A Graduation Gift

Lionel's words echoed through the large bedroom, ringing in Cassandra's ears. Cassandra looked around, irritated. 'Doesn't
Lionel dislike me? Why would he come to my bedroom at such a time?' she wondered.
'Unless...Unless he saw me in Rufus' bedroom just now!' The thought made Cassandra nervous.
"Cassandra, you haven't answered my question! Where were you just now? It's late." Lionel's question broke through
Cassandra's thoughts and snapped her back to attention.
Lionel gripped Cassandra's chin harder, forcing her to look into his eyes and answer him. Cassandra shifted uncomfortably,
trying not to whimper from the pain. She returned Lionel's gaze, raising her chin in angry defiance, then took a deep breath.
"I had a meeting with my friend tonight,"
she spoke slowly, trying to calm herself down.
Cassandra knew that she couldn't tell Lionel the truth right now. After all, she knew that what she had done was wrong.
"Your friend? Funny...After all those years you spent in Rome, I'm surprised that you still have friends in G City."
Lionel raised his eyebrows and snorted sarcastically. Clearly, he didn't believe Cassandra. The calmer she stood before him,
never breaking his gaze, the more she could see his anger rising.
Cassandra had always been good at hiding her feelings. And cunning women angered him the most.
"Can you please let go of me? You're hurting me!"
Knowing that Lionel was suspicious of her, Cassandra tried to distract him with her weakness so that she could change the topic.
The truth was that she was actually overwhelmed by the pain in her chin. This infuriated her. How dare he treated her, or any
woman, in this aggressive manner! She was determined to show him that she wasn't just a puppet in his hand.
Lionel looked at her for a few seconds, as if considering what to do. He unfurled his grip and released her face. Breaking free
from his grip, Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief. She turned immediately and headed for the bedroom.
"It's late now. Is Mr. Tang still going to stay in my room?"
Cassandra asked cooly as she walked inside to the bedroom. Once again she could tell that her indifference made his blood boil.

In two long strides he caught up with her.
The sound of his steps falling struck fear into Cassandra. She turned to look at him, afraid to ask what he wanted.
Before she could say a word, Lionel had lifted her roughly into the air and thrown her onto the bed.
"Stop! What are you doing!"
Cassandra was frozen with fear. She could feel her heart almost jumping out of her chest. The thought of being touched by this
man filled her with horror, and she looked around to see how she could escape.
The two were a married couple in name only. There had never been any physical contact between them. This was the first time.
A familiar sardonic smile crept across Lionel's face. He sneered down at Cassandra.
"Isn't it why you married me? Huh? Why pretend to be so reserved now?"
Lionel's words were like blades, carving patterns of pain into her skin. Cassandra instinctively bit her lips. Then she gathered all
her strength to push Lionel away.
"Hmm? Will you finally be honest with me, dear wife? Why would Rufus look at you like that when he had first come back to the
family? Could it be something to do with the time he spent in Rome? Did the two of you perhaps...know each other in Rome?"
Cassandra pressed her lips together defiantly, causing Lionel to become angrier and angrier. Lionel had been asking around,
and it turned out that his brother had been to Rome just before he came back here.
So he wondered about the interesting reaction that Rufus and Cassandra had towards each other when they first 'met'.
"Now, tell me the truth, Cassandra. Why would that man care about you so much? Could it be...because you slept with him in
Rome?"
The question made Cassandra jump up from the bed. Pale and silent, she regarded her husband for a second.
Then she slapped him.
"You bastard!"

In the silence that followed, Cassandra regretted not being able to control her anger. She watched as a look of astonishment
spread across Lionel's face. He raised his one hand unconsciously to where she had just hit him. He seemed shocked, unable to
believe that he had been slapped...by a woman.
"How dare you?!"
Lionel was furious. He rushed at Cassandra and caught her neck, pinning her to the wall.
Cassandra knew better than to struggle. She tried to control her breathing and not to cough or give away that he was hurting her.
Through the pain, she managed to bring the indifferent look back into her eyes, and glared at him frigidly.
"Choke me, I dare you!"
Cassandra managed to croak, adding fuel to the fire. As Lionel became more angry, his grip on Cassandra's throat tightened.
He brought his face close to hers. "Do you think I wouldn't do that? You disgust me. Even if you stripped down naked, and threw
yourself at me, I wouldn't even bother to look at you. But if you think that means you can just seduce as many men as you want, I
will show you how wrong you are. You had better watch what you do. You can't hide anything from me. If I find out that you are
whoring yourself out to other men, then you and your entire family are finished. Do you understand me?"
After he had snarled his last words, he let go of her and turned to leave. Cassandra dropped to the ground, unable to lift her
head to defy him. She lay with one side of her face on the carpet, dumb with humiliation, trying not to gasp for breath.
Lionel took one last disgusted look at her, and slammed the door shut behind him. Finally out of his sight, Cassandra let herself
collapse into shuddering, gasping sobs.