A Graduation Gift

Cold perspiration burst out of Cassandra's every pore as her teeth chattered with another blow of the cold wind.
As it turned out, she knew nothing of Lionel. She did not know how vicious he could be.
Apparently, he did inherit all his father and mother's vices. He was full of greed and selfishness. He was narrow-minded and
easily discarded people even after they provided assistance.
"Get out! This is my last warning. If you don't go away right now, I'll call the police!"
Cassandra had enough. She was very pissed off. She could not remember any instance when she was ever angrier.
This took Lionel aback. Cassandra's face was now pale as a sheet of paper and it had a fury he never expected to see in her
eyes.
"Fine! Wait and see, Cassandra Qin. I'll never forget what you did to me today and I swear I'll pay you back in your own coin!" he
hissed from his clenched teeth.
He then stormed out, casting another threatening gaze before he completely disappeared.
Cassandra shook all over, biting her lower lip to keep her head from exploding. The splitting pain felt as if it would kill her. The
sight of Lionel leaving with his head held high was unbearable.
With how he talked to her just now, she assumed that they did not win the bidding.
Still, his remarks confused her. She was certain that the disk was intact when she saved the document in it. How could it have
any problems at such an important occasion?
The gust of wind that blew reminded her that the door was still wide open. She stepped forward to close it.
Still, not even the cold wind was enough to ease her thoughts. Like a stampede of wild horses, it trampled all her other concerns.
'What could have happened to the disk I gave to Lionel? And was there anyone else who had touched it before?' she tried to
recall.
Suddenly, something hit her like a jolt of lightning that seemed to split her head in half, making her headache even worse.
It was none other than her own sister, Cloris.

The image of Cloris grabbing her bag kept replaying in her head. She then realized that Cloris was the one who took the flash
drive away for a while. And what was worse, Cloris was with Arthur when that happened.
Cassandra shivered as she felt all the hair on her body stand. She got goosebumps.
Cloris betrayed her and she found it so hard to believe. Family did not do this to each other. She felt like her head was going to
explode.
She couldn't take it. She had to see Cloris and ask her why she betrayed her like that.
In the next second, Cassandra grabbed her coat and keys. Just as she was about to leave, the door opened. Rufus entered and
looked at her pale face and puzzled gaze.
"Where are you going?" he asked, surprised.
Her confusion was apparent.
"I...I'm going to see my mother," Cassandra hesitated.
She groaned inwardly. She did not expect Rufus to come back at such a time. It would be difficult to slip away from him.
"Okay, I'll drop you off,"
he offered without even asking why. As he turned to the door, Cassandra grabbed his arm.
"No, I'm sure you're tired. I can handle myself. I'll be back as soon as I can,"
she said, stopping him. If Rufus went with her, he would find out what she did for the Tang Group. She could not imagine how he
would react if this reached him.
"Hurry up! I'm fine and we can come back early,"
he said as he dragged her to his car before she could say anything more.
At the most, Cassandra managed to find an excuse to stay at the back seat alone instead of sitting up front as usual. She was
scared that Rufus would ask her why she had to pay her mother a sudden visit. To her surprise, however, Rufus stayed quiet
throughout the trip and only drove his car as swiftly as the wind.

On the other hand, Edith was surprised to see her eldest daughter standing in front of the door when she opened it.
"Cassandra, what are you doing here at such an odd time? Is something wrong?"
she asked worriedly as she looked at Cassandra, head to toe.
"Nothing, Mother. I just need to talk to Cloris about something," she replied, forcing a smile as she walked inside.
Cloris was sitting on the sofa with a pack of chips in her hands, watching a TV show.
"Cloris, we need to talk. Come upstairs,"
Cassandra said in low voice to her, trying not to attract their mother's attention.
Cloris's heart did a complete somersault when she saw the expression on Cassandra's face. She immediately understood what
Cassandra was up to, but she was not stupid enough to face her alone.
"Cassandra, don't bother. We can talk right here. As you can see, I'm watching TV," she replied.
Cloris did not seem to care. Without even so much as a glance at her sister, she continued with her eyes glued to the TV.
"Cloris, you need to go upstairs with me. I don't want our mother to know what you did. It's embarrassing,"
Cassandra explained, knitting her eyebrows to a frown. She stepped forward, grabbed the pack of chips from Cloris and threw it
aside.
"What the hell are you doing? Don't talk to me like that! I will not do what you tell me to do! Forget about it!" Cloris retorted.
She rolled her eyes at Cassandra and refused to stand up.
She reached out to take her chips back and fixed her eyes on the TV again, totally ignoring Cassandra's presence.
Cassandra heaved a sigh. Realizing that getting her sister to go anywhere else was hopeless, she sat next to her.
"Cloris, tell me the truth. Did you install a malicious software on my flash drive? Did Arthur ask you to do it for him?" she asked in
a low voice.
She laid down all her cards right away on purpose. She hoped that by being vulnerable, Cloris would tell her everything she
knew.

Cloris, however, did not even bat an eyelash. She remained concentrated on the television screen.
Cassandra took a deep breath to calm down.
"Cloris, you need to tell me the truth. You were the only person who managed to get hold of the flash drive before I handed it out.
What's more, I had your bag examined. They told me that the only way it could have broken was if it was torn deliberately. Look,
just tell me what happened exactly. I won't blame you. You're my only sister. I won't let you get harmed. I'll bear the responsibility
for you, that's fine. Just tell me the truth," she said sincerely.
She gazed at the face that closely resembled hers, waiting for a response expectantly. Cloris, though, kept a poker face. It was
impossible to guess what she was thinking at that very moment.
She remained unmoved, determined not to tell her anything.
"Cloris, listen to me. If Arthur won the bidding by destroying his rival's document, then you need to reevaluate your relationship
with him. He is not an honest man and that was not the right thing to do. It scares me that he would do the same thing to you in
the future,"
she continued to talk. The thought of harm possibly befalling her sister because of Arthur broke her heart.
Finally, Cloris turned to Cassandra with a huge sneer on her face.
"Oh, my dear sister! It's the pot calling the kettle black. Please don't forget what you have done. You're a thousand times
despicable than him. Were you doing the right thing when you hired someone to rape me? Come on! I know what you really are.
You don't have to pretend to be so nice and innocent!" Cloris could no longer stop herself from raising her voice.
The words almost choked her as this was the first time she was talking about it. Since when did her sister became so sinister?
Being so confrontational, blaming someone else for her own mistakes, how ridiculous!
Cassandra stood dumbfounded by her sister's accusation. She couldn't believe her ears. What did Cloris say just now? Did
Cloris just say that she hired someone to hurt her?
"Cloris, I could never do such a thing! You must have misunderstood! I won't hurt you, I won't even think about such a thing!"
But Cloris stood up from the sofa before she could finish her words.

"Don't give me that bullshit! Think about what you've done before blaming me! You're right, I have no evidence but I'm sure it was
you! Now, you know how I felt that day. You know exactly who destroyed your document but you can't prove it! I just gave you a
taste of your own medicine!" she shouted in a mocking tone.
Cloris's voice was so loud that even Edith and Rufus heard her. Edith had just opened the door for Rufus who came in after
finding a place to park his car. They were surprised to find that Cloris and Cassandra were quarreling furiously.
"How do you feel now, Cassandra? Wronged? Cornered? Unable to come up with a good explanation? Correct! I experienced
that myself, too! I was exactly where you were! You will never know how scared I was. His smile when he was on top of me will
forever haunt my dreams!"
Cloris boomed and pointed a finger at Cassandra out of rage, shivering all over.
"Yes, I didn't like you before because I was jealous of you. You said that you would help me to become Rufus's girlfriend, but
instead, you seduced him behind my back. Sure, I got angry and damaged your dress, but that worked out well for you, didn't it?
Rufus ended up helping you out! And yet, look what you did to me. You went so far as to hire someone to rape me for such a
small matter!"
Cloris was now shouting at Cassandra with her loudest voice. After what happened, it no longer bothered her to hurt her sister.
"No, Cloris. I never did such a thing! I could never...You have to trust me. I'm your sister!" Cassandra explained desperately.
She was as shocked as she was devastated to hear her sister's story. She could not imagine Cloris going through such a horrible
thing. Now, she understood why Cloris had been so angry at her.
"Ha! Whatever happened has already happened, no matter what you say! And I know you, Cassandra, you have a silver tongue.
You think you can get out of this so easily? The sight of you disgusts me, and yet, I call you 'Sister.' Do you think you deserve
that title? Ask yourself that sincerely and honestly."
Tears were now streaming uncontrollably down Cloris's cheeks. She had buried her hate for Cassandra for such a long time.
Finally letting it out was like a huge weight off her shoulders.
"Cloris, I admit that I was wrong on things concerning Rufus. I'm sorry. I couldn't stop myself, I love him! But I won't take the
blame for the rest. I never paid anyone to hurt you! I swear with my life! It was not me!" Cassandra gasped.
Still, she knew that this was an impossible case. Her sister would never trust her. The pain she was going through was just too
much for her.