A Graduation Gift

The candlelight quivered. The charming smile across Rufus's face made her face burn.
In the warm atmosphere, Rufus's question flickered through her mind. It seemed to carry more meaning than it appeared on the
surface.
As she looked at him, the candlelight was reflected in her eyes, flickering with emotion.
She lowered her eyes and tried to hide how nervous she was feeling.
Rufus chuckled shortly and decided to drop the issue. He could see she was uncomfortable discussing it.
Cassandra focused on her steak. Rufus had cooked it to perfection, medium rare with just a hint of pink on the inside. When she
lifted it to her lips she found it tender and succulent. She closed her eyes in delight and savored the taste.
He knew that Cassandra's birthday happened to be on the same day as the submission date of the proposal.
Rufus had asked Victor to prepare the table beforehand, and he had even taken the time to hire a baker - not to bake the cake
for him, but to teach him how to do it himself. But the steak was his crowning achievement.
It seemed that his efforts had paid off. Rufus felt himself warm at the blissful look on Cassandra's face. This kind of satisfaction
was different than the one he normally felt, better than excelling in the workplace or winning a bet.
Any one who knew him well would have their jaws dropped to the floor if they came to knowledge that he had done cooking and
baking for a woman.
He doubted anybody would even recognize him now that he had taken off his business suit and tied an apron around his waist.
'Imagine if they see me washing dishes!' Rufus thought to himself.
It was clear that he had not done this many times before. Unsure of how to properly wash dishes, he sometimes let the plates
slip from his hand.
Leaning against the kitchen door and watching him, Cassandra wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
This seemed like a snapshot from the life she had always dreamed about.
She had dreamed about having a family life like this - eating together with her husband, cleaning up together afterwards, sharing
the chores everyday.

When Rufus had finished, Cassandra decided to keep her promise.
"Alright, where should we watch the movie?" she asked.
She was a woman of her word, although, she had to admit, the lingering taste of the steak in her mouth might have had
something to do with it.
Cassandra wondered if anyone else in the world had ever had the honor of having Rufus cook for them.
Rufus's eyes twinkled slyly at her question.
"Didn't I tell you, that I have a special cinema of my own?"
Cassandra couldn't help the grimace that flashed across her face. 'Who has a cinema in their house!' she wondered. Sometimes
the extravagance of wealthy people was too much for her.
"That's so... luxurious of you..."
Her own family had once been wealthy, but even so they had never dedicated an entire room to movie watching.
And it wasn't just full of film equipment either. The room itself had been especially built to maximize audio quality. This in itself
must have been a ludicrously expensive feature to include.
Cassandra chose a foreign romance movie from the romance section of the film library. Halfway through the film appeared a
particularly touching scene, and Cassandra could no longer hold back all the grief inside her.
Seeing her tears, Rufus glanced at her in surprise, as wondering why she was so easily touched.
He handed her a piece of tissue, and hesitantly stretched his arm around her shoulders.
Cassandra leaned into him for a second, enjoying his warmth. Then she realized what she was doing and struggled to jolt herself
upright.
"If you can't stop moving, I can guarantee you that I won't be such a gentleman," he teased her.
After a second of hesitation, Cassandra let herself sink back into his arms.
Rufus's heart glowed at this. He looked down at the woman and just couldn't keep himself from smiling.

The scene in the film, already intimate and tender, started to heat with rising passion. The couple on screen seemed to burn with
desire for one another, a desire only heightened by their inability to act upon it.
Cassandra felt herself grow hot. She had never been more aware of Rufus's body against hers. If she were watching alone, she
wouldn't have so much feeling about it. However, now she was watching with Rufus...in his arms.
"Cassandra..." Rufus murmured as he drew her even more tightly against him.
'Oh my god, what am I doing!
This is Rufus! My husband's brother, the love of Cloris!
How can I have let myself give in to temptation like this?!'
She threw his arms away from her and leaped up. Rufus was caught off-guard and fell to the ground.
She saw his eyes fill with hurt and confusion at this sudden rejection.
"Rufus, we can't do this!" the woman shouted.
They couldn't. Morality, responsibility, even sanity forbade it!
Rufus stood up, straightening his clothes out to hide his disappointment.
He saw that Cassandra would not be open to a relationship with him for as long as she was Lionel's wife.
Despite wanting it so badly, and coming so close to crossing the line, Cassandra would not sacrifice her honor.
Breathing deeply to calm himself down, he stated gently, "It's quite late now. You can sleep here tonight and go home in the
morning."
He walked to the door and paused, as if having thought of something.
"There is a key in the drawer of the cabinet, in case you want to lock the room. You never know, I might turn into a werewolf and
come to tear you apart at night."
If she had been in the mood to laugh, Cassandra might have found this funny.

She pictured Rufus, all covered in black fur!
In the darkness of the night, no one noticed the car parked outside the cottage. Someone was watching them through the car
window. The eyes fixed on the house, brimmed with animosity. It was none other than Cloris.
She sensed something between Cassandra and Rufus. Her instinct had warned her ever since the two had visited the Qin family.
She had caught them in the same bedroom the other time, and even Rufus's very logical excuse hadn't satisfied the suspicious
Cloris.
With the suspicion in her mind, she had followed a trail of clues. She noticed that at work Rufus gave Cassandra far more
attention than her actual husband did.
Cloris had been surprised by the estranged nature of their marriage - the two seemed like strangers, even enemies sometimes.
This was strange. Even though they hid their relationship from the rest of the company, their behavior was just too cold for a
married couple.
Cloris also discovered that they lalways left for work separately, and barely interacted at home. It was only when Horace was
present that they acted like a real couple. Only then would Lionel show affection toward his 'dear wife'.
That was strange! Way too strange!
And now today, Cassandra and Rufus had left together with the proposal. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Cloris had
excused herself, and followed the pair.
She had been shocked to witness that, after leaving the hospital, Rufus had brought Cassandra to his cottage - and the two
spent the night together!
Cloris was not na?ve. She knew what these signs all meant. The man that she loved was having an affair - with her own sister!
Cloris felt rage rising up inside her. She wanted to lash out, punish them. For a moment she was tempted to reveal their secret.
But, she couldn't.
If Cloris unveiled their secret, Rufus would be defamed.
Her dream was to stand proudly beside Rufus, have them be the most important person to one another. She wanted her man to
maintain his status and power, and for herself to share in it.

No...She would have to be cleverer than that. The pain that raged inside her unleashed a cruelty that she had never shown
before. The innocence in her face was washed away with it. Cloris felt herself grow cold and vengeful.
Gnashing her teeth, she was engulfed by fury.
"Just you wait, Cassandra. I'll take your place in Rufus's heart, just as I took your place in the hearts of our parents!" she
muttered.
Outside the car, the wind scraped a handful of dried eaves across the pavement. The streetlamp flickered and died. The car was
engulfed in darkness.
The coldest winter ever was approaching...