A Graduation Gift

Both Jill's and Lionel's hearts sank when they saw Cassandra.
Still, Jill managed to collect herself. With a condescending look, she snorted as she looked at Cassandra. Then, she turned and
got into the car.
"Why are you here?"
It had been a long time since they last saw each other. Lionel was curious about what Cassandra was doing in front of Rufus's
house.
"I live next door," she replied with an indifferent look, pointing at the villa next to it.
Lionel, however, assumed that the next house was still Rufus's property. Like his mom, he snorted and remarked, "Are you still
with him? He's already engaged to Amanda. Why would you rather be his mistress than be my wife?"
Lionel said spitefully. Cassandra, however, only looked at him with a light frown but no longer bothered to reply.
"Find a time. We need to talk,"
she managed to say calmly, hiding her anger caused by what Lionel said. She had to ignore his abrasive words.
"Lionel, what are you doing out there? Get in the car! Don't talk to such a whore!"
Jill said as she stuck her head out of the window and looked at Cassandra with contempt.
The relationship between Cassandra, Rufus, and Lionel had turned into such a huge scandal in G City before. Because of this,
Jill disliked her. Now, seeing that she still had contact with Rufus disgusted her even more.
"I am working in Lyndsy's studio now. Come and talk to me when you have time. We need to talk about Rufus,"
Cassandra said in a low voice to avoid being heard by Jill. She preferred to talk to Lionel about it than Jill who hated her so
much.
Lionel raised his head and saw her face. She was still as beautiful as before. But somehow, she was different now.
Was it because she was calmer? No, that was not the reason. She was always calm but distant.
Lionel assessed Cassandra's sincerity with furrowed brows. Despite her alluring beauty, she still felt very distant.

She had grown more and more mature. Not to mention, it made her...sexier. With her new aura, he felt very drawn to her.
Seeing that his mother was present, Lionel merely got to reply with a nod. He knew that there would be more problems if she
saw him still talking with Cassandra. So, he turned around, got into the car, and ordered the driver to go their way.
After watching the car disappear into the distance, Cassandra looked back at Rufus's villa once again.
Seeing the way Rufus treated his father and the Tang family as a whole while all these were happening gave her mixed feelings.
Horace was Rufus's father no matter how people looked at it. She did not want Rufus to be seen as an ungrateful and obnoxious
son. That was an atrocious rejection of tradition.
Hopefully, her suggestion would work and Lionel would accept it.
Cassandra looked at the closed door again and then turned around to leave. Rufus, on the other hand, who had been standing
behind the curtains, squinted his eyes and watched her walk into the next house.
'Do you consider yourself to be a redeemer, Cassandra? Have you already forgotten what the Tang family did to you in the past?
Why are you still defending them?
Don't you realize how stupid you're being?' asked Rufus in his heart.
After Cassandra got off work, Lionel arrived, stopping by as expected.
"What do you want to talk about?"
He looked at Cassandra's face with greedy eyes. This woman once belonged to him. She had been his wife. He felt his desire to
get her back again.
Cassandra scanned their surroundings and found that there were many people and cars on the street because it was rush hour.
"Let's find a quieter place," she suggested.
She didn't want to talk with Lionel on the street openly. It was important that their exchange would remain private.
"Get in the car," said Lionel.
Cassandra had a little suspicion in her eyes, still, she complied. She pulled the door open and slid into the backseat.

Lionel shrugged his shoulders and started the engine. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Cassandra looking outside with a
serious look. What was she thinking about? The woman seemed to be lost in her thoughts.
They went to a quiet cafe and found a table in a corner. Lionel ordered two cups of coffee, one for each. Now, going back to
Cassandra, he urged, "What did you want to talk about? Hurry up!"
Cassandra was close to Rufus. In his mind, he hoped that she knew what was the best thing to do to get Rufus to come back
and help the Tang Group.
"We both know Rufus. He hates the Tang family because his mother was treated unfairly. Your mother kicked his mother out
when she was pregnant. Honestly, that was indeed inappropriate. His mother lived a hard life while your mother lived in privilege.
All this was your mother's fault,"
Cassandra said with creased eyebrows while stirring her coffee.
"He can hate us. I don't care. But in the end, he is still a part of the Tang family. My father visited him to ask for his forgiveness
and beg him to come back. He gave him a sincere apology! But Rufus, look at what he did! He stressed my father so much that
until now, he is still in the hospital! Do you think what he did was right?"
Lionel argued back. He could not help but be defensive after Cassandra criticized his parents.
"I'm not here to argue with you. I'm here to offer you a suggestion. It would be perfectly okay with me if you accept it. But if you
choose to refuse it, I won't force you,"
Cassandra replied calmly. Lionel had not changed. Even at this crucial moment, he still liked to blame Rufus for everything. This
made her very unhappy.
"Okay, okay! Go on, please. I'm all ears!"
Lionel started to become more open when he heard that Cassandra was offering him a suggestion.
Cassandra took a deep breath to calm herself down. Both Lionel and his mother were experts on driving people mad. If it were
not for Rufus, she would not even be talking with him so patiently.
"As far as I know, Rufus is not a heartless man. He is just very angry because of what your parents did to his mother. He has
organized a charity gala to gather funds to help reconstruct A City after the massive earthquake. He helped people! I'm pretty
sure that makes him a kind person. That said, I suggest you convince your parents to apologize to him sincerely. This way..."

Lionel raised his hand and interrupted her before she could finish speaking.
"That's impossible. My father came and talked to him in a nice manner. And you saw what happened. He ended up in the
hospital!" Lionel said.
Lionel was not about to believe that Rufus would forgive them that easily. Was Cassandra suggesting that a simple apology
would fix all the problems of their family right now? She was being naive!
"Then are you planning to let him hate you and the Tang family for the rest of your lives?"
Cassandra asked, looking at Lionel with a frown. Lionel denied her suggestion before she could even finish what she was
saying. She felt very offended.
"I wish he had never shown up in our lives!"
Lionel snorted. He thought of the time when Cassandra was still his wife and he was still the president of the Tang Group. During
that time, Tang Group was doing well.
Then, Rufus came back. He took both Cassandra and his position away from him. Although the Tang Group was handled well
under his rule, Arthur began to find fault with their company all the time. Eventually, the group was trapped in today's terrible
situation. That was all thanks to Rufus! He better not come back!
Cassandra looked at Lionel with deep disappointment and sorrow in her heart.
She thought that Lionel would be open to trying anything to possibly solve the problems between Rufus and his family. Instead,
his pride and ego still took over. He seemed not to take Rufus seriously or even regard him as family.
"Well, forget it. I was only trying to help, but like I said, I won't force you to do anything that you don't want to do. Bye!"
Cassandra said as she stood up and turned to leave. Lionel was surprised and reached out to grasp her hand.
"Wait, Cassandra. I'm not done yet!" he called.
It was very rare to get Cassandra to talk to him and Lionel was not about to let her go so easily.
"What is it?"

Cassandra quickly withdrew her hand from Lionel's grip and looked at him with alarmed eyes.
"Don't get yourself involved in their affairs, please. He has already engaged to Amanda. Why are you still seeing and staying with
him? Why would you prefer to be his mistress than to be my wife?"
Lionel blurted out with a worried expression.
"It's none of your business who I'm seeing and staying with. I'm talking to you here to solve a problem. Now that you refused my
proposal, I'm done here. There's nothing else we need to discuss,"
Cassandra answered. In her heart, the word 'mistress' pained her. It felt as if her heart was pricked by a needle.
Still, she kept it to herself and bit her lower lip. She thought it was best not to argue with Lionel anymore to avoid any more
hurtful words.
"Marry me again, Cassandra. I've already broke up with Ivy. I promise you, she will never hurt you again,"
Lionel urged as he tried to stop her. He did not want her to go without telling her how he felt.
A sad smile appeared on Cassandra's lips. Why did men always act like this? They would only promise to be good after hurting
the ones they loved so badly?
Rufus did it, Lionel did it as well. They were indeed brothers.
"People I don't care about cannot hurt me no matter what they do. They may hurt my body but they will never hurt my heart. I'm
not afraid of Ivy. She can't hurt me and neither can you,"
Cassandra took a deep breath and said coolly as she looked at Lionel with calm, peaceful eyes.