A Graduation Gift

Clark had rushed back after spending time overseas and was now delighted to be reunited with Cassandra.
Cassandra, however, was far from happy. She was in no state to go for a walk with him; instead, she feigned having a headache
by cradling her head in her hands.
"I'm tired. Maybe some other time."
She didn't even wait for Clark's response before she strode towards her room. After shutting the door behind her, she breathed a
sigh of relief. Her eyes darted to the window subconsciously.
'Since Clark is here today, Rufus may not come, ' Cassandra thought.
She drew the curtains over the window making the room feel claustrophobic.
'Why has Rufus not shared such an important matter?' He was the founder and the chairman of TY Group, but he still fabricated
a portfolio to conceal his identity from the Tang family.
'Why did he do this? Was he just keeping a profile low, or did he deliberately hide it?'
She kept awake, tossing in her bed all night because, in her heart, she knew Rufus wouldn't come. And he didn't.
Stella had become the right hand of Cassandra. Being a pro at public relations, she had swiftly, and efficiently, helped her
arrange everything. With everything in order, Cassandra felt much more relaxed.
The only thing that bothered her was that she hadn't seen Rufus for quite some days. A dark shadow was cast by murky clouds
in her heart. The gloom was so burdensome, that she found it difficult to breathe.
Meanwhile, Stella would intermittently speak negatively about Rufus which added further pressure onto Cassandra.
"Cassandra, Rufus is not your type! Why can't you ever consider Clark? I really don't understand the appeal of a man who is
engaged to another woman!"
Stella kept nagging Cassandra in the hope that she would marry Clark at the earliest and finally become settled in life.
All Cassandra could do was listen in silence. There was no way she could argue back.
If a relationship could be dictated rationally, there was no reason for her to suffer through such trials and tribulations.

In the meantime, in a secret room, Arthur looked at Clark in shock.
"Mr. Ji, you mean, to create hostility between the Tang family and Rufus, so that they will both crumble?"
Arthur's eyes lit up—he had waited so long for this moment!
The embarrassment that had crippled a young Arthur and his father's failure to defeat the Tang Group would finally be lifted.
"Don't you desire the fall of Tang Group as well? I can give you that chance."
Clark squinted his eyes; they were still frigid and cold.
His men had reported that someone from Dark Night Group was investigating him undercover. He suspected that Charlie and
Rufus had combined their powers against him. Indeed, He knew he couldn't bet on that foolish Amanda to prevent Charlie's
moves!
With the landscape changing so wildly, he had to take the next step. His first move would be against the Tang Group.
"Okay, Mr. Ji, then, what shall we do?"
Arthur was always eager to get a mouthful of the Tang Group.
"Just broadcast to the public about Rufus's role as the chairman of the TY Group."
A smug smile was plastered on Clark's face.
Arthus froze in disbelief.
"What? Rufus is the head of TY Group? You must be kidding!"
His mind was in total chaos. The TY Group had been investing in his Dawn Star Group for quite some time. 'How could Rufus be
the chairman of TY Group?'
"Are you surprised that Rufus has invested in you?"
Clark nodded and stared calmly at Arthur.
"Mr... Mr. Ji, I'm really confused. Isn't Rufus the son of Horace? Why would he fund my company?"

Rufus's true intention was indeed hard to decipher. The mere thought of him being chaperoned by Rufus, his business rival,
gave him a cold sweat.
Even before he knew Clark, Arthur had relied on TY Group as the major source of cash for Dawn Star Group's rapid expansion.
By then, Arthur was relieved that Tang Group didn't compete against him during that crucial time. He felt lucky to have accepted
the investment from the TY Group.
But on retrospection, he realised that Rufus could have easily sabotaged the donation from TY Group at any given time and
destroyed him. He could never have been able to obtain another significant investment that soon. Without the cash flow, he
would have been easily annihilated.
But, Rufus didn't!
"Rufus and Horace have separate goals but they are still working together on the surface. This time, I plan to exploit that
carefully-maintained peace between them. Taking Tang Group down will be a good warm-up exercise for you."
It would be best to take down Tang Group without Rufus's intervention. Furthermore, 'that man' also wanted the Tang Group to
maintain distance from their deal.
If a conflict arose between Rufus and Tang family, then Rufus would no longer enjoy the support of the Tang family.
Thinking about the sadistic outcome of his plan, the smile on Clark's face became colder.
"Alright, I will spread the information as fast as possible!"
Arthur had been yearning for this moment. It seemed that, finally, he would be able to mount on his indomitable rivals and stomp
on them until they were no more.
The room, despite being small and dingy, was brewing a malevolent deluge.
In the mansion of the Tang family, Horace was anxiously pacing back and forth in the lobby.
"When will Lionel be back?"
He had lost track of how many times he had questioned Jill. Gradually, her patience subsided.
"I just said that he would be back soon. Why are you in such a hurry? He is now the CEO of the Tang Group. He is steeped with
company affairs. How can he be back so soon?"

Jill didn't quite understand Horace's behavior today. He had asked after Lionel several times in the last hour.
"He loves to drag! I have some urgent matters to discuss with him, but he is nowhere to be found!"
Horace started to raise his voice with agitation.
"Can you be more rational? Lionel is busy now. Every matter he is dealing with right now is serious. You can't just ask him to
come home. Have you considered that he may have something more important to settle?"
The harshness of Horace struck Jill. When Rufus was still around, Horace had never expected Rufus to appear anytime he
demanded. But when it came to Lionel, he didn't allow him any slack.
"All you do is protect him. If I had been more strict on him before, he wouldn't have become a man who can't handle the
company properly!"
Horace glared at Jill. He hated that she doted on their son.
"Well, it's good that you never cared about him. He would then leave the family for twenty years and then magically become as
capable as Rufus!"
Unwilling to give in to Horace, Jill brought up Rufus to win the quarrel.
It had become a habit of Horace to compare Lionel with Rufus in every aspect. For Jill, her son was born with their family name,
while Rufus was still a bastard with the surname of Luo.
That was not something she could accept. Finally, Rufus had left the Tang Group, but Horace still kept comparing Lionel to him.
That did not sit well with Jill.
"Rufus, Rufus. All you do is hate Rufus. You are blind to his qualities! I can see that Lionel has inherited his small-mindedness
from you!"
Horace had been manipulated by Jill and Lionel to drive Rufus away because of the missing fifty million from company accounts.
He regretted his decision greatly and still wished Rufus was around.
"Horace, please elaborate. What did you mean by 'small-mindedness'? I agreed to change Rufus's surname. It was he who
wasn't willing to do so. Why do you call me small-minded? I even acknowledged him as my son! Do you think I can treat him as
my own?!"

Jill confronted Horace—she was not going to retreat.
"Well, even if you still want to have him as your son, he would probably reject it himself."
Horace was furious and kept glaring at Jill.
The moment Lionel entered the main lobby, he could hear his parents quarrel. In no time, he dashed towards them and said,
"Please, why are you both fighting again? Are you looking for me?"
Lionel's interruption successfully diverted Horace's attention away from his conflict with Jill.
"Lionel, let me ask you something."
Horace waved his hand signalling Lionel to come closer. The servants scattered and it was just the three of them in the lobby.
"What?"
The disturbed expression on Horace's face put Lionel in a conundrum.
"Did you know, that Rufus is the chairman of TY Group?"
Horace's keen eyes were fixed on Lionel's face as he tried to take in every detail that he possibly could.