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.

'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

eyes fixed on a spot far away. After a moment, her hand tightened on the goblet, nails

At the Tang Group

a room. "Rufus and Cassandra, neither of them came to

answer. He wanted the details about the case that Cassandra had been working on, in going

the previous night, but had assumed that she was there the whole time. The

office due to exhaustion. She was found by a patrolling security guard, who then called Mr. Luo. It was

angry at such a small mishap - when

not be a coincidence that wherever Lionel searched for Cassandra, Rufus was

around the same time. They had entered the Tang Group the same time. And...most suspiciously...he knew that they

made his expression grow dark. Could it be that

out which hospital Cassandra

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.

to do with his wife, he would do anything to

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

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

answering a phone call that had made

last night. 'It must have been Lionel, ' she thought.

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

just couldn't understand it. Would Lionel really shame himself and his family, just to humiliate her? What kind of monster was

you really that fragile? You're useless, nothing but a piece

at the voice that pierced the room. She whirled around to face him,

Cassandra cursed Lionel in her heart. He was the last person she would expect in her hospital

her room. Her eyebrows creased.

the moment than to stride across the room and slap him, but she