A Graduation Gift

"Cassandra, I might never come back ever again,"
Lyndsy told Cassandra, looking at her with eyes full of sadness.
"Don't say that. You don't know that. You just need to believe in yourself,"
Cassandra feigned cheerfulness as she encouraged her friend. She knew that Lyndsy was very upset at the moment and she
hoped with all her heart that all this would be over soon. This was the best way she could help her friend.
"Well, about the studio I bought, can you help me sell it? I am going abroad after we finish shooting this film,"
Lyndsy said with her head lowered in an attempt to hide her eyes and thoughts from her friend. She didn't want Cassandra to
worry too much about her.
"No problem! I will wait for you to come back after your treatment!"
Cassandra immediately agreed. Lyndsy's decision to go abroad and be treated made her happy. She loved that Lyndsy had
hope again.
What Cassandra failed to notice, however, was the sadness hidden in Lyndsy's eyes which could not seem to go away easily.
Lyndsy hid her emotions well.
All of Lyndsy's former employees now went their own ways. Cassandra was the only one left. She stood waiting for potential
buyers to arrive and see the place for themselves.
The small building that Lyndsy bought was newly decorated and it was still very suitable for work. The surroundings were quiet
too.
Cassandra already managed to contact one interested buyer who promised that she would be there this afternoon. So,
Cassandra waited patiently for her arrival.
Suddenly, an extremely familiar figure appeared in the studio. Cassandra was almost sure her eyes were deceiving her.
Suddenly, she couldn't breathe.
Alas, she was wrong. Right in front of her was Amanda, with her head held high. She walked briskly towards her in confident
strides.

Beside her was another familiar woman that Cassandra hoped she would never see again: Ivy.
Cassandra jested in her head at the peculiar scenario. This was not a coincidence at all. Clearly, they came here for a reason
that she knew she was about to find out.
The truth was Amanda's visit was Ivy's idea. She found out that Lyndsy was selling her studio and she immediately relayed the
information to Amanda. As soon as Amanda heard the news, she knew that this was the chance that they had been waiting for.
She immediately asked her people to get in touch with Cassandra and arrange an appointment with her that afternoon.
Amanda made sure that she was well-dressed. She wore a beautiful dress that showed off her curves. She wanted to make sure
that she was more beautiful than Cassandra.
She almost wanted to laugh when she saw the clothes that Cassandra was wearing.
Blue jeans and a simple coat were all she wore, resembling a girl who just graduated from university. More importantly, she
looked flat. She did not have anything on Amanda.
Amanda walked towards Cassandra, smiling sweetly. Her intentions, though, were not as sweet.
"What a pity. Your studio is closed? Well, I consider myself quite lucky, then. My business is flying and I need the additional
space," she said contemptuously.
This irritated Cassandra very much, but she managed to contain herself.
This was Lyndsy's studio, after all. The sooner she sold the place, the better for Lyndsy. She had to focus.
"That's great to hear. I would love to give you a tour,"
Cassandra replied politely. It was as if she had never met the two women before. She forced a smile, determined to
accommodate them well.
"No need to give us a tour. I trust your taste. Besides, I'm sure we have the same preference considering that you also fancy my
fiance,"
Amanda replied sarcastically through a plastered smile as her eyes grew stone cold.
The smile on Cassandra's face immediately disappeared. Now, she was sure that Amanda was looking for a fight.

"Oh, that's good, then. Let me make a contract for you right now,"
Cassandra calmly replied. If Amanda was willing to pay, then who was she to refuse? A deal was a deal.
"Don't you find it strange, Miss. Qin? You seem to bring some bad luck with you, don't you? When you were with the Qin Group,
it closed. When you started managing Lyndsy's studio, Lyndsy got into an accident too! Well, lucky for you, I happen to know
someone who can help change your luck. I would be happy to connect you. Would you like me to give you his address? You
don't want to cause any more trouble for the people close to you, I'm sure."
Amanda was starting to become more and more abrasive as she continued to insult Cassandra.
Cassandra closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she turned and looked at Amanda calmly.
"If you are here to buy this place, then you are a client to me, Miss Ke. So of course, I would love to accommodate you. But if
you're only here to pick a fight, then I would have to ask you to leave,"
Cassandra was not going to let this vile woman keep saying those hurtful words to her anymore.
"Ha! Stop pretending to be good and polite. I know you are nothing like this!"
Ivy interrupted.
"I am not pretending. I am doing my best to accommodate you because you are my client. But if you keep insulting me, I am not
going to just sit here and take it,"
Cassandra said coldly as she stared at the two women fearlessly.
"Cassandra, I am warning you. Stay away from Rufus. He is my fiance!"
Amanda said. She was no longer smiling. In fact, she was furious. She did not expect Cassandra to be so strong-willed. Ivy was
right. She was difficult to deal with.
"How about you ask Rufus to get away from me instead? Besides, do you really think that Rufus considers you as his fiancee?"
Cassandra retorted. She just couldn't contain her anger anymore. The Amanda in front of her didn't seem to be mentally ill at all.
She actually sounded very logical. Her head seemed clear and intact. She didn't seem like someone bothered by her illness.
Well, she must have pretended to be sick!

Amanda did not know how to react to Cassandra's words. She hated to admit it, but she was right. She had never felt so
humiliated.
Their engagement was only a formality. Rufus didn't really love her. In fact, he avoided her and ignored her presence whenever
they were in the same place. With Cassandra, however, he even went at great lengths just to help her out in the press
conference.
She thought that Rufus had already cut ties with Cassandra. She thought they had finally broken up for real. But clearly, she was
wrong and they were together again.
"It doesn't matter if he sees me as his fiancee or not. He will never love a woman living with another man!"
Amanda knew about what was happening between Clark and Cassandra. Whenever she thought about it, she got goosebumps.
She could not imagine how Cassandra managed to live with such a horrible man like Clark.
"Leave now or I will call Rufus, ask him to come here and see what his fiancee is doing,"
Cassandra said firmly as she took out her phone to stress how serious she was.
Ivy immediately walked up and snatched the phone out of Cassandra's hand. Not only that, she also slapped Cassandra's face
before she could react.
"You bitch! I wanted to slap you a long time ago. I wouldn't have been thrown out of the Tang family if it weren't for you! You took
my man away, that's fine. Now, you want to take Amanda's man away too? Are you really that desperate that you can't find
another man to pay attention to you? No one else is here to help you. How about I break your face, huh? Aren't you good friends
with the disfigured Lyndsy?"
With these words, Ivy reached out to scratch Cassandra's face with her long nails, but she missed!
Cassandra took a step back and stared at Ivy with eyes full of disbelief. What did she just say? The two of them came here not
only to insult her, but also to destroy her? How horrible!
Ivy's words triggered Amanda even more.
She brought Ivy with her in case she needed help. But Cassandra was all alone. It was two against one! Surely, they would have
the upper hand.

Thinking of this, Amanda totally forgot her image. She walked up and tried to scratch Cassandra's face as well. 'Ha! Nobody will
ever love her again if she loses that pretty face!' she thought viciously.
Cassandra immediately turned her head to dodge when she saw her frightening, red nails. Suddenly, she felt a pang of pain on
her neck.
Amanda missed her face but managed to get her neck. She looked proudly at what she had done.
"Cassandra, you bitch! You don't know how to do anything but seduce other people's men."
Amanda looked at her with bloodthirsty eyes. The scratches on Cassandra's neck invigorated her. Right now, she felt so furious
that she almost wanted to kill this woman.
Cassandra's eyebrows furrowed because of the pain. She raised a hand to gently touch the wound, but the stab of pain was
enough to make her realize that it was bad.
Ivy, who stood aside, did not help Amanda. Instead, she watched the two women quietly with calculating eyes.
Ivy intentionally missed her first attack when she went for Cassandra's face. She just wanted Amanda to follow suit. She did not
expect it to be this easy.
Apparently, Amanda was a very emotional woman who rarely used her brain. Triggering her was easy. It only took a bit of effort
for Ivy to provoke her to follow her bidding.
"Amanda, I thought you hurt your hand? Why do you suddenly have the strength to scratch me?"
Cassandra pointed out, staring at Amanda intensely with cold eyes.
Now, she was sure. Amanda had only been pretending to be sick all this time to get Rufus's sympathy. Honestly, Cassandra was
quite surprised that Rufus believed her tricks considering that he was a very smart man.
Hearing Cassandra's question, Amanda suddenly got very nervous. She involuntarily hid her hand behind her and took a step
back. She did not know how to respond to her.
"If you don't leave right now, I will call the police! I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone to know what you did today. If I were you, I'd
fuck off,"

Cassandra said, doing her best to contain her emotions. She was determined not to stoop down at their level. Besides, there
was no use arguing with such a vile woman.
"Ha! Are you threatening us now? Do you really think that we'd be scared of you? If something is going out in public, it'll be your
scandals! The eldest daughter of the Qin family and her adulterous home-wrecking. What an interesting headline it would be!
What would your parents say? Will they pass out from anger or from shame?"
Ivy was no longer going at her, but she couldn't stand quiet at the side either.
Hearing her words, a thought suddenly came to Cassandra. Something wasn't right. Vernon was still in prison. How would any
news reach him?
She suddenly remembered something: Vernon was threatened by someone before the trial, and he was so scared that he tried
to kill himself. Until now, that person had not yet been identified.