A Graduation Gift

Rufus was stricken with grief. There was absolutely no way for him to find out what had happened to Cassandra after she left,
and he knew she wouldn't want to talk about it.
He already had an inkling anyway. Someone as stubborn as Cassandra would never tell.
"I'll arrange a place for your mother where Clark won't be able to reach. But please, Cassandra. Take better care of yourself,"
he responded, hugging Cassandra as tight as he could in a futile effort to merge them into one.
"I will. Even if it's for you, I'll take better care of myself!"
Cassandra promised. Her clear, smooth face glowed against the moonlight.
Rufus slowly reached down and met his lips with hers. The kiss was light, but filled with tenderness and adoration. The moonlight
cascaded past the window and shone on their figures, gracefully silhouetting their frames.
In Cassandra's office, Lyndsy frowned at the sight of Cassandra's desk. Documents and scraps of paper were piled and
scattered all over it.
"Cassandra, Cassandra. How could you let this happen to you?" Lyndsy muttered to herself.
Dissatisfied, she turned to her agent.
"Miss Qin is a manager. Keeping track of the paperwork isn't part of her work description. It is actually your responsibility. Why
are you making Cassandra do your work?"
Lyndsy spat annoyingly.
"Lyndsy, don't get mad. I asked her to leave them to me because I wanted to go over the scripts. I was afraid that your agent
wouldn't be able to handle all of these,"
Cassandra quipped, hurriedly entering the office to defend Lyndsy's agent. Lyndsy had a point: paperwork wasn't part of her job
description, the agent was just trying to spite her. But she didn't want to trouble Lyndsy at all.
"But this is ridiculous! You're already burdened with so much work. This is extra!" Lyndsy sighed. "Don't worry, Cassandra. When
the year ends, I'll give you a thick, red envelope for your bonus!"

she said, pinching her nose as she tried to relieve her tension. Lyndsy deeply appreciated Cassandra and valued her work ethic
about managing her studio. If it weren't for Cassandra's supervision, the studio wouldn't have been as efficient as it was today.
"Lyndsy, don't worry about it. I've told you. It's okay. You gave me the job when I really needed it. I just hope you can still allow
me to keep the studio in order,"
Cassandra replied as she grinned from ear to ear. Wherever she worked, be it as Tang Group's architectural manager or
Lyndsy's studio manager, she had only always wished to excellently perform in her work.
"Fine," Lyndsy sighed again, closing her eyes before quickly opening them back, suddenly remembering a thought. "By the way,
TY Entertainment's movie shoot is going to start soon. Both of us will be pretty busy in the coming weeks, but I swear to you,
once this is over, I'll give you your well-deserved vacation leave,"
Lyndsy said confidently. She was fully aware that Cassandra was always swamped with work, and she had sworn to herself to
return the favor. She only wished that there was someone that could keep up with Cassandra's excellent work ethic just so they
could share her burden.
Just as Cassandra was about to retort, her phone rang loudly. She shot Lyndsy an apologetic look before excusing herself out of
her office to answer her phone in the hallway.
"Cassandra! I'm going crazy over here!" Stella exclaimed in a barrage of screams. Cassandra could easily imagine Stella's
flailing figure as she spoke to her over the phone. "Remember Joel? The guy who stole your sketches! He's back in Tang Group!
Seriously! What the fuck right? It's so fucking infuriating that I lost all interest in working here. I can't stay here any longer. I can't
stay while Lionel is leading us headfirst into the shit hole. So I resigned!"
Stella finished, sounding incredibly upset. A chill ran through Cassandra's spine upon hearing the news.
"Joel's back? Shouldn't he still be in jail?"
Cassandra was mortified by what she heard. She knew that the company itself persecuted Joel. How could they allow him to
come back?
"Only God knows what on earth Lionel's been thinking! He himself demanded for Joel to come back to work for the company.
Lionel even assigned him to my department. What's worse, he came back with an even higher paycheck! It was ludicrous! I
couldn't stand seeing such a despicable man. I didn't even take one thorough look at him before I resigned,"
Stella ranted angrily. Cassandra could feel how upset she was.

"Stella, calm down. I'll be off work soon. Do you want to drop by my office so we could talk later?" Cassandra offered.
It would be nice to see Stella once again. She knew she would be able to calm her friend down face-to-face anyway.
Stella hung up on her after she quickly agreed without further retaliation. The entire time, Lyndsy was inside in the office, trying to
hide the fact that she was eavesdropping. Stella's voice rang angrily past through Cassandra's phone so that she could hear
fragments of Stella's aggravated voice.
When Cassandra's eyes met up with hers, she realized that Cassandra had caught her listening in. She let out a light,
embarrassed chuckle. "Seems like your friend is rather upset. What's the matter?"
Lyndsy asked Cassandra, whose eyebrows were furrowed together.
"It's nothing. My friend just resigned. I'll have to listen to the entire story later,"
Cassandra replied conservatively, not wanting to involve Lyndsy more into the discussion. Lyndsy, after all, was a world-renown
actress. She had more things to worry about.
"Resigned? Where did she work?"
Lyndsy prodded. Cassandra could feel how interested Lyndsy was with Stella's situation. She figured Lyndsy was also using this
time as a breather, and wanted a small distraction before going back to work.
"Well... She was the department head of Public Relations in Tang Group,"
Cassandra said lightly, not really paying attention to her much. She was still busy trying to organize her thoughts and plans in her
head.
"Wow! It's a good thing she's resigned, then. Do you think she'd want to work here? I was actually busy thinking about getting an
assistant for you who could help you with your tasks. If this lady is your friend, she must be willing enough to work with you, no?
She could help you! I'll wait for her then, and we could discuss it over coffee!"
Lyndsy said, delighted over the rather upsetting news. She felt like she could hit two birds with one stone. Cassandra would have
an assistant to keep up with her, and her office would be maintained organized!
Cassandra, however, was dumbfounded by the sudden proposal. Her lips parted in an attempt to speak, but the words never
came out.

A woman brashly dashed right into Cassandra's office. Cassandra and Lyndsy's eyes darted towards the door, and while Stella
was about to greet Cassandra, she saw Lyndsy first.
"Oh my god, you are Lyndsy!"
Stella's eyes widened at the sight of the movie star. Whatever annoyance she had expressed on the phone earlier quickly
dissipated, and turned into excitement.
"Wow, it's really you! I've only seen you on screen. I can't believe it's actually you, in the flesh! You're much more gorgeous than
you are on screen!"
Stella excitedly said, almost drooling at the sight of the actress.
Lyndsy awkwardly chuckled from all the sudden attention.
"Ha-ha...Cassandra, your friend is so...interesting. Would you please introduce us?"
Lyndsy asked sheepishly as she beamed her pearly white teeth at Stella.
Contrary to Lyndsy, Stella was actually an incredibly serious woman who was even stricter whenever she worked. She knew
when to draw the line between work and leisure, though she often went ballistic after work.
Cassandra could feel that she was talking to two versions of Lyndsy or two versions of Stella. Their personalities were exactly
alike. "Ah, yes. Lyndsy, this is my old high school classmate and ex-colleague, Stella Mu. She's my closest friend."
Cassandra obliged, looking at the two. Lyndsy held her hand out and Stella eagerly took her hand with both of hers, eagerly
shaking the idol's hand.
"And Stella, this is the hottest superstar, world-renowned actress, and now my boss, Lyndsy Su!"
Cassandra continued, and Stella looked like she was being awarded a medal during her high school graduation.
The two women instantly seemed to click. Cassandra felt like she was seeing twins from the way they reacted.
It wasn't long before they developed their own friendship. The three of them left the office to have dinner at a hotpot restaurant.
Cassandra, still a bit dazed from the entire day, found herself staring into the steam rising out of the hotpot, just like the way she
remembered when she ate with Dylon and Lyndsy the very last time.

Lyndsy, sensing Cassandra's change in mood, realized what was bothering her.
"Do you miss Dylon? I remember how he helped me last time. He isn't in G city anymore, is he?"
Lyndsy asked quietly. She vividly remembered that when he helped her, it was around the time that Lyndsy was having trouble
with her agency, eventually resolving the issue in court.
"Yeah. He's gone abroad now. He probably needs more time before he'd come back,"
Cassandra said meekly. Dylon was such a gentleman and he was always willing to help without asking for anything in return.
She had sincerely believed that Clark was just as noble as Dylon. But she was wrong.
"Cassandra," Stella began, placing her hand over Cassandra's, "just enjoy your time with Clark. I think he's a good man!"
Stella couldn't handle the cloud of negativity looming over them. She had to redirect it somewhere else.
"Oh Cassandra, I actually did some research on Clark!" Lyndsy replied, getting looks from Cassandra and Stella. "He just
purchased the biggest five-star hotel in G City. I also found out he has several properties and businesses overseas, too. I don't
think you'd have to worry about marrying him, Cassandra. He's rich and incredibly smitten with you!"
Lyndsy said, grinning at Cassandra to lighten the mood. When she didn't receive a response, she looked at Cassandra
thoroughly, and noticed how her eyes started to dim.
Stella immediately realized why. "Cassandra. Someone treats you with so much kindness, but you don't seem to care; someone
treats you with such blatant disregard for your efforts, but you can't seem to forget about him.
Why, Cassandra?
Rufus is already engaged with Amanda. Why do you still want to be with him? Wake up, dear. There's so many more fish in the
sea apart from Rufus. Clark's one of them, and he seems like such a perfect choice!" "She has a point, Cassandra. Why are you
so hung up on Rufus?"
Lyndsy nodded, trying to understand Cassandra's emotions.
Why must it be Rufus?
A bitter smile crept up on Cassandra's face.

Cassandra was also curious about that too. Why must it be Rufus? They met at the wrong time. They were born into arguing
families. When they got through that, the third wheel appeared.
She had already lost her child. She had been defamed. She had even lost the company that her father had worked so hard on.
But right now, Rufus was kneeling in front of her, asking for her forgiveness.
"I...I wonder about that too," Cassandra said, earning a few surprised looks from the girls.
"I guess I owed him in my former life. I have to pay him back in this life."
A sad smile appeared on her face. She kept her eyes glued to the steam rising from the pot, as if she were searching for an
answer in its midst.