A Graduation Gift

Cassandra said, softly pushing him away as she walked to the desk and continued drawing.
Painting was like therapy for her when she felt bothered. The very movement of the gentle strokes of the brush gave her
immense peace.
Despite not being particularly great at painting, she put all her heart into her artwork. All her pieces were filled with emotions,
which was why everyone who saw them could also relate well. Her art had touched many people.
Seeing how absorbed she was in the drawing, Rufus thought it was best not to disturb her. He took a seat in a corner and kept
looking at her drawing and painting as if it was a way of survival. After what turned out to be the last stroke, she heaved a sigh
and looked out of the window, admiring the view. Snow had piled up out in the compound and on top of the trees. It was
beautiful.
Taking a step back, she observed the painting. She was satisfied and put the brush down in the palette.
"Are you going to name this?"
Rufus asked, as he walked toward her with his hands in his pockets. The painting was very delightful to look at. The cheerful
smile of the girl in it lifted up his mood.
Cassandra tilted her head in thought, trying to think of a name.
"Deep snow,"
she answered with a grin, then etched the title on the piece and signed her name at the bottom.
"And what about the name of the studio?"
Her grin seemed contagious and pure, making him chuckle as well.
"Rufcastle,"
Cassandra stated confidently but Rufus didn't quite understand.
"Ru-what? What castle?"
he asked, confused. It sounded like a made-up word.

Cassandra grabbed a pen from the pen-stand and wrote on a clean piece of paper:
Rufcastle.
It was both of their names merged in one word seamlessly.
The idea was they would merge too in this way, into one inseparable piece. This one word struck Rufus's heart like lightening.
"You own half of the studio. If I struggle running it, you have to help me out!"
Cassandra touched Rufus's cheek with the tip of her nose, feeling affectionate and spontaneous. A dab of white paint remained
on his cheek, making him look adorable. Cassandra giggled at this sight.
Before he could figure what had just happened, Rufus felt a kind of coldness on his cheek, and then he noticed the sly smile on
her face. Squinting his eyes and making a 'humph' sound, he started to smile too. He truly loved this woman.
...
"No! I disagree!"
Charlie said furiously as he paced back and forth in the lobby. Amanda sat on the couch with Clark standing beside her.
"What sort of a joke is this? You were just engaged to Rufus a while back and now you want to marry Clark? Have you even
considered how this would affect the reputation of our Ke family?"
Charlie was deeply agitated. Amanda had always been an obedient girl. Why would she go against him again and again now in
this way?
"Dad, you know Rufus and Cassandra are together now. Rufus wants her despite the fact that she has lost everything. I don't
have a choice but to move on..."
Her lips trembled as she spoke. Whenever she thought of how indifferent and ignorant Rufus was to her, she felt a pain piercing
through her heart, making it grow cold and uneasy.
"Amanda, you're not a kid anymore. Do you realize how capricious you're being?"
Charlie asked her almost helplessly, pointing at Clark with a disgruntled look.

"And as for you, Clark...are you really in love with Amanda? You two are getting married in a flash. Don't you think it's
too...hasty?"
He was boiling with fury, even though he was trying his best to hide it. How could he be in the dark for so long and not know
anything about Clark? In a couple of months, his son-in-law had been changed into a new person! This was too bizarre to
accept!
"Dad, if it weren't for your opposition, I would never have made that choice. I was left in such a predicament because of the
decision you took years back and forced upon me..."
Amanda couldn't keep it in anymore. She had always been filial but it was time to rise against her own father. The usual
obedience was surpassed by firmness and resolve that Charlie had never experienced coming from her before.
She thought of the misery she had gone through when she broke up with Rufus due to her father's insistence. Everything had
gone off-track after that. Things went out of her hands uncontrollably. There was nothing she could do to prevent the disasters
that lined up. But now, she needed to make her own choices, resist her father's pressure. She acted with persistence and a slice
of anger.
"If you had allowed me to continue my relationship with Rufus when we were younger, I would never have had to use all these
tricks to make him engage with me, and he would never have abandoned me the way he did. We were meant to be together
then, Dad, and you tore us apart! If you hadn't, we would've eventually gotten married without any complications. I would've been
his wife! How can you question me this way about my decisions when you never took into account my feelings and when you
made yours? Tell me, Dad! Who do you think you are? I am so tired of being controlled by other people..."
Years of neglecting herself had resulted into an accumulation of a lot of resentful feelings. Now that she was finally confronting
her father, tears trickled down her face in reveries. Due to the threat of the photos that couldn't be revealed, she had no fear of
her father anymore!
Clark was the ruler of the Dark Night Group. Even though Charlie had been in the group for much longer than Clark, he was still
his subordinate. There was no way he could offer her complete protection.