating in front of him chasing one another. He had dedicated all his life to keeping the
Dark Night Group standing tall. What could he do to make Clark hand it over to Rufus without incident? He didn't want to get
anyone caught up in this mess.
Under the dim light inside a restaurant, in a corner that had been consigned to oblivion, Lionel and Ivy were sitting face-to-face
across a tabletop.
"I've already wired the money to your account. And with that, we're clear from here on out."
Upon telling that to the woman sitting in front of him, Lionel seemed to have somewhat felt at ease. He had just transferred the
fifty million Ivy had asked for into her bank account, and he just couldn't help wallowing at the thought that this could very well be
the last time he would be seeing this woman ever.
"You have quite the deep pockets, don't you? Fifty million! And you made it just like that? If I had found out about that sooner, I
definitely would have demanded more from you."
A devious smile suddenly came across Ivy's face. With her eyes fixated on her oh-so-pretty nails, she revelled on her epic mani
which was glistening even under that dull light.
Fifty million. To call it enough to live lavishly would be much of an understatement. It would all be thanks to Lionel. After all, how
else could she get such a huge amount of money?
"We're already done negotiating. We'll put an end to this here. Coming up with that large sum of money was not an easy feat!"
Lionel actually got so perturbed upon hearing the words she just said. This woman had just received her final payment, so he
panicked, thinking that she might start asking for more, which would be something he just couldn't afford any longer.
Ivy scoffed at the sight of Lionel tensing up so much.
"What a spineless coward! Ha! It comes as no surprise that Rufus is far superior to you. Yes, at present, you might be the
president of the Tang Group. But what does it matter? Rufus is far more complex than you're making him out to be. Oh, what the
heck. I'll let you in on a little secret. He's actually hiding things. A lot of different things."

Ivy stared him straight in the eyes defiantly. And as one might expect, she really hit the mark. That line left Lionel at such a loss
for words.
He thought everything had gone according to plan when he set Rufus up and had him removed from his position as the
president. Now, Rufus was no longer working for the company. The only thing Lionel knew was that he had been staying in his
Garden Villa and nothing else. No one even knew when he bought that property. How could he have pulled that off?
"I've already gone through his qualifications. Well, he has been abroad working for several years. But that's all about it. Do I
really have any reason to get so worked up? If he really was so influential and powerful, then why did he bother coming back just
to go head to head against me to become the president of the Tang Group?"
Lionel saw Ivy's words as just pointless ramblings. However, the uneasiness on the corner of his eyes sold him out.
Rufus was more than capable, and every single one of them was well aware of that. That having been said, he had already
stepped down from his position in the Tang Group. Lionel was under the assumption that Rufus could never do something that
would put him at risk.
"Oh, my dear Lionel. You're just like a clueless child. Profile and work experience could easily be fabricated. How could Rufus
just leave the Tang Group without batting an eye? I don't think you've really given that much thought. At his level, he had the
potential to at least become the vice president of the group. Yet, he still chose to walk away. Why was that so?"
Ivy wanted to tease Lionel a little more deep inside, but she didn't have any intention of spilling the beans whatsoever.
"What are you trying to say? That he doesn't care about the Tang Group? Could that be what you're implying?"
With a baffled look written all over his face, Lionel leaned over a little.
"Without a doubt, he doesn't. Because the thing that he has is far greater than what you have!"
Ivy's face suddenly lit up and a sly smile unfurled on her face. It seemed as if she was privy to a secret beneath that dim light.