A Graduation Gift

After Edith left, Cassandra pulled the quilt over her head. She had no desire to get off the bed.
With her face facing the wall, tears slowly started to slide down her cheeks. Now that it had begun, there was no way of stopping
it. Her tears seemed to be endless.
In her parents' eyes, she wasn't gentle or sweet. In fact she was a cold lady when compared to Cloris. Therefore, she never
received the attention from her father which she had always craved.
This world now seemed like a bleak and hopeless place. People often preached about doing good deeds anonymously.
However, after one had done a good deed in secrecy, they wouldn't regard you as a good person. People had a way of taking
advantage of those who were kind.
Life wasn't fair and people who didn't deserve the love often ended up getting it.
While Cassandra was drowning in her misery, she felt someone lie beside her. He slowly stretched his arms and closed them
tightly against her body. His hug was quite strong and Cassandra could feel her body temperature notch up.
Without even turning she knew it was Rufus.
In the past few days, every time he came to visit her, he would silently watch her for a while before leaving the bedroom. But this
hug came as a surprise. She was shocked to see that he had come to bed to be with her tonight.
Anxiety started to rise in her body and she wanted to move free from his hug. Rufus, however, assumed that she intended to run
away. In order to stop her, he held her even tighter.
"You know what will happen if you continue to move!"
he whispered into her ears. This was a warning and his lips curved into an evil smile. Now Cassandra held her breath out of fear.
She didn't dare to move or make any sort of noise.
She didn't know how long it had been since his warning. But Cassandra didn't relax until she heard Rufus's slow and steady
breath. 'He has fallen asleep!' she thought with relief washing over her.
Carefully, Cassandra turned and now they were face to face.
'He is handsome. But keeps furrowing his brows even when he is sleeping. This is such a bad habit, ' Cassandra thought to
herself.

In spite of his frown, there was something very peaceful about watching him sleep. It made Cassandra feel secure and
protected.
Rufus had an outstanding facial features. Watching his gorgeous face, Cassandra really hoped that she could spend the rest of
her life with him.
As she watched him, she drifted off to sleep. Tonight she didn't have any nightmare. It was a peaceful night.
The day before she moved to the Tang mansion, Ivy was extremely excited. Her excitement reached a level where sleeping
became impossible to her.
Her thoughts revolved completely around Cassandra. She was planning and plotting what she would do when she could finally
confront with Cassandra. Her dream was to challenge her status in the Tang family. But when she moved in, Cassandra wasn't at
home. Ivy felt a surge of disappointment. That was when she learned that Cassandra had a fever hence she was staying in the
hospital.
Horace thought that Cassandra was finding an excuse to escape. But his disappointment was gone once he realized that it
would be very difficult for Cassandra to accept the fact that Ivy would be around.
In a sarcastic tone, Jill said, "Well, she is aware that she can't give birth to a child. I guess she is too ashamed to face us."
However, Lionel didn't find Jill's words funny. Instead he found it extremely harsh. He never had sex with Cassandra so he knew
why she wasn't pregnant yet. Therefore, when Jill accused Cassandra of being infertile, he had an urge to defend her.
But at the same time he realized that Ivy was standing right next to him. He had no choice but to keep silent.
Horace, on the other hand, also wished to shut Jill. She was being mean. Just like Lionel, he abstained from speaking because
Ivy was present. With great difficulty, he controlled himself and glared at Jill.
Ivy detected the helpless look on Horace's and Lionel's face. It was shown only for a few seconds, but her powerful eyes noticed
them. This made her realize how important her child was.
Her child meant a great deal to the Tang family which was why even Horace and Lionel feared her.
Knowing her status in the family, Ivy easily turned the Tang mansion into her own home. One by one, she started to show her
rights over everything. She was bossy and always found a reason to make the servants work. Besides, she ordered the chef to
cook all kinds of nutritious meals for her.

But when she was with Jill, her attitude seemed completely different. There was no pride but only love for Jill.
Jill was a big fan of jade. Ivy once asked someone to go abroad to buy raw jade for Jill and later asked an expert to engrave it,
making a whole set of jade accessories. They were delicate and had great design.
"Auntie, this is for you!"
When Horace wasn't at home, Ivy seized the opportunity and presented Jill with this delicate and beautiful jewelry box.
Jill opened the box. The ice jade was shining and the jade ring looked flawless. There was also a pair of earrings shaped in
magnolia flowers which was equally elegant and refined. Not to mention the pendant, which displayed the carver's perfect and
amazing skill.
Jill looked at Ivy and thought about Cassandra who seldom talked to her. Deep down she felt Ivy was much better than
Cassandra. Sadly, she wished that Ivy was her daughter-in-law.
Besides, Jill enjoyed talking to Ivy about beauty and skin care. Ivy had good knowledge in them and would recommend her some
nice beauty salons. And when it came to luxury, Ivy was an expert too. It was a subject that she spoke about with great
familiarity.
Jill sometimes spoke about this topic with her other friends but they weren't as good as Ivy. Women of her age weren't as open
and adaptive as young people like Ivy. With a busy life, it was hard for them to follow the fashion trend.
But Ivy was different. She would buy clothes released on the Fashion Week and gift them to Jill as soon as they came out.
When Jill put those clothes on and showed off in front of her friends, they all burnt with jealousy. In short, Ivy made her proud.
Earlier, she was known just as a rich woman. Behind her back, people thought of her as someone without any taste. They
gossiped about her and spoke about her lack of fashion sense. But ever since Ivy moved in, she would help her pick out the
outfit. By now, Jill felt her life would be hard without Ivy.
So she gathered her courage and complained to Horace, "You know what, Horace. I didn't feel the presence of a new member
until Ivy moved in. She is so much more cheerful and friendly when compared to Cassandra. Cassandra, on the other hand,
doesn't even bother to look at me!"
Listening to her words, Horace just rolled his eyes. He directly pointed out that she was being superficial.

"You idiot! Ivy takes money from Lionel for the gifts that she gets you. They are not her presents! They come from the Tang
family. She wants you to like her. Of course she is willing to do anything in order to please you. She isn't sincere and you are a
fool for falling!"
Watching the back of his head, Jill glared at him with annoyance.
With anger, she continued, "Even if Ivy did that on purpose, she is still way better than Cassandra. When Cassandra sees me,
she acts like a mouse that has seen a cat. She runs away from me and never tries to strike up a conversation. I can't remember
having a proper conversation with her!"
After he heard Jill complain, Horace felt anger surge inside him towards Ivy.
"Cassandra isn't good at flattering others. She is talented and can manage the design department of the Tang Group. What can
Ivy do? Tell me! She is good for nothing!"
Jill didn't want to give up so she murmured, "I don't know what she can do but she's the one Lionel really loves! And she has a
baby which Cassandra doesn't. No matter how talented Cassandra is, she is not capable of winning Lionel's heart."
Hearing Jill, Horace burst into laughter.
"We can't be so sure of that, Jill. Cassandra is extremely talented and Lionel might fall in love with her some day. As for Ivy...
she will leave when she gives birth to the baby. She is not a permanent member but a guest of the Tang family."
But Jill was stubborn and wouldn't listen to Horace. No matter what Horace said, she still believed Ivy was the best. Jill even
urged Lionel to get off work as early as he could so that he could come home and accompany Ivy.
Lionel was busy taking care of Ivy recently. He helped her buy all kinds of baby products. Moreover, he drove her to do body
check, accompanied her to take parenting class and even did prenatal yoga with her.
Ivy took satisfaction at being given such proper care. She loved all the attention she received from the people in the Tang family.
All these made her feel like she was Lionel's wife. And she intended to spend the rest of her life feeling this way.
Her determination to take Cassandra's place magnified as the days passed. She was willing to do anything in order to become a
permanent member of the Tang family. She had no intention of giving up so easily.

Rufus was the only one in the family that gave her a cold shoulder. He seldom talked at dinner. At times, he made his distaste
evident. In order to ignore her, he would talk business with Horace. He pretended like she had no part in his life.
Ivy was aware that it was Rufus who had changed the video in the victory banquet before. To be completely honest, she was a
little scared of him which was why she tried her best to stay away from him.
After all, she was pregnant and if Rufus did something to hurt her baby, she would lose everything.
Ivy didn't know what Rufus thought of the baby. Hence she wasn't in a state to task risk.
The worst was yet to come. Cassandra knew that sooner or later she would have to go back and face Ivy. She had stayed in the
hospital for more than a week. There was no reason for her to stay there any longer. If she did, it would certainly raise suspicion.
Rufus helped her complete the discharging formalities. Once he was done, he went and picked her up. Cassandra was nervous
and he could tell it from her expression.
As Rufus drove to the Tang mansion, Cassandra found herself fidgeting and sweating.
'I am Tang family's daughter-in-law. Ivy is no one! I am the one who is married to Lionel, not Ivy. Why should I be nervous? If
anyone must feel nervous then it should be Ivy, ' she told herself inside her mind.
Glancing at her, Rufus stretched out his hand and patted on her shoulder. Although he didn't utter a word, his action somehow
calmed her.
'You got this, Cassandra. There is nothing to be afraid of, ' Cassandra told to herself internally, trying to cheer up.
When she walked into the living room, Horace wasn't there. She was brought face to face with Jill who was sitting on the sofa.
When she saw Cassandra, she passed her a quick look and then brought her attention back to the TV which she was watching.
Taking a deep breath, Cassandra began to greet her, "Mother, I'm back."
Jill sneered at her and continued to watch her drama. She didn't think Cassandra deserved a reply.
Watching this rejection, Cassandra felt a little humiliated. With no intention of trying again, she started walking towards her room.
When she was about to walk in, she heard someone walking behind her.
She turned around and saw that it was Lionel and Ivy.

Cassandra couldn't help but notice Ivy's growing abdomen. Ivy was wearing a tight dress like she wanted everyone to notice her
tummy.
It was a common knowledge that pregnant women would prefer loose clothes because their figure would be out of shape during
pregnancy. Ivy, however, took pride in it.
This baby was her ploy to gain respect and replace Cassandra in the Tang family, therefore she couldn't wait to flaunt it.
While walking past Cassandra, Ivy put one hand on her belly and looked coldly at Cassandra.
"It is better to be pregnant than to be married," Ivy said with a smug smile.