A Graduation Gift

Cassandra and Lionel were lying on the king-sized bed with purple satin sheets strewn all over them. It was a luxurious and
decadent scene in the hotel's presidential suite.
Ivy stood at the foot of the bed, her eyes narrowed and flashing with satisfaction.
"Joel, take the damn pictures of their ugly mugs. Quick,"
Ivy issued the order, her teeth grinding with anticipation. Joel then snappily began to take photos of the unconscious couple from
different angles.
"Alright, that's enough. Let's go. It's all up to Amanda after this point."
Ivy and Joel quickly left the hotel. Rufus would soon find out what had happened in this room and rush to save Cassandra. The
last thing she wanted was to be caught red-handed.
Before leaving, Ivy slyly dropped an item on the floor. A sinister smile formed on the corners of her mouth.
Amanda dialed Rufus's number over and over. As expected, Rufus kept rejecting the call.
Amanda had just recieved the pictures from Ivy on her phone. Cassandra and Lionel were strewn over the bed in compromising
positions, which was exactly what Amanda had wanted.
'Rufus, since you refuse to answer the phone, I'll show you something you can't possibly ignore.'
Amanda sent the pictures directly to Rufus, as well as the address of the hotel and room number.
A few seconds later, Amanda's phone started vibrating. As she looked at the caller ID, a wry smile appeared on her lips.
"What exactly are you playing at?"
Rufus asked in an enraged tone.
'Got you all nervous, huh?' Amanda thought to herself. 'I have my ways of flustering you. I know how you hate seeing Cassandra
suffer.'
"This has nothing to do with me. My staff merely ran across them and took some pictures. You can check for yourself if you
want."

Amanda wanted Rufus to witness Cassandra having sex with Lionel with his own eyes. It must be devastating.
"Is this all part of your little plan into provoking a response from me?"
Rufus replied in an icy tone. Beads of cold sweat started to form on Amanda's forehead.
'Shouldn't he be rushing to the hotel already? How could he possibly know this was all a trick?'
The thing was, the pictures Ivy sent were incredibly high quality. Anyone with a keen eye could easily deduce that it was staged.
Ivy had a card up her sleeve though. She didn't mean to pave the way for Amanda. Instead, she meant to set her up.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about."
Amanda trembled slightly at the start of her words, but quickly calmed herself down.
"My men will be down there in a minute. I'm on my way as well. Do you want me to personally expose your lies?"
Rufus's vein was popping on his forehead in his anger.
"Amanda, heed my warning. If you dare play tricks like this again, I won't ever forgive you even if your father begs me to. Don't
test me!"
After finishing his rant, Rufus slammed the phone and drove straight to the hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel room door, he braced his shoulder for the impact that would force the door open. Once it was open, he
saw two unconscious people on the bed.
Rufus went straight to Cassandra. He quickly wrapped her up in a soft blanket nearby and promptly left.
Lionel, on the other hand, was snoring loudly, oblivious to the things happening around him due to the effect of the strong drug.
Rufus lifted his foot and kicked Lionel in the side. He was heavily sedated, so he thankfully didn't see Cassandra's naked body. If
he did, Rufus would personally gouge out his eyes.
On his way out, Rufus stepped on something hard on the carpeted floor. He took his foot off the object to get a better look. It was
an earring.
It was Amanda's. Rufus remembered it was her favorite.

His lips curled into an evil smile. Thoughts began to flood his mind, 'It's highly possible she dropped it when she was busy
staging all this. How careless of her!
She lacks the acumen for this sort of thing, but still, she tried to drive a wedge between Cassandra and me. This is insane.'
The earring was hard evidence that proved the trap was set by Amanda. Rufus didn't even bother to look around more.
He never expected Amanda to go this far in trying to harm Cassandra. 'I ought to teach her a lesson, ' he decided quietly.
Rufus took a last angry look at Lionel and then went out of the room.
Cassandra's eyes fluttered open. She found that she was in a dark room. Her head throbbed and started to question what
happened. She saw a silhouette of a man sitting beside the bed.
Cassandra's throat was incredibly dry. She moved slightly.
Upon hearing the sound, the figure turned around and looked at her.
"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?"
Rufus asked, concern written all over his face.
Cassandra shivered as the memories came flooding back. She remembered a pair of hands suddenly appearing from behind
and covered her mouth with a soaked towel. She just now came to her senses and the first person she saw was Rufus, so it only
meant...
"You bastard! How dare you kidnap me!"
Cassandra roared in rage. Even though she knew it was too dark for Rufus to see her face, she still glared angrily at him.
Rufus was stunned. He then put two and two together and realized that Cassandra must've thought he was the one who
kidnapped her.
He rushed to rescue Cassandra. He never doubted her but firmly believed that it was Amanda's trick. This was how she repaid
him?
Infuriated, Rufus stopped all his concern for Cassandra. He retorted with an icy tone, looking at Cassandra in the dark, "I can be
even more evil. Do you want to see that?"

"Get away from me!"
Cassandra screamed. She knew exactly what Rufus wanted to do, but she refused to let him lay a finger on her.
"As you wish, my dear princess.
I'm standing up. What now?"
Rufus grinned mischievously. Cassandra was at a loss for words.
She felt that Rufus had lost all sense of shame and would never let her go.
"Get out!"
Cassandra spat venomously.
"Are you sure about that? Last time I checked, this is my house."
Rufus's eyebrows twitched. He stared at Cassandra in mock surprise. Trying hard not to laugh, Rufus saw Cassandra's flushed
cheeks as light poured from the window.
Rufus's words snapped her awake. She began to survey her surroundings. Although the light was weak, she could still make out
the rest of the room. It was indeed Rufus's bedroom.
Or to be more specific, it used to be their bedroom.
The bed, cupboards, decor and wardrobe placements were exactly the same as the day she left.
She was familiar with everything. Memories came rushing at her, and her heart beat rapidly.
"I never changed anything in this room. I didn't let anyone in either,"
Rufus softly whispered in Cassandra's ear as he lowered his head and buried his face in her neck.
"I put away your unicorn doll, too. It's inside the bedside cupboard to your right. I think you'd better take that with you when you
leave."
Rufus's voice had a deep baritone. Only God knew how long he had waited for this moment.

He had longed to embrace her like this, to be in their room again with her, to smell her fragrant hair, and to whisper sweet
nothings in her ear.
It was like a century had passed since they were together in this room. All those passionate nights they had spent together up to
the moment she stormed out angrily and never returned came flooding back in Rufus's mind.
Cassandra kept quiet. The atmosphere was so beautiful. She dared not speak for fear of ruining it.
"Don't let others take advantage of you, okay? Don't let them dictate where you want to go,"
Rufus said in a serious tone.
Cassandra had never been guarded towards other people who might wish to do her harm. Rufus had worried about her ever
since she said she would help him keep an eye on Clark.
"You included?"
Cassandra muttered softly, her eyes full of melancholy.
She had come to realize that someone was scheming against her, but it was definitely not Rufus.
He would never do that to her. He loved her even after all this time.
"So what do you say? Wanna go on a date?"
Rufus asked with his eyebrows raised.
"No, thanks!"
Cassandra quipped, her eyes burning with passion.
Rufus leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her likewise soft lips. Soon enough, the dimly-lit bedroom of the white-washed villa
was filled with sounds of passion.