A Graduation Gift

This small moment between them was interrupted by Cloris's voice. "Mom! I'm back!"
she announced as she walked in from outside. The moment she entered, she saw Rufus and Cassandra standing side by side.
The smile on her face instantly fell and it was replaced by a coldness she did not even bother to mask.
She entered the hallway with furrowed eyebrows. She moved carelessly, kicking off her shoes and stomping through the floor.
She passed Cassandra and Rufus without even acknowledging them.
Cassandra didn't say anything at the display of rudeness from her younger sister. When Cloris went to the kitchen to look for her
mother, Cassandra bent down and picked up the shoes that her sister kicked off on the floor and put them in their proper place
by the door.
Hardly had Cloris shut the door of the kitchen when she started to complain, "Mom, why are they together again? Didn't you say
that you would not allow their relationship?"
There had been plenty of times in the past when Cloris heard her mother's opposition against the relationship between
Cassandra and Rufus. 'Why are they shamelessly showing up together now? And in our house, of all places, ' Clories wondered.
"I am against their relationship, but you sister is stubborn. How can I kick him out? Just treat him as a guest for now. Even
strangers should be treated with good manners."
Edith's eyes remained fixed on the chopping board as she sliced the vegetables. She was so occupied with cooking that she
didn't even turn her head to look at Cloris, whose face had turned dark.
"Mom, I didn't tell you this before, but the last time I was with Arthur, Rufus embarrassed me in the public. He accused me in
front of so many people! Did he think that he could criticize me because he was going to be my brother-in-law? Even Cassandra,
my own sister, can't do this to me!"
Remembering the scene, Cloris felt her anger from that time return. She had lost face in front of Arthur because of Rufus! There
was no way she would let this go so easily.
At this, the sound of chopping ceased. "What?" Edith asked, wide-eyed. "What happened? Why didn't you tell me?"
She put down the knife in her hand and turned to Cloris with a doubtful look.

Cloris saw the disbelief in her mother's face and instantly answered, "What? You don't believe me? If you'd much rather believe
him, ask him later yourself. He is not my father. He is no one. So what right did he have to talk down to me? Even my own father
never said anything like that!"
Ever since she was a little girl, Cloris had been pampered by her parents. She had grown up conceited with the attention they
lavished on her, and she despised it when things did not go her way. 'How could Cassandra side with Rufus? How dare them!'
she screamed in her head, cursing them inwardly.
Upon hearing that her daughter had been mistreated by her guest, Edith immediately decided to stop playing the nice host. The
knife fell with a clatter on the wooden chopping board.
Huffing out an infuriated breath, she said, "I was originally planning to cook some nice dishes and treat him like a guest, but after
knowing what he did, I've changed my mind. He doesn't deserve to be treated well."
With irritated steps, Edith went to the stove and started the fire, throwing the vegetables in a pan. From the fridge, she took out
some tofu and started to chop.
The meat that was half-chopped, however, was put back into the fridge. She wouldn't waste perfectly good meat on a man who
had disrespected her daughter.
Cloris was more than pleased with her mother's response. With a grin, she came close to Edith and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you, Mom, You're the only one on my side!"
Then she walked smugly out of the kitchen to her bedroom.
It wasn't long before Edith came out from the kitchen.
"The food is ready,"
she announced emotionlessly. Cassandra rushed to the kitchen to help set the food.
However, when her eyes landed on the plates, she was astounded.
Stir-fried cabbage with mushroom, fried tofu, fried eggs with tomatoes, sauteed potatoes, and an egg seaweed soup...
She had seen Edith chopping beef in the kitchen, and all the while, she had been thinking that her mother was going to cook it
for them, but as she scanned one plate to another, it seemed that the meat was gone.

She and Rufus were not expecting a feast, but this kind of treatment was far from decent.
"Mom, are you feeling ill? Let me cook something else,"
Cassandra said, rolling her sleeves up and ready to open the fridge, but she was stopped by Edith.
"There is already plenty food here, and I think this is already more than enough," she said sharply, eyeing Rufus coldly. "Cloris
said that she had already eaten, and I'm not hungry either. So you two can have the meal now!"
Then she pointed at the vegetable dishes and the soup.
"You can serve him now. I will clean the kitchen."
She remained standing between Cassandra and the fridge, preventing her from getting anything from it.
Cassandra looked down and bit her lip. She knew that her mother did not favor Rufus, but this was unthinkably rude.
She looked at her mother's face and saw the firm lines of her face. Having been left without a choice, she took the plates to the
dining room, serving the dishes with two bowls of rice.
Rufus took a look at the dishes and realized quickly what had happened. From Edith and Cloris' attitude, it did not come as a
surprise to him. He knew that the best thing he could hope for from them as of the moment was indifference.
His eyes fell to Cassandra's dejected expression. So as not to embarrass her, he put on a surprised look.
"Your mom seems to be a really good cook. Even simple dishes look amazing. No wonder she was on TV for her cooking skills,"
he praised.
Rufus leaned closer to smell the food and continued, "There's a bit of cumin on the fried tofu. It's going to bring out the flavor.
And the stir-fried cabbage with mushroom is perfectly cooked. It's not easy to control the temperature and estimate the time for
cooking, but everything looks crisp. Your mom knows her stuff."
He purposely raised his voice so that Edith could hear him in the kitchen.
Upon hearing his words, a small smile slowly crept and broke out from Edith's cold face.