A Graduation Gift

Despite Cassandra's frightened expressions, Lionel chose to ignore her fear completely.
His hand stroked Cassandra's cheek, making her frown. She tried to slide away under his fingers, her eyes deeper than before.
"I don't mind doing anything in the car..." Lionel said while his finger lingering over her face down to her neck.
Cassandra evaded his touch, disgusted. She was growing impatient and simply wished to escape his company.
She remained silent but her body language was enough to indicate how much she hated Lionel's touch.
"Do you really hate me that much? Just a while ago when Rufus was here and you were standing so close to him, you didn't
seem to mind it at all. What's the matter now?" Lionel said, grumpily.
He fumed with jealousy and her disgusted face made him even more angry.
"We were just talking about business. Rufus has been working overtime for the company's sake for weeks now. Today, he just
happened to come over and ask about the progress of the project. It's just work, don't make a fuss about it," Cassandra
snapped, annoyed.
Suddenly, Lionel grabbed her jaw and made her look at him.
"Talked about business, is it?" I dare you to look me in the eye and say that. Say it! What's so great about that Rufus that you
keep defending him? He's nothing but a lowly bastard trying to get his hands on our family money. That's why he came back.
He's no more than a worthless bug in my eye," he spoke through clenched teeth, letting go of her face with a jerk.
Cassandra kept looking at him, fearless.
Lionel stared back at the staunch frankness in her eyes and wondered what she had to say for herself.
"Lionel, I'm telling you once and for all today, you have no right to speculate on my relationship with Rufus with your prying eyes.
Not everyone's like you. If you have the balls, show me some evidence. If you don't have any, stop slandering me!"
Cassandra's tone heightened as she scolded him, her face maintaining a constant look of disdain.
Lionel squinted, thinking, 'Rufus, Rufus! How affectionate.'
Undisturbed by Lionel's aggression, Cassandra stood calmly like a fearless martyr.

'What magical charm does Rufus possess that makes Cassandra defend him like that?' Lionel wondered.
Unwittingly, his eyes moved to her dark eyebrows, closed and lush red lips, and that stubborn expression on her adorable face,
all of which tempted him to act upon his lust for her.
Lionel leaned in closer and closer to almost press his lips to hers. He wanted it so badly to crush the resistance she showed
towards him, the defence she gave for Rufus and her courage to talk back to him, with his kiss.
Soon enough, Cassandra let out a grunt and tried to stop him.
"Don't defile me with your lips!" she shouted, dodging away from him.
How dare she resist his advance! Cassandra's words enraged Lionel so much he hollered, "Defile you? Let me defile you right
here in the car today!"
Lionel felt the blood rush through his veins as the atmosphere in the car intensified because of the attacking and the struggling.
Just in time for him to grab her legs, his phone rang. Lionel glanced at the ringing phone, and then looked at Cassandra in an
obstinate manner. 'Who is this prick getting in the way?' he thought to himself.
Lionel had to let go of Cassandra and pick up the phone. Sure enough, as he had guessed, the call was from Ivy.
"Hey babe, I miss you, and the baby misses you too. We are waiting for you to come home!"
He looked impatient, waiting to cut the call. But Ivy's voice through the phone sounded so sweet and soft, making him feel an
inexplicable sense of guilt. His tone became more gentle.
"I'm on my way. Just finished work. I will be back soon."
Taking advantage of his distraction, Cassandra flung open the door and ran out of the car as if her life was in danger. By the time
Lionel realised she had escaped, she was already too far from his reach.
He looked at her back, fleeing away like a chicken escaping from a slaughterhouse. Annoyed, he put the phone down.
"Shit!" he cursed in a mumble.
Soon, he reached home to a brightly lit mansion.

Ivy stood by the window of their bedroom, watching Lionel's car pull up the front yard. She patted her own face gently and
prepared to greet him with a sweet smile on her face.
Coincidentally, right when he was getting out of the car, Cassandra also appeared at the front gate.
When Ivy reached downstairs, she saw them walking in together, causing her smile to freeze.
Her stomach started to twist in knots, looking at the two of them together.
"Lionel, you are back."
Quickly, she recovered from the initial shock, walking toward him, ignoring Cassandra, to wrap her arms around him. And as she
did that, she rolled her eyes at Cassandra who stood a few steps away from him.
"Oh hon, quick! Come in. It's so cold outside. You must be very tired."
Lionel also threw a glance at Cassandra. The anger and desire that she had just provoked hadn't dissipated yet. He was still
annoyed at the act she had pulled off. In contrast, he talked gently and softly with Ivy.
Scoffing at the scene, Cassandra strode straight upstairs, not giving a penny's worth of damn.
Already, she was tired and did not want to waste time with people she didn't care about.
Ivy tightened her grip on Lionel's arm as she watched Cassandra leave. Her smiling eyes suddenly turned sinister, a sense of
crisis rising inside her like a wave.
She couldn't go on like this. She had to find a way to get Cassandra out of the Tang Family.
Cassandra was so done with having to see the faces of these unpleasant people around her, the next morning she decided to
leave before everyone else got up. She reached the office very early and was met with a beautiful surprise. On her desk lay a
purple-coloured, elegant invitation with golden lettering on it.
She opened it hastily, and found out that Michelle Ling had invited her to participate in a charity auction.
She immediately thought of the torn dress, but in the end, she knew it was her own fault.
She failed to carry Michelle Ling's beautifully designed gown the way it was supposed to be carried. After everything, Michelle
had even helped her repair and return it for which Cassandra was very grateful. She had not expected Michelle to invite her to

the auction after all that.
Even though Cassandra rarely participated in these events, she knew Michelle Ling's fame guaranteed a presence of top-shot,
rich socialites and celebrities. It almost felt like an honour to be invited.
After a while, Nic, from the design department pushed the door open and came in, panicking. His voice trembled as he spoke,
"Manager... Manager Qin, something happened. Mr. Luo has asked you to go to the meeting room on the top floor!"
Seeing him in such a rush, Cassandra figured it couldn't be a trivial matter. Quickly, she put away the invitation and headed
straight for the meeting room.
A group of shareholders from the board of directors were sitting at the conference table, waiting. Rufus was there too, seated
with his hands together against his chin, his dark eyes looking down, deep in thoughts.
"Mr. Luo, I was told the board asked for me?"
Rufus looked at Cassandra and nodded at her, asking her to take a seat.
But before she could even reach the chair, one of the shareholders lost his patience. With a thud at the table, he stood up,
looking angry.
"You know what, don't even bother sitting! Get her a dismissal! Then we'll go to court against her!"
Cassandra was taken aback by this sudden, loud accusation. Soon though, she calmed down and pondered upon the meaning
of his words.
'Dismiss? Who? Go to court? What's going on?'
Rufus's face was expressionless, all the light from his eyes drained.
"Things are not clear yet. Don't be so agitated. Cassandra is a great talent in our design department. It is best not to jump to
conclusions before there is evidence,"
a defending voice came from a middle-aged man with glasses who looked very dignified. Cassandra knew him to be one of the
only nice guys on the board.
However, she still couldn't figure out what had happened.

Rufus looked at Cassandra standing alone next to the conference table. She looked embarrassed, not knowing whether to sit or
stand. Finally, he began to speak, "Manager Qin, the design that you submitted to ZC Group recently has been rejected and they
have asked us to refund ten times of the deposit they had paid."
Cassandra couldn't believe what she had just heard. She clearly remembered how satisfied the CEO of ZC group was with her
design last time when they met. He had signed the contract and paid a deposit of 3 millions on the spot. If there was a demand
for the refund, there should at least be a reason! Definitely so, especially if they are asking for ten times the money!
"Is there a problem with my design? I have carried out many inspections of their underground mega mall, and my design should
not affect..."
Before Cassandra could finish talking, Rufus interrupted, "The CEO found out your design was plagiarised."
Then, he pointed at the projector screen behind him, showing a design draft on it.
Cassandra took a deep look and saw that the draft was very similar to the one she had submitted. The outer ring designs, the
layout of the functional sections, as well as the arrangement of the passages, even the guide signs of the outer walls were very
similar.
Casssandra completely blacked out for a while, standing there petrified, almost at the verge of stumbling. She tried to keep calm
and looked up at Rufus fearlessly, as was her response in all difficult situations.
"That's impossible, I would never plagiarize!"
Since the time she started working at the Tang Group, she had been designing the draft, and had spent a lot of energy on it,
staying up many nights. And now to hear that it was plagiarised? Impossible!
Rufus's heart clenched, looking at her drained face.
Of course, he did not believe Cassandra would ever plagiarise, but the design draft on the screen had been submitted much
earlier than hers. In fact, the construction for the project had already begun in H city.That was an irrefutable evidence.
What went wrong? Why was Cassandra's design similar to that of the other design draft? Was there anyone in the company
plotting to set her up?