A Graduation Gift

Beads of sweat formed on Ivy's forehead. 'She must be in terrible pain, ' Lionel thought. His body was with Ivy, but his mind
drifted away to what had happened earlier today.
In the serious conversation he had with his father today, Lionel felt that his father was deeply disappointed with him. The way he
talked showed that he had a clear preference for Rufus. His father's words kept on echoing on his mind, and he couldn't fall
asleep.
When Ivy finally dozed off to sleep, Lionel felt he needed some fresh air and went to the yard for a smoke. The cold breeze
comforted him and eased some of his stress. He enjoyed the tranquility of the moment and stayed a little longer.
On his way back to the mansion, he happened to run into Cassandra who just came down the stairs. The moment he caught a
glimpse of Cassandra, he was astonished. Even in the dark, her face was fresh and the nightgown she was wearing showcased
her delicate curves. Her black flowing hair extended through her back like a stream steadily flowing through her eloquent
shoulders. There was something about her that was so alluring. Never had Lionel imagined that the same woman he looked
down on could stir his desire at that instant. He wanted to feel the warmth her body, the softness of her lips, and the smoothness
of her skin.
Then he stopped recalling about Cassandra and thought about Ivy's condition. He knew that the baby in her belly was the most
valuable chip he had to bargain his worth. If anything happened to Ivy and the baby...
Clearing all those thoughts away, he focused himself on walking briskly to the yard with Ivy in his arms.
Jill was following closely, and she was meticulous enough to take a blanket and cover that on Ivy.
"Be careful!" Jill reminded Lionel while he carried Ivy to the car.
They went straight to the Jenks's hospital. Lionel was tense and out of his breath. He cared for Ivy and her baby as well.
Ivy was immediately registered and was then made to go through a few checkups, and check for the fetal heartbeat. Once the
doctor cleared all suspicions of possible problems with regards to Ivy and her child, Lionel heaved a sigh of relief. It was only
then that the series of events went back to him and he started to express his frustration.
"Why did you go downstairs in the middle of the night? The light was not even on! You were lucky that nothing serious happened.
What if you got a miscarriage? How are we going to deal with that?"

Ivy had been working hard to stay calm and patient as she went from one test to another. The last thing she expected Lionel to
do was to scold her. Soothing words were what she needed right now. With a pang of annoyance, she complained, "Sure, it was
me who went downstairs in the middle of the night. You were out too, weren't you?"
Lionel's eyebrows met as he tried to decipher what Ivy was conveying and it did not take him long. He suddenly realized that
what happened was not an accident. Ivy staged it intentionally. She knew what would happen if she let Lionel continue his move
with Cassandra. Ivy created such havoc to cut Lionel's desires short.
The moment he had this realization, he immediately let go of Ivy's hand and his confusion turned to rage.
"You must know your place. You are part of the Tang family only because you are carrying my child. Cassandra is my wife!" he
roared angrily.
Ivy was stunned. Lionel had always been gentle to her. Now, she could barely recognize her lover with his monstrous expression
and harsh words.
Fury and jealousy rose in her heart. She thought, 'How could he do this? He promised to love me and no one else but me.'
"You told me to wait for you. You promised me that one day you would divorce that woman and marry me! I trusted you so I
waited. And now, this is where it got me? I am pregnant with your child and yet you crawled into her bed? You two are married, I
know. But please don't do this to me right under my nose. Don't you know how much I love you?"
Ivy cried with painful tears. Her tears seemed to smother up the anger in Lionel's heart.
Now that he was exposed, there was no use denying. Even though he knew that he wronged Ivy gravely, his ego kept him from
apologizing. He was not about to admit his mistake. Instead, he decided that it was best that they ended the discussion about the
matter as soon as possible.
"All right, my dear, stop crying now. Just get some rest and leave everything else to me. I've promised you that the baby will not
be taken away from you, and I will keep that promise. Don't worry about that. And yes, I will divorce Cassandra eventually," he
assured her.
As soon as he could take over the Tang Group and beat his strongest competitor, Rufus, he would finally be able to do anything
he wanted. No one could stop him from ending his marriage with Cassandra and kicking her out.
However, for some reasons Lionel could not fathom, a tinge of pain crept his heart when he thought about losing his wife.

From a time he couldn't exactly tell, the woman whom he had so much hatred and aversion for, had suddenly become so dear to
him. It seemed that the intense negative feelings he held for her had ebbed away.
Worst was, those negative feelings were replaced with his obsessions for her.
Irritated, Ivy turned her head away. Anxiety diffused through her entire body making her shed cold sweat.
Lionel's attitude now was not as firm and determined as before. When did his interest for Cassandra spark off? Having stayed
with Lionel all this while, why didn't she even notice that?
Ivy didn't care what happened between Cassandra and Rufus. But now, the bitch was even clinging to Lionel! How shameless
she was!
A trace of cruelty and coldness flashed across Ivy's face. 'Cassandra, if you just keep quiet and be a puppet wife, I can still be
kind to you and refrain myself from taking any action. However, if you are to become my threat...' she thought to herself. 'I will
definitely kill you before you can ruin my life!'
Gathering her thoughts, she now had concealed the intense hatred inside and put on an innocent look.
With obedience written all over her face and tears welled up her eyes, she hugged Lionel tightly. She made herself tremble
intentionally and made sure he would feel it.
"Lionel, my heart is restless. I'm worried all this time that you will leave me after the baby is born. The doctor said that I should
keep a light mood for the sake of the baby. Let's stop quarrelling, okay?" she pleaded with innocent eyes.
Seeing the tender look on Ivy's face, Lionel softened and cuddled her back.
"Don't worry. You know how much I love you, right? Rest assured. I'll love the baby with all my heart. I won't follow the path of my
father, who has an illegitimate child!" Lionel reassured her.
The reassurance Lionel gave cheered her up, but still couldn't expel all her worries away.
Cassandra wasn't like any other woman. She was Lionel's legal wife, and even the architectural design manager of Tang Group,
an important position for the company.
But... What if she was no longer the design manager? Then what would happen?

When she would turn out to be a worthless woman for the Tang Group, and a worthless wife for Lionel, would the Tang family still
keep her?
Meanwhile, in the Tang family mansion, the messy lobby was cleared by the servants in a short moment. As the night grew
darker, at last, there was peace.
Cassandra heaved a deep sigh of relief. Today she was lucky to escape from Lionel, but how about next time? She was left
without a clue of what to do.
When she was finally able to enjoy a brief moment of peace, a knocking sound came from the window, which frightened
Cassandra. She peeked through the window and was surprised to find a dark figure clinging onto the window frame. It was
Rufus!
'Oh my goodness! This is the second floor of the mansion! Is he the Spiderman?' Cassandra exclaimed inside.
In a haste, she opened the window to allow the trespasser to come in. Rufus jumped in and made sure his action was swift and
light, after which, he turned to close the window with caution.
The coldness of the winter night was all over him, which diffused into the air and was sensed by Cassandra, who quickly pulled
the man further in.
Her room was equipped with a heater, making the temperature inside vastly different from the freezing conditions outside. She
couldn't imagine how long this man had stayed outside, as she felt the piercing coldness penetrate from his clothes to her blood.
Her heart couldn't help quivering, and she worried that the man might catch a cold.
Concern brimmed her eyes and anxiety was written all over her face.
"Why are you hanging outside? Are you out of your mind? What if you fall!" the woman grumbled.
Yet the man gave her no response. The muscles on his face were still tense. The eagle-like eyes flashed across a slice of pain
and sorrow before he scooped the little woman into his arms.
The abrupt hug from the man was not at all warm, which made the little woman with only her pajamas on, shiver. However, she
wasn't letting him go, instead, she extended her arms over his body.

Memories of Lionel pressing her to the point that she had no room to retreat, flashed across her mind. Every time she was
caught in such a situation, she would attempt to tell Lionel how she had been cheating on him.
And now, she was with Rufus. Cassandra thought of his identity as an illegitimate son, and how Jill always taunted him. She
couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.
Though Rufus had never talked to her about this, when Cassandra tried to put herself into his shoes, all she could do was to
sympathize with his sorrow.
Even though he couldn't choose where he was born, he could choose who he wished to become, and he had indeed become a
powerful and outstanding young man to his wish. However, his achievements were not enough to shut the mouths of some
people who disdained his shameful identity.
If she unveiled to the family about the relationship she had with him, it would surely ruin all his efforts.
Lionel would be going to make a huge mess out of it. And what would Horace think about Rufus?
Horace had appointed Rufus as the CEO of Tang Group because of his ability and talent. If such a huge barrier existed between
Rufus and his dear son Lionel, would he still trust Rufus as he was trusting him now?
For reasons known to her, Cassandra kept her tongue pulled to keep the secret and was ready to accept her fate. Luckily, tonight
there was a turn of events and Lionel left. She was saved.
Cassandra tightened her embrace and tears began to well up in her eyes. She wished time would stop ticking and the moment
with Rufus would last forever.
She didn't know why she ended up in such a situation. Her body and her spirits were confined in this cold castle which was
surrounded by thorns. As much as she wanted to break out, she couldn't.
What she didn't know was that the near miss she had with Lionel wasn't a stroke of sheer luck at all. Rufus had kept an eye on
her throughout the night. Having seen Lionel entering her room late that night, he climbed over the wall and knocked on the
window of Ivy's room to wake her up. And then the story continued from there.
As for Spiderman... When he was living abroad, Rufus was an extreme sports lover. Rock climbing was one of his favorite
outdoor activities. Compared to the steep cliffs he had climbed, the wall of the Tang family mansion was way too easy. It wasn't a
challenge for him at all.

Lowering his head slightly to kiss Cassandra's smooth forehead, Rufus whispered in a determined voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm
here. I will clear everything out of your way."
Cassandra's eyes widened as she lovingly gazed at Rufus's resolute face. Her soul seemed to start drifting away.
Those words were the sincerest words she had heard for her entire life. Those were lovely words—words of love, words of
comfort, words of protection, and words from the man she loved. Cassandra was contented and exuberantly happy.
She couldn't feel the cold from Rufus's clothes anymore. The warmth they shared melted all her worries away.
Cassandra felt that as long as she was in Rufus's arms, nothing could bother her.