A Graduation Gift

Rufus's eyes were fixed on Cloris as she took things out and placed them back in her 'new' bag.
The entire process was scrutinized by everyone, which made her behave in a very capricious manner.
Rufus tried to expel the weird feelings that shadowed his heart, but to no effect. Cloris had always been someone who behaved
strangely. Maybe she just realy wanted to change the handbag?
"Sis! Here you are!"
Cloris beamed, smiling and gave her bag to Cassandra, while she carried the other one on her own shoulder. Holding Edith's
hand, she asked innocently, "Shall we go back, Mom?"
She was simply putting up a facade to appear normal but was very anxious to go back.
Edith wasn't prepared for anything but was simply being pushed around and dragged by Cloris. Before she even realized what
was happening, she had already taken the exit.
In the blink of an eye, Cloris swapped Cassandra's USB drive with the one in her hand. She felt relieved to have finally done
that. Her heart started to beat at its normal pace again.
There were too many people in there just now. Very likely, Rufus and Cassandra would be able to spot her if she did it just now.
That was why she was in a hurry to run away from them and do it secretly.
Little did she know there was someone who had observed the entire scene from a dark corner. A mystical smile stayed plastered
on his face. In a moment, he was gone.
"Mom, Cloris, why don't you guys come stay with me?"
It wasn't easy for Cassandra to clear the gap between herself and her mother. She wanted to seize every opportunity that
showed itself to strengthen the relationship they shared.
"We'll come back after a few days. We are going to celebrate Arthur's birthday in our house! Mother already started to do the
preparation yesterday. He is going to drive us back later," Cloris said sweetly.
She had just finished talking when Arthur's car stopped in front of the studio. He walked toward them with a warm grin.
Cloris pulled at Edith's arm hastily, waving goodbye at Cassandra with a flashy smile and got into the car.

Cassandra saw them off and returned to her studio.
The moment the car started to move, Cloris started to copy the content from Cassandra's USB drive into another USB drive.
She chose to sit in the back seat, while Edith sat in the front. Arthur was talking to Edith to distract her so she wouldn't notice
what Cloris was doing.
As the progress bar loaded more and more, Cloris became more and more nervous.
At last, it was done! All the content was duplicated into the special USB drive, which had a self-destruction function.
Cloris heaved a sigh of relief. Right then, Cassandra called her.
"Hey Cloris! I think I left my USB drive in your bag. Can you please check and tell me if it's there?"
She hurriedly called Cloris the moment it struck her that the flash drive was not with her.
"Let me see... Oh yes! It's here. I'll come and give it back to you right away!"
Cloris said while pretending to fumble in her bag.
"Alright! I'm waiting for you. Please rush,"
Cassandra said, relieved. For a moment, she really thought she had lost it.
"Arthur, can you please turn back? I need to give something to Cassandra urgently!"
Arthur turned the car without a question, and drove back towards Cassandra's studio.
All of Cassandra tension was eliminated the moment she retrieved the USB drive from Cloris.
Only after they had come again and left did Rufus notice the device in Cassandra's hand.
"What's this? Is it very important?" Rufus inquired.
He was curious about its contents as Cassandra appeared quite nervous and desperate to get it back.
"Just some sketches I did in the past. Nothing important," she replied.
After that, she hurriedly put it in her pocket, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"Rufus, help me take care of here. I'm gonna go to the supermarket to buy something. I'll be back in a minute."
She simply made an excuse to leave. She had to go and hand the USB drive to someone else sent by Horace.
"Alright. I'll wait here."
Rufus smiled without saying anything more. But he did realize Cassandra was trying to hide something from him.
He started to follow her secretly. Something, was surely up.
When she reached the pavement, she made a call. Shortly after that, a car stopped in front of her. The person who was sitting in
the car was no one else but Lionel.
In a daze, she stepped near the car. Suddenly, her face turned rigid.
Once she thought of the possibility that Lyndsy's accident was a result of Lionel's evil intention, Cassandra felt that there was a
heavy stone in her heart.
Even though she felt uncomfortable seeing Lionel, she walked up to him, bent down and passed him the USB drive through the
window. Immediately after that, she stood up straight and turned to leave.
"Cassandra!"
Suddenly, Lionel called out her name in an anxious tone. Cassandra stood still, without looking back at him.
"Thank you!"
Seeing that she had stopped walking, he thanked her.
"No problem. Good luck to you," she merely replied.
She had no intention of showing any warmth or accepting his appreciation. The very reason she helped Tang Group again was
due to Horace and Jill, who had begged her for it. She wouldn't have agreed even if someone like Lionel had knelt down in front
of her for hundreds of times.
This unexpected encounter with Lionel plummeted her mood. After wandering around the supermarket for some time, she
randomly picked up some stuff and decided to head back to the studio.

At some distance behind her, a figure was following her silently. Only when she was paying for the goods, the person finally left.
When Cassandra saw Rufus again at the office, he stood beaming at her, gesturing toward the wallpaper-covered wall.
"Well, what do you think?"
Rufus had decided on this one after going through hundreds of brands. It stood out from the others distinctly. He had a feeling
Cassandra would love it.
The design was simple, elegant and comforting. These seemed like qualities Cassandra would appreciate.
Cassandra's eyes followed his finger and landed on the wallpaper. The entire wall was decorated with a soothing shade of yellow
and green colors. It was almost like being surrounded by nature.
"This is great! I Love it! Thank you, Rufus!"
Cassandra walked up to him and hugged him tightly, burying her head in his chest.
His heartbeat soothed her, making all her worries go away.
Rufus pressed her body closer, embracing her lovingly. His eyes flickered with mysterious colors.
He had witnessed the meeting between Cassandra and Lionel from a distance. Never had he imagined they would meet in
secrecy.
Suspicious of what had happened, he rushed back to the studio and checked the surveillance of the house while she was gone,
and was surprised to find Horace and Jill had been there.
From the video, he found Horace had requested Cassandra to help Tang Group with this bidding competition and she had
accepted his request.
No wonder Cassandra was reluctant to go out. He had thought she was feeling unwell and wanted to rest at home. It turned out
that she was involved in editing the proposal and sketches for Tang Group on the sly.
'Horace is such a shameless cunning old fox! He even convinced Jill to kneel down to Cassandra. I never expected that to
happen!

But this means Tang Group is in a really dire situation. Why else would they come begging Cassandra?
At the same time, Cassandra is being so silly! How could she trust them again? I cannot believe they got her help with such a
cheap little trick!'
With those thoughts in his head, Rufus hugged her tender body tighter. Soon then, in a raspy voice, he said, "Cassandra, if
anything is up, please tell me, okay?"
It hurt him to find the little woman was hiding things from him.
Even though he was waiting for Tang Group's termination, he wouldn't blame her for falling in their trap again. Since she had
already done it, there was no use turning the incident into a conflict.
He believed different people had different opinions. To him, Horace was an enemy, so he wanted him to suffer. But Cassandra
was too kind to see that and thought of him simply as an old and frail man who needed help.
Rufus didn't care for them, while Cassandra was merciful and kind. Horace knew this, and that was why he had come to her and
convinced her, taking advantage of her gullibility.
'Oh god! Cassandra, why are you so naive!' Rufus shouted in his heart.
When Cassandra heard Rufus's words, she suddenly remembered the baby, which was lost in the accident. Her body started to
tremble and continued doing so for a few seconds.
If Rufus ever came to know about it, he would be deeply saddened.
That was their first baby. For reasons she didn't understand, God had taken it away from them. It almost drove Cassandra crazy.
She was depressed for months and she couldn't even imagine the sorrow Rufus would have to go through if he found out about
it.
Even though Rufus always encouraged her to be open with him and share whatever she wanted, somehow, she didn't deem
herself capable of ever telling him that.
Presently, she wanted to forget everything and just indulge herself in Rufus's warm arms. There was nothing she would do or say
to break from his comforting, secure grip.
She simply nodded in conviction, and said, "I promise I will tell you everything I come across in the future!"

In her heart, she murmured silently, 'In the future...not the past.
Let's forsake the past.'
Rufus's lips curled into a meaningful smile. Some joy surfaced in his eyes.
'This woman is simply playing a word game with me. But, if she really means what she says, that's not bad at all!' he thought,
running his fingers through her hair.