A Graduation Gift

Cassandra's mind went blank. She blinked in confusion at the sudden hug. The young woman let go of her, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Stella Mu. We went to high school together, remember?"

The woman's tone rose as she explained upon seeing Cassandra's bewildered expression.

Cassandra frowned and racked her brain for the name. Soon, a girl with pigtails who wore black-rimmed glasses materialized in her mind. Whenever that little girl grinned, her braces made an appearance.

"You are Stella Mu?"

Cassandra asked with hesitation. This young lady standing in front of her was so beautiful that it was hard to connect her to the girl with braces from her memory.

Stella beamed at her words, thrilled to hear that her friend remembered her. She reached out and touched Cassandra's hand ecstatically.

"Yeah, I'm Stella! Glad you remembered me! I didn't expect to meet you here at Tang Group. Gosh, we haven't seen each other for years. I haven't seen you since we graduated from high school. Where have you been?"

Stella talked on and on as if she never planned to stop. Cassandra realized that she hadn't changed a bit. Her friend was still as lively and talkative as before.

She was still surprised at meeting a childhood friend. "I went to Rome to study. Came back not so long ago. You are so beautiful, Stella."

Cassandra smiled at Stella, sighing pleasantly at the change in her friend.

"Oh," Stella blushed. "of course, you went abroad! I should have guessed. Why didn't you keep in touch? Have I ever told you that you were my idol in high school? You were so beautiful and scored so well in exams. I admired and envied you."

Stella's excitement at meeting an acquaintance from years ago still hadn't dimmed. She wanted to catch up on everything they had been up to in the past several years.

Cassandra was a bit embarrassed. She gave Stella a smile and lowered her head. Time is cruel and strange. She had gotten engaged that year when she finished high school. Then, she went to Rome after getting married, without telling anyone.

Time in Rome had seemed to slow down. Her days were not as smooth as she had hoped for. She had endured a lot of loneliness in the foreign land. But eventually, she had made friends, and now she had left her social circle in the country behind.

Stella Mu was the first friend she had met after coming back to G City.

Stella was a fresh graduate and working in the marketing department of Tang Group. They might not be in the same division, but at least now they were

and Stella became good friends in only a matter of days. Stella was active and lively, while Cassandra was calm and distant. Their personalities

and Rufus still had not

The inviting smell of coffee lingered in the air.

troubling her friend. Cassandra

surfaced on her pretty face. She had

back to G City

have a boyfriend? You look so lost.

life. They had been hanging out a lot in the last few days, but they merely swapped stories of their

was just thinking about

assumption. However, the demure shake of her head and the guilty tone in her voice were in direct contradiction to

before she started working at Tang Group to

Neither do I. You know what? The new

in front of her. She took a sip

president she was

When would he

soon as the question spilled out of her mouth. She sounded incredibly desperate to her own ears. And how would Stella even know when he would be back? She hardly

know. I'm not his secretary. But I'm friends

be laughing at

no...It's none of my business," Cassandra started, and then paused. "All right, time to

down to look at her watch. Immediately, she shot up from her seat and walked out of the coffee shop without waiting

left her seat and caught up with Cassandra,

up, Cassandra! You know you are beautiful. It would be a piece of cake for you to get the man. Better win him over quickly. Then I would get promoted,

She flushed a bright shade of red. Her wanting to win Rufus over was a ridiculous idea. Only Stella would consider it a

soon as they returned to the office building, they were informed that an emergency meeting was about to be held in

meeting was about, but they still went back

Inside the Conference Room

saw that almost everyone was seated when she walked into the meeting room. She moved to her seat, her arms loaded with