A Graduation Gift

Lionel stared at the contract sent back by Amanda with his lips pursed and eyes fierce. He clutched the paper so tightly that it
crumbled in his hands, his veins popping out of his skin.
"What the hell! We've already started the project! And now they want out? I'm sure Rufus has interfered with this! I can't believe
they'd rather pay the liquidated damages than let us take charge of this project!"
Lionel couldn't contain the anger and shouted relentlessly. He was so furious that his secretary, who just entered the office
carrying a bunch of documents, got completely frightened. She didn't dare say a word to him.
Tang Group was in a terrible situation. If they couldn't find a financial support soon, they would be compelled to fire the
employees and cut the expenses even to maintain the general headquarters' work.
When Rufus was still a part of the company, he had gotten many branch offices built. At the time, it was also an important and
unavoidable expansion of Tang Group. After all, his plan was to make it a public company in the future. But now, it looked like all
of those things were intentionally planned by him to lead the company to doom at the very sight of a crisis.
No doubt, he had made Tang Group bigger and much more powerful than it had ever been, but for what? To abandon it? The
company now rested in Lionel's hands, who as everyone knew was not capable to handle neither the business nor the pressure
it brought along with it.
Lionel gritted his teeth, thinking Rufus had planned all this deliberately. Now, he wasn't willing to help them at all, despite the
company being on the brink of bankruptcy. Lionel hated him, but at the same time he knew there was no one else who could
save the group.
To add to the misery of Tang family, a lot of rumours about them had started to circulate recently. People were accusing Horace
of being indecent, saying he had done some uncandid things to reach where he was today. Because of that, they didn't even
have a reputation good enough to take a loan from a bank.
Cassandra had told him she would help him to persuade Rufus, but there was no news from her. Lionel wasn't even sure about
whether she was trying for real or not.
Currently, he looked at his secretary's frightened face, and couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows in irritation.
"What's the matter?"
Lionel roared in frustration, suddenly concluding there was no one around to help him.

Rufus had kicked out so many people Lionel trusted when he was leading the Group. No body was on Lionel's side anymore. In
this critical moment, he had no one to talk to or make any plans with. He was convinced Rufus had planned all this to make him
suffer like this.
"Mr. Tang..." the secretary mumbled in fear, then continued, "one of our old clients has been complaining about the design we
sent out. He also said he only wanted Manager Qin's designs..."
Her sentence trailed off. Carefully, she put the documents on his desk, with an awkward, terrified look on her face.
"Manager Qin? Didn't you tell him there is no Manager Qin in the company anymore? She's long gone!"
Lioned screamed in anger, punching his desk, making the things on it shake. The wrath was evident in his eyes. Everything was
going wrong.
Cassandra left the company such a long time ago. He didn't expect the clients would still ask for her designs.
"Mr... Mr. Tang, Manager Qin's company was shut down right? Can't we hire her back?" the secretary asked hesitantly.
She had no idea how Lionel would answer but she needed to give this a shot.
After all, Cassandra was Lionel's ex-wife, and also had a relationship with Rufus. For all she knew, she could be scolded for even
bringing up an idea like this.
The design department had been weak since Cassandra left. No body could deny this fact. Lionel too, was aware of this.
For a moment, Lionel froze in silence, struck by her words.
He had made an agreement with Cassandra when they got divorced. She had kept all of them, never creating a problem. Even
when she designed for the Qin Group, she never signed them by her name.
If she could come back to Tang Group and lead the design department, it would improve the condition drastically. But... She had
always been on Rufus's side. Lionel doubted this plan would work. Would she agree to come back after whatever had
happened?
"Alright, you can go now. Let me think about it."

As soon as she left, Lionel started to pace back and forth in the office with a deep frown on his face. He skimmed through the
documents the secretary had left behind, which only stressed him more.
Big or small, every client was important for Tang Group right now. If Cassandra came back and signed the designs with her
name, the number of clients would definitely increase. She was pretty famous in the design industry. If this idea really worked, it
would help save the Tang Group.
Besides, Cassandra had already agreed to help him by talking to Rufus.
But Rufus was dead stubborn. On top of that, he hated the Tang family. It would be very difficult for Cassandra to convince him.
Maybe she would consider helping them directly if he refused?
Suddenly, Lionel was filled with energy. He picked up the documents and walked out of the office. He proceeded with confidence
and hope. He was going to see Cassandra right away.
Cassandra sat hunched over her table in her office, the scripts and plans piled up in front of her. Stella took the day off, so she
was especially busy. She didn't even have the time to drink water.
They only worked for Lyndsy. Still, she put all her effort into her job, working responsibly, trying her best to give the best possible
results.
When Lionel barged in her office, she was on the phone with a media person, arranging a personal interview for Lyndsy.