A Graduation Gift

It was in the Tang Group.
The door of the CEO office was pushed open. The thrust echoed through the office as Lionel stormed towards Rufus, who was
signing off some document. The loud noise made him look up from the document and gaze at the approaching figure of Lionel.
He stopped in front of Rufus's desk, then slapped hard on it with his palms, making it shake under his hands.
"Rufus Luo! What on earth do you want?" Lionel questioned, his voice trembling with rage.
Rufus stared back at him with a rather nonchalant look. Refusing to pay any heed to Lionel's intimidating demeanor, he turned
his head towards Leo and instructed, "Send this document to the human resource department. Tell them to complete all the
procedures within a week."
Leo took the file and paced towards the door. But before he could even reach the door, he found Lionel standing right in front of
him. In one smooth move, Lionel blocked his way out of the room and grabbed the file from his hand.
After that, he slapped the file back on the desk so hard that all the contents inside the file came out and got scattered on the
floor.
Lionel's eyes fell on a piece of paper on top and his pupils got dilated. It was a dismissal notice.
Picking up the note, he thrust it back in front of Rufus and shouted with disbelief, "He is the marketing manager of our company!
How can you just dismiss him! Have you ever considered the consequence?"
Rufus did not reciprocate to the temperament displayed by Lionel. Rather he maintained a calm and cool composure. He just
leaned back to the backrest of the chair, folded his arms as he maintained the indifferent gaze on Lionel. It was as if he wasn't a
part of the quarrel and he was just watching the episode as an outsider.
Rufus's cool and adamant behavior frustrated Lionel all the more.
"Rufus Luo! Right now you are too much indulged in your role as the CEO of the company! Don't forget the person who granted
you the power! If father ever realizes that you are dismissing the employees at the management level randomly as per your own
whim, which will adversely affect the company, he will take his action against this!" Lionel attempted to threaten Rufus.
However, Rufus looked completely disinterested in getting into a confrontation. He even refused to utter a single word in
retaliation to Lionel's threat. Instead, he lifted his head, and gave a cold stare at Lionel.

"This is the decision of the board of directors, not me. We had a vote. As the marketing manager, he didn't actively establish
relationship with new clients, which was part of his responsibilities. Moreover, some of our regular customers even turned to our
competitors because of him! How can we continue to hire such a worthless man?"
Lionel's rage was showing in his eyes which were literally burning. He was aware of the meeting, but wasn't informed that it was
about human resource management. Busy with Ivy, he decided not to attend. Now he regretted, and attempted to revoke this
decision.
"He was hired during father's term. Now you want to fire him, but you haven't asked for his approval!" Lionel brought up the topic
once again to negotiate with Rufus.
Rufus's silence was getting on his nerves by now. He brought up the name of Horace once again and tried to suppress Rufus.
Rufus then stood up. With his height and build, he was firm and unwavering.
"When you referred him to father, you had never mentioned that he was Ivy's cousin," Rufus stated coolly.
This sentence, though not long, thumped on Lionel's heart heavily.
Indeed, this person was suggested by Ivy. After talking to him for several times, Lionel felt that this person could possibly be
hired for the manager's role. And it happened that there was a vacancy for marketing manager. So, he suggested his name to
his father.
In order to avoid suspicion from others, he had never revealed this fact to anyone else. How could Rufus possibly know about
the secret!
Yet Lionel wasn't ready to give up. Suppressing his voice low to sound firm, he warned Rufus, "You know that Ivy is pregnant
with the eldest grandson of the Tang family. If she gets to know that her cousin is fired, she may get agitated, which in turn would
probably affect the baby. Do you think you can escape from the blame?"
Rufus smirked at Lionel in a sardonic manner. Then his face broke into a mocking smile as though he regarded Lionel as a
clown.
"Well, the eldest grandson of Tang family is not from your wife. Is that something to be proud of? Besides, what has this got to do
with me?" Rufus sneered.

The coldness in Rufus's voice and his indifference rendered Lionel completely at a loss of words. He could not find any other
way to bargain his way to save the job of Ivy's cousin.
At last, Lionel stood up and with a faint hope in his heart, he made his last attempt.
"Rufus, do you think that you can get control of the entire company just by sacking all the people who are associated with me? I
have been in Tang Group for so many years, during which you never had a chance to step you foot in the business. And now,
how is it even possible for you to clear all my people from the company!" he scowled.
The agitation from Lionel once again met a cold and flat reaction from Rufus. A sinister smile gradually crept on Rufus's lips,
which made him look like a blood-thirsty and cruel monster.
"Whatever I am doing is just for the benefit of Tang Group. As regards to how you interpret my actions, I don't care," Rufus stated
with a scornful face.
Lionel realized that it was his turn to rest his case. The argument with Rufus was not going anywhere. It was clear that he had no
way to turn it around. He couldn't change Rufus's decision, nor was he in the position to threaten him. Lionel found it difficult to
calm himself down though. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at Rufus for the last time and said, "You... You just wait.
Rufus, sooner or later, I will make you regret!" Lionel's voice creaked and his hands were trembling out of fury as he spoke.
Nonchalant to Lionel's desperate words, Rufus just shrugged and maintained the cold gaze at Lionel with a cynical smile on his
face.
"Whatever you say!" Rufus replied blatantly.
Lionel turned around and stormed out of the office. Rufus remained unaffected. The usual indifferent look was back on his face
as he summoned Leo to discuss about a few more dismissals that had to be processed. He instructed Leo, "There are three
more dismissal notices in this week. Get it done fast. I don't want to give them any chance to fight back!"
Leo nodded in agreement as he picked up the dismissal notices from Rufus's desk, and then he headed towards the human
resource department straight.
After Leo left, Rufus rose up from the chair and walked towards the floor-to-ceiling windows. A very clear view of the city could
be seen from this place. Rufus set his eyes on the panoramic view and got lost in his thoughts.
From the pinnacle of the tower that was centrally located in the city, the bird view of the city was breathtaking. Rufus took a deep
breath and then recollected as he relished the city view from his office.

Standing alone in front of the windows overseeing the busiest commercial space in the city, Rufus remembered his first visit to
the Tang Group building. It was ten years ago. What an overwhelming experience it had been to stand on the ground and look up
at the skyrocketing building that soared higher to literally engulf the sky! The very thought of it gave him goose bumps.
His mother had a cerebral hemorrhage. Though she was lucky to be saved by the surgeon, she had become like a vegetable.
For further medical treatment of his mother, Rufus planned to take her to a better hospital abroad. Before he left the country, he
decided to pay a visit to the building that had cast the gloomy shadow on his and his mother's lives.
Each and every moment of that day played like a screenshot in front of Rufus's eyes. He was standing at the entry gate in front
of Tang Group building, gazing at the magnanimous height when very unexpectedly, Horace and Jill walked out hand in hand.
Horace, still a healthy man at that time, thanks to his healthy lifestyle, had absolutely no sign of ageing at all.
And Jill was like a woman of class, wearing an arrogant smile on her face.
Busy in laughing and chatting between themselves, they boarded a luxurious car and drove away. Their radiant faces, laughters
and their jovial camaraderie were still so fresh in Rufus's mind.
No one had noticed, that a tall man with a cold and stern look, stood with clenched fists at the main entrance of Tang Group.
No one could feel the fire seething inside Rufus's heart that day. His gaze was so intent, and the color of his eyes was even
darker than the darkest night.
It was the rightful place for his mother beside Horace.
And Rufus should be the rightful owner of this building. He remembered how loathsome it was to watch Horace with Jill in front of
the Tang Group building that day.
As he was witnessing their happy time, Rufus then thought to himself, 'Horace is at the peak of his life because of the support
from his wife's family. He left my mom for money. And now my mom is lying on the cold patient bed, unable to utter even a word!'
Immense hatred soon brimmed his eyes as he watched Horace that day. At that moment, he vowed to himself, 'Someday, I'm
going to take back all these!
And I am going to take all these away from them!'

Rufus closed his eyes as he remembered his moment when he took the resolution. And now he seemed to have completed it.
He had reached the height and the position that he had aimed to achieve. Even though he was standing in the office of the
highest power, he couldn't afford to relax. He heaved a sigh as he brought himself back to the present time.
Horace's health was deteriorating very fast. Lionel was incapable as a leader. The men in the management and directorial levels
had conflicting interests. And Horace had lost his control.
In such a dire situation, Rufus came in the picture, with his perfect scores in college and management experience. Horace had
no choice but to assign him as the CEO of Tang Group, hoping that he could handle the issue.
Rufus proved himself and met Horace's expectation. Within only half a year, the situation in the company started looking up. The
slumping trend of the company was replaced with a thriving one, and the people who held power in the company didn't dare take
advantage because of his strict and tough policies.
Despite the situation going in his favor, Rufus knew well that this was far from his final victory. The battle had just begun. The
power that Horace had granted him was only temporary.
Rufus knew it in his heart that even though Lionel did not deserve becoming the heir of the Tang family, Horace would ultimately
give all he had to his dear younger son.
And then? What would happen to Rufus? His tenure was meant to be short-lived in the Tang Group.
Once Tang Group got back on track, Rufus's presence in the company would no longer be critical. Lionel would come back,
backed by his father's support and love. And the first thing he would do was to throw Rufus out of the company.
As Rufus thought through the obvious consequences, his face broke into a cold smile.
No one knew better than Rufus that Horace was a typical businessman, whose action was dictated only by profit. He was in no
way a man for him to be loyal to, nor did Rufus aspire to become the right hand man for Horace. His purpose behind joining the
Tang Group was different. He had a very discreet vision in his mind when he joined this company.
He was here to make Horace regret. Yes! He wanted to make him regret the choice he had made. Horace deserved it. He should
regret choosing Jill over Rufus's mother. He should regret devouring all his love on Lionel instead of Rufus! Rufus gritted his
teeth, and his jaw line stiffened as he thought about it.

He could not wait for the time when he would make Horace aware, that his return wasn't the hope of Tang family. Rather, it was
the start of a nightmare!
At the hospital, Cassandra looked out of the window wistfully. Pristine white snowflakes transcended from the sky and touched
the ground. The view was extremely soothing and she could spend hours looking at this surreal phenomenon.
It had been five days since she was hospitalized. No matter how upset, how bored she felt, she never mentioned about getting
discharged from the hospital.
When the female doctor with a poker face checked on her, she whined once, "Everyone whishes to get out as soon as possible.
This girl is so special. She loves staying here instead of going home."
Cassandra just laughed helplessly as the doctor stroked the tip of her nose and said that she was just feeling sick.
But in her heart, she was still dreadful at the thought of getting back to Tang family.
Except for Horace and Rufus, no one in the family would be kind to her. The very thought of it made her shudder.
This was especially the case with Jill, who had never given her a smile since the first day they met. The old woman sincerely
disdained the girl who got married to her son only to save her own family.
Lionel was enjoying his life with his old girlfriend Ivy. He never developed any attachment towards Cassandra.
As for Ivy... It was better for Cassandra to stay away from that woman. As the faces of Jill, Lionel and Ivy flashed though her
mind, she could feel the coldness inside her heart. All these people were so distant from her without a touch of warmth, care or
concern.
After a few days of hospitalization, she had recovered completely from the fever, but Rufus insisted that she should stay in the
patient ward.
He was trying to protect her as he feared that she would be ill-treated in the Tang family.
Cassandra was moved by Rufus once again. The care and concern that she could not find in her family came to her from an
absolutely unexpected corner. She had never expected to get solace and a sense of warmth from Rufus.
Her eyelashes quivered and she closed her eyes to control the tears that began to surface on her eyes.
'Rufus, what shall I do? Every time I want to push you out of my mind, I feel your love for me.

How can I make up my mind to stop thinking about you?' she asked herself.