A Graduation Gift

In the box under the feeble light, the smell of the alcohol mixed with the smoke, making the room seem even more suffocating.
Suddenly, the curtains were torn open, and a beam of sharp light pierced the shadows.
"So, you're telling me that you failed?"
The light fell on Ivy's mouth, curled into a smirk. She snapped her head around, fixing her gaze on the man behind.
Joel stood fixed to the spot, a trace of panic frozen on his young face. He seemed wary of Ivy, reacting sharply to every move
that she made. Last night's plan had started out perfect. He thought he had made it foolproof. And then Rufus had appeared...
"I...I'm sorry, sis. It was my fault...I should have been more careful." He hung his head, unable to meet her eyes. "I didn't know
that Rufus would be there...That man is something else. He somehow smoothed everything out...I don't really know what
happened,"
Joel mumbled his explanation, grasping for reasons as to why he had failed. He couldn't raise his head.
Joel knew that he owed everything to his older half-sister. She had provided him with everything he needed all these years. She
was the one who had arranged his placement in the Tang Group, after he had graduated. He had never actually intended to get
involved in her schemes, but at some point he had found himself unable to stop. The more he saw of Cassandra, the more he
craved for this woman. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes from roaming greedily over her, and he thought that last night might be
his chance to finally have her. That was...until Rufus showed up.
"Who do you think you are to call me sis! You careless moron! How could you even mess up such a simple task! You really
disappointed me this time...and now the company is suspicious. Luckily, no one knows we are related. We want to keep it that
way. If anyone finds out I'm behind this, then we will both be screwed!"
Joel jumped as a wine bottle exploded on the wall beside his head. He whipped his head to see Ivy seething at him silently, her
temper as unpredictable as ever.
She had been laying the groundwork of this plan for so long. She had waited for the optimal time where she could deploy
Cassandra's assistant to seduce the Tang family's daughter-in-law into adultery. Cassandra would lose not only her face, but
everything that she had ever held dear.
"I am sending you abroad, to lay low for a while. Don't come back until I give the word, understood?"

Joel nodded silently. The look in Ivy's eyes made it clear that there would be consequences if he failed at this. His inability to
control himself around Cassandra had nearly cost them both everything. Now she could no longer use him within the Tang
Group. She had lost a valuable tool. She had to come up with a new plan.
'Rufus...'
Ivy slowly sat herself down on the sofa, rolling the man's name across her mind. She frowned, crossing one long leg over the
other. She reached for the crystal goblet of wine on the table beside her, unable to get the name out of her mind. Her glossy red
nails clicked on the wooden armchair.
'What was this man like?' Anyone that she knew so little about immediately roused her curiosity. 'Why was he still at Tang Group
at that late hour? Besides, why brought him to that woman's office interrupting our plan?' From what she had seen, and what
Lionel had told her, anytime when Cassandra had a problem, Rufus just happened to be around to save her.
Ivy wondered about the relationship between Rufus and Cassandra, 'Why would he come to her rescue if they had only known
each other for a short period of time?' There must be something between them that she didn't know about.
Ivy pondered, and her eyes fixed on a spot far away. After a moment, her hand tightened on the goblet, nails scraping against
the crystal. She narrowed her eyes and threw the wine down her throat all in one go.
At the Tang Group
Lionel strode angrily into a room. "Rufus and Cassandra, neither of them came to work today?"
He looked around accusingly for an answer. He wanted the details about the case that Cassandra had been working on, in going
to her office he found it empty.
Lionel hadn't gone home the previous night, but had assumed that she was there the whole time. The discovery that she had
gone somewhere without his permisson enraged him.
"Yes. I heard that Manager Qin worked overtime last night and fainted in her office due to exhaustion. She was found by a
patrolling security guard, who then called Mr. Luo. It was the president who took her to the hospital in time,"
The assistant was puzzled. He did not understand why would Lionel be so angry at such a small mishap - when employees got
sick, they would need a day or two off.

Hearing this explanation, Lionel's hands balled into fists. Rufus, again! It could not be a coincidence that wherever Lionel
searched for Cassandra, Rufus was there! Was it really a coincidence?
Rufus and Cassandra had returned to G City around the same time. They had entered the Tang Group the same time.
And...most suspiciously...he knew that they had both spent several years in Rome.
And suddenly they were so close...and inseparable. Where the one went, the other followed. A thought occured to Lionel that
made his expression grow dark. Could it be that Rufus and Cassandra had known each other before arriving here? Had they
known each other in Rome?
"Find out which hospital Cassandra is in,"
The change in Lionel's tone made the assistant uneasy. The man speaking before him was cold and controlled, opposite to the
furious man from before, as if the person who was so furious just now was not him. Lionel raised his head and looked into the
distance, still absorbed in his thoughts. Something unreadable flashed through his eyes.
Why Rufus? Even though Lionel wanted nothing to do with his wife, he would do anything to ensure that Rufus could never lay
his eyes on her.
The room was soaked with the smell of disinfectant. Her fever already abating, Cassandra had started to sort through her things.
She wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.
The fuss around her was frustrating. She had been dealing with these small bouts of sickness her entire time living alone abroad.
If Rufus hadn't been taking her to the hospital, she would have simply gone home to sleep it off -- she didn't need to be taken
care of.
Rufus had left the hospital a few minutes ago, answering a phone call that had made his face fall.
Cassandra was alone in the room. She thought about the events of last night. 'It must have been Lionel, ' she thought. She had
told Rufus about her suspicions, but to her surprise he said nothing.
Cassandra packed her things roughly, slamming the briefcase once she was done. How could he have done something so vile?
Even knowing how Lionel hated her, she couldn't believe that he was capable of this. After all, she was still his wife. They were
still a couple -- or at least people thought they were. If his plan had succeeded, and word of her having an affair had gotten out,
wouldn't it shame him too?

Cassandra just couldn't understand it. Would Lionel really shame himself and his family, just to humiliate her? What kind of
monster was he?
"You work for one day and drop down as if dead...Are you really that fragile? You're useless, nothing but a piece of crap."
Cassandra froze at the voice that pierced the room. She whirled around to face him, determined not to be intimidated.
'Speak of the devil, ' Cassandra cursed Lionel in her heart. He was the last person she would expect in her hospital room.
As she stared at him, it occured to her that he hadn't even bothered to knock, simply storming into her room. Her eyebrows
creased. 'How dare he.' She watched as his eyes roamed around the hospital room, as if searching for something.
Cassandra fumed. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to stride across the room and slap him, but she decided this
would be unwise. She steeled herself to talk to him.
"What are you looking for, Mr. Tang?"
'She's alone in here? How can it be?' Lionel couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows in confusion. 'Why wasn't Rufus here?'
"I wonder if my wife is so desperate that she will cheat on me and hide another man in her room?"
Lionel took one step closer to Cassandra, and then another. He wore his usual cruel smirk, eyes fixed on the woman standing in
front of him. His voice was low and teasing. The trace of danger in it showed that he wasn't joking.
"Lionel. I thought we had agreed that we would live our separate lives and not bother one another. Isn't that what you want? That
I don't bother you?"
If Lionel wanted to have it out, she was fine with it. She was not his property and she would not let him treat her so viciously.
"Ha ha. You're a naive little girl, aren't you? Oh, wait a minute. How foolish of me! How can you be naive? You are clearly a
calculating and cunning woman."
The disdain was clear in Lionel's eyes. He came to stand in front of her, breathing down on her and smirking still.
All the fear that Cassandra had felt about Lionel was seared away by the rising anger within her. 'How dare he mistreat me! How
dare he set me up! How dare he come to me and try to intimidate me!' Her hands tightened into fists, and she dug her nails into
her palms to try and keep control.

"I am your husband. I will do whatever I want, I will sleep with whoever I want to sleep with - there is nothing you can do to stop
me! But you...all you will ever be is just Mrs. Tang. Unloved, lonely. No other man will ever touch you. I have told you this from
the start: You will get nothing but an empty marriage!"
Cassandra's stubborn silence only served to infuriate Lionel more. He seemed to have forgotten why he had come here in the
first place - he wanted nothing more than to see her flinch.
"I know that. Now, if you have nothing else to say, please leave."
Cassandra drew a deep breath. Now was not the time for things to get nasty. And yet, she could not keep the disgust from her
face. She turned her head away.
"You'd better keep your distance from Rufus. If you don't, you'll find out the consequences for meddling in the Tang family the
hard way. Or if I find out there is anything between you two, be sure, Cassandra, that I will make you suffer!"
Cassandra could no longer stand the menace that Lionel injected into his words. The sound of her slap rang throughout the room
all of a sudden.
She, Cassandra Qin, had slapped Lionel Tang in the face!