A Graduation Gift

Cassandra bit her lip to hold back her tears. The sadness of Lyndsy and her family filled the whole room.
She never really cried for herself, but she tended to cry a lot for others. Rufus clenched his fists as he watched Cassandra suffer
quietly.
"Please get well, Lyndsy. Take care of yourself, because you still have a film to shoot. We've only done half the scenes. I will
instruct the crew to finish other people's parts first. We can shoot your parts when you recover,"
Rufus spoke suddenly. Lyndsy and her mother stopped crying abruptly upon hearing his words.
She looked at Rufus incredulously with tears in her eyes. Cassandra turned her head too, confused about what Rufus just said.
Keep shooting? How could she shoot a movie with a face like that?
Rufus, fully aware of everyone's confusion, remained calm.
"We'll ask the director to modify the angles. We just have to avoid shooting from the front. We can also edit the shots later. Don't
worry, everything can be fixed digitally. All you have to do is focus on your recovery," he explained.
His words seemed to reassure Lyndsy's mother as she turned to her daughter happily.
"Did you hear that, honey?! You can keep shooting movies!" she beamed.
Stunned, Lyndsy kept looking at Rufus wordlessly. She could not believe that Rufus, a prime investor, would be willing to hire a
disfigured actress to star in his movie. That would be so risky!
"Your scars can be treated. Stem cell therapy abroad is very good now. I know a doctor who specializes in such field and I would
be happy to introduce you to him later,"
Rufus continued to say. Every sentence that came out of his mouth left everyone more and more surprised.
Eventually, Lyndsy calmed down. Rufus seemed to have succeeded in reassuring her.
She wiped away her tears and focused on comforting her mother instead.
"I'll be fine, Mom. I promise I will take good care of myself,"
she said, sounding calm and strong. The helplessness and panic she displayed just a minute ago were now totally gone.

"Cassandra, the business of the studio is going to depend on you for a while,"
Lyndsy said to Cassandra with full trust.
"Don't worry, Stella and I will take care of it for you,"
Cassandra replied, very glad to see Lyndsy calmer than before. She then looked at Rufus gratefully.
Seeing her thankful expression made Rufus's heart skip a beat.
He seemed to have hit two birds with one stone. His decision, not only calmed Lyndsy down, but also managed to lift a huge
burden off of Cassandra's shoulders.
But... Remembering the lack of progress in Victor's investigations, once again, made him feel uneasy.
All evidence currently pointed to the action director. He was the one responsible for the safety of the wires and the one who
tested the equipment the day before. Now that there was an accident, it only made sense that he would receive full
accountability.
In his gut, though, Rufus felt that it was not that simple.
He hoped that he was only worrying too much.
"What? Rufus allowed Lyndsy to continue shooting the movie?"
Amanda exclaimed in shock as she watched the press conference held by Lyndsy's Studio and TY Entertainment on the
entertainment channel. She could not believe what she was hearing!
"Yeah. Now, everyone knows that Rufus is the chairman of TY Entertainment and he did everything he could to protect Lyndsy
after her accident. People are saying he did it for Cassandra,"
Ivy chimed in. She let Amanda see the news on purpose to make her feel bad.
"Wow, who does she think she is? Cassandra is a nobody!"
Amanda yelled, refusing to accept what the news was saying. There was so much hatred in her face.
"Cassandra is a woman with a lot of tricks up her sleeve. You have to be careful when dealing with her,"

Ivy said with concern. She pretended to empathize but in reality, she was glad that Amanda was so pissed.
She didn't like Amanda and seeing how she reacted when things didn't go her way gave Ivy satisfaction. She hated how Amanda
played her and pretended to be sincere in helping her when, in reality, she was not.
Now, she knew who Amanda really was. She was not at all the innocent and caring girl she pretended to be. Instead, she was a
double-crossing, vindictive bitch.
This time, it was her turn. Ivy was determined to use Amanda as a pawn in her plans to prove that she was not just some gullible
girl.
"I'm not afraid of her! I don't care what tricks she has up her sleeve. I am Rufus's fiancee!"
Amanda screamed hatefully as she pounded her desk with her fist.
She didn't expect Rufus and Cassandra to fall in love again. Allowing the disfigured Lyndsy to continue shooting the movie must
be Cassandra's idea!
"Amanda, have you ever talked to Cassandra face-to-face?"
Ivy asked curiously, masterfully hiding her ill intentions.
"Why would I waste my time talking to her? She's a nobody and she's not worth my time!"
Amanda talked of Cassandra with venomous, contemptuous words.
"Well, let me tell you: Cassandra is a very, very bad woman. I'm pretty sure she's obsessed with Rufus. And since you have
never shown yourself, she must think that what you have with Rufus isn't anything serious,"
Ivy said, coaxing Amanda to meet Cassandra in person. All she needed was for them to fight in order to carry out her own plan.
The victor would not even matter.
"I don't want to meet her. She doesn't deserve it!"
Amanda used a disdainful tone to hide her true feelings. The reason why she did not want to confront Cassandra was because
she was afraid that if Rufus found out, he would take Cassandra's side.

"You don't have to arrange it formally. I can help you fabricate a scene where it will only look like you ran into her by chance!
Look, all you have to do is to scare her a little so she knows that you're not the one that she wants to cross. This way, you'll get
to feel good about yourself and humiliate her too! Won't that be great?"
Ivy continued to persuade Amanda. She used every possible reason she could think of in hopes that she would agree.
"So, she won't know that I did it on purpose? How would you do that?"
Amanda frowned skeptically, considering her idea.
She had always had her underlings do dirty jobs for her. This was so that if something went wrong, she could immediately
remove herself from the situation. But with Ivy's plan, it would look like a coincidence. This might be okay for her to handle on her
own.
"You don't have to worry about that. I'll take care of it,"
Ivy assured her, smiling.
What Amanda failed to realize was that Ivy already knew what she did to her, and this was her way of regaining the upper hand.
Who would be the winner of this backstabbing scheme? Whether it was a plot to hurt, to deceive, or to scam others, they were all
situations that one could not easily disengage from. These two women, however, seemed very unaware of that fact.
Cassandra waited at the airport to pick up Cloris. From time to time, she looked at the digital signage for updated flight
information.
Cloris was coming back!
Edith could no longer go out much even after she recovered from her illness. Cassandra refused to let her come out today and
promised instead that she would be the one to bring Cloris home.
When she saw her sister come out of the exit, Cassandra ran up to her and waved enthusiastically to greet Cloris. In the next
second, however, she noticed the man right behind her.
A familiar face, and a distinct smile.
Arthur!

Cassandra was stunned by what she saw. Arthur was pushing the suitcase for Cloris as they walked towards Cassandra. Cloris
wasn't carrying anything herself.
"What are you doing here? Where's Mom?"
asked Cloris, frowning as she scanned the surroundings, disappointed that she could not find her mother.
"Mom is waiting for you at home. I'm here to pick you up,"
Cassandra replied with a smile. She then courteously greeted Arthur who stood next to Cloris.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhuang. What a coincidence. I didn't expect you and Cloris to be on the same flight back," she said.
Despite the fact that Dawn Star Group had almost squeezed Tang Group out of the market, Cassandra had to remain polite.
After all, she was no longer the daughter-in-law of the Tang family. It was no longer necessary for her to act coldly around Arthur.
Cloris, however, suddenly wrapped her arm around Arthur's and smiled.
"Arthur went to my school to keep me company during my exams. We came back together, afterward,"
she explained, raising her eyebrows. It was as if she was calling Cassandra out for being too civil and she wanted to show her
that Arthur was someone she shared a more intimate bond with.
Cassandra felt as if she were going to pass out. Since when did Arthur and Cloris get so intimate?
"Let me take you home so I can meet your mother,"
Arthur offered as he looked at Cloris lovingly. Cassandra frowned at their interaction.
It was unlikely that Cloris heard anything about G City while she was studying abroad. For Cassandra, however, she knew
everything that Arthur did to raise the status of the Dawn Star Group.
If Cloris were just looking for a boyfriend, then Arthur was definitely a good match.
Still, she hoped that Rufus could help the Tang Group prevent the Dawn Star Group from outgrowing them. Cassandra couldn't
help but wonder, 'if Arthur and Cloris's are together, how am I going to do that?'