A Graduation Gift

Cold sweats were running down Cassandra's forehead. She didn't know what to do considering that she was the center of
attraction and everyone was staring at her. She stood awkwardly alone on the rostrum with her face as pale as the bare walls.
Obviously, there was something wrong with her.
Arthur knitted his eyebrows in confusion and anxiously leaned back in his chair.
"What's going on with her?" he tilted his head to his assistant and asked.
His assistant, however, just shrugged his shoulder because he had no idea what was happening. Judging from their previous
experiences in doing businesses with the Tang Group, they had witnessed what Cassandra was capable of and they dared not to
underestimate her.
They had come and prepared for whatever Cassandra had in store for them, but now it seemed that it was the other way around.
Something wrong was happening to her.
Rufus sensed the oddity in the way Cassandra held the flash disk on her clenched fist. He stood up without any hesitation,
walked to the organizers and whispered something to them.
He was planning to ask them to give Cassandra another thirty minutes. That would buy Leo some time to go back and fetch a
backup copy. He was surprised when Cassandra had braced herself and snapped back right away.
She waved up the flash disk for everyone to see and slowly explained her tight spot.
"It seemed that my flash disk has decided to leave me hanging alone, and it's not good timing," she spoke in no hurry as she
shrugged her shoulders with a helpless expression on her face.
Everyone present in the room smiled at her frankness.
"The reason I bought this flash disk was that it got the coolest, most attractive, and had the most unique appearance amongst all
the products of the same brand, but it turned out that it didn't serve its purpose. It has a nice appearance but of little use," she
continued.
The room was filled with laughter.
Rufus straightened his back and fixed his eyes on Cassandra interestingly.
He was curious about what she would say next.

Then, she changed the topic.
"When I was a little girl, I thought that the most important thing in a certain design was an attractive appearance, but the longer I
worked in this industry and the more I learned, the better I understand that the final purpose of design is practicality. The utility
should not be sacrificed on behalf of beauty," she narrated emotionally.
The audience she was speaking to was a group of experts when it came to design and architecture. Thus everyone seemed to
get the implication of her statement as they nodded their heads in approval.
They had seen the designs of both Tang Group and Dawn Star Group in the past. The former was conservative and practical
while the latter focused on the novel appearance. To cover up the unexpected emergency brought about by her broken flash
disk, Cassandra compared and contrasted the two design plans taking the example of her own experience.
In the next few minutes, she briefly introduced her design and the reasons behind such a proposal.
Attracted by her vivid introductions and the small incident earlier, all the attendees were absorbed in the picture she portrayed.
About ten minutes later, someone from the company gave Leo another flash disk and he handed it to Cassandra immediately.
Finally, all the attendees were able to view a concrete example of the design plan.
It was a wonderful experience for them to see with their own eyes the things they heard slowly unfolding in front of them. They
had been impressed by her description, and the pictures gave them another visual shock. They praised the design plan of
Cassandra again and again, and it visibly stood out among the rest.
Rufus had sat back on his chair when he realized that there was no need for him to help her out. Cassandra's wit saved her and
perfectly solved the crisis. Her misfortune turned out to be an actual blessing. Rufus was surprised to see the awe of impression
on the faces of the audience.
A wicked smiled cracked on his face when he thought about the promise she made to him yesterday. He felt elated and the
cause of it all was no other than, Cassandra.
After the demonstration, the organizers usually took their time to discuss things and the results would be announced several
days later. However, judging from the way they commended Cassandra, it was no doubt that Tang Group would win the bidding
this time.
Cloris ran to Cassandra and gave her a bear hug after she stepped down from the rostrum.

"Bravo! Great job, Cassandra! You're the best!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Cassandra patted her on the back while casting a quick glance at Rufus.
She couldn't help but notice the myriad expressions in his eyes, and it was filled with joy and excitement.
Cassandra admitted that she went blank when she was unable to demonstrate her plan, but she was hit by a sudden inspiration
when her eyes met Rufus'. Then she gathered up all her strength and started from her broken flash disk, changed the topic to
her design and presented her ideas clearly.
To her great relief, it all turned out to be perfect. Almost everyone in the room recognized her efforts. All went well and ended
well.
Cassandra despised the quality of her flash disk. It was made from a brand known for quality, but she wondered how could it
failed to work only several days after she had just bought it.
Rufus slowly averted his eyes away from Cassandra and fixed them on Cloris. He looked at her quizzically.
Victor texted him earlier that Cloris went to the ladies' room before Cassandra's presentation. She looked tense and was gripping
something in her hands. Moreover, he heard a weird tinkling of something metal colliding with the lavatory. Cloris was flushing
something away.
Rufus knew what would happen if Cassandralearned that her much-loved, sweet, little sister stole her flash disk from her, she
must be brokenhearted.
Taking his time, Rufus walked towards them. Cassandra let go of her sister and reached out her hand to Rufus in an awkward
attempt to shake his hand.
She was afraid that Rufus would give her a hug just like Cloris did in front of so many people. The shaking hands were her
escape.
However, Rufus knew her plan the moment she reached out her hand, and he just went with the flow and looked at her with a
cunning smile.
Cassandra's face blushed red as Rufus gave her hand a slight but endearing squeeze.
"Give me your flash disk. I'll take it to the engineers to see if they can restore the data in it," he asked deliberately.

He asked her in a voice loud enough for Cloris to hear. He did that on purpose so he could gauge her reaction.
Unsurprisingly, Cloris got a word in, and interrupted, "I was the one who recommended the flash disk to Cassandra the other day,
and I feel so guilty that it almost ruined such a big occasion. So to make it up with what I have done, a good friend of mine is
skilled at data restoring. Please give it to me and I'll fix it!" she explained briskly.
Rufus's eyes grew inquisitively dim hearing her words. He was sure that Cloris had stealthily taken Cassandra's disk away and
replaced it with another disk that was not working. She was scared that Rufus would learn the truth and was eager to take the
disk with her. However, Cloris didn't know that her voice was quivering as she spoke, totally betraying the fear she felt inside.
Cassandra turned to Cloris and placed her hand over her shoulders.
"Cloris! The data inside this disk are important for our company and it's improper for you to just take it to some friends of yours!"
she scolded her.
Then she turned to face Rufus.
"Since I have saved other copies, it doesn't matter whether it can be restored or not. I'll just keep the disk as a souvenir, and this
will serve as an important lesson for me. It'll remind me not to make the same mistakes in the future," she said.
Honestly, Rufus didn't care about the data at all, and he had already confirmed what he needed to know. It made no difference if
Cassandra wanted to keep it.
He was immersed in his thoughts till he noticed that Cloris took a deep breath of relief after hearing that Cassandra wouldn't give
it to him.
Modesty aside, the smile on Cassandra's face was as bright as before. She had no idea that a storm was on its way to shake her
firm ground and the aftershock would be much devastating.
They were interrupted when Arthur stopped in front of Cassandra with his hand extended to congratulate her.
"Miss Qin, your demonstration was thrilling and impressive, and I want to show you my appreciation. Congratulations!" he
exclaimed with a smile.
Arthur was considered one of the outstanding men in the industry because he led the dying Dawn Star Group to its prosperity
now, and no one could ignore his talent.

Cassandra shook hands with him, with the respect of a rival.
"The design of Mr. Zhuang's building is quite new and bold, and I'm impressed," she complimented him back.
Arthur then turned to Rufus and patted him on his shoulder.
"Congratulations, Mr. Luo! You're lucky to find such a young and talented manager, and I believe she will be of excellent
assistance to you in the future. Oh! I envy you!" he didn't dare to hide the admiration in his voice.
Only a chosen few knew about Cassandra and Lionel's relationship even in the Tang Group, not mentioning an outsider like
Arthur. He had no idea that Cassandra was already married to Lionel.
There was an implication in his words, and he thought that Rufus and Cassandra were a couple.
Cassandra's heart ached a little at the thought that they were mistaken as a couple. She wished it was true and was not a
mistake at all.
She was limited to be Rufus assistant and not the 'assistant' that Arthur was implying.
On the other side of the city, Lionel received a call from Ivy, and she sounded excited.
"Honey, the doctor said that it's a boy!" she rambled on the other side of the phone.
Lionel suddenly felt exuberantly happy as if the horizons opened up for him. All this time he had wished and wanted for the baby
to be a boy, and thankfully it had met his expectations. He thanked God for the favor, sincerely.
Being an excited father as he was, he couldn't help but tell his mother about Ivy's pregnancy. Jill was stricken dumb by the news
and it took her a while to weigh things over and accept the fact that she would be a grandma.
Ever since Rufus returned, Lionel was almost invisible and no one paid any attention to him. Jill was so annoyed and Horace
chose to stand by Rufus every time she and Rufus were in conflicts. She couldn't persuade herself to accept that truth.
Thus, when Lionel told her his plan of overpowering Rufus with Ivy's pregnancy, she agreed with him and thought that it was a
good plan.
Despite their best-laid plan, Jill had her own worries. Cassandra was Lionel's lawful wedded wife but he was having an affair with
Ivy even before their marriage. That would make Lionel the unfaithful husband.

"That sex video of you and that woman was played at the banquet last time, and it made your father felt humiliated. I don't think
that he could accept her," she told Lionel her worries.
The excitement on Lionel's face was still blooming, and he was overwhelmed by the delight of kicking Rufus out of the Tang
Group.
"Mother, please don't worry. We'll do things one step at a time. As long as Ivy can give birth to a boy, Father will favor me again.
Remember how my grandpa valued him because you had me and all his other sons didn't have a baby boy," he comforted his
mother.
Lionel's idea won over Jill, and they began discussing how to tell Horace. They believed that he would cherish Lionel's baby
because this was his first grandchild. Cassandra, however, was their pain in the neck.
If Lionel was single and Ivy was pregnant with his baby, it would be easy for Ivy to marry him, but now things were complicated
because Cassandra, Lionel's wife, was chosen by nobody but Horace himself. It would be impossible for Lionel to divorce her by
his own will. They needed to think over a perfect plan for Horace to accept Ivy.