A Graduation Gift

It was in the Tang Group.

The door of the CEO office was pushed open. The thrust echoed through the office as Lionel stormed towards Rufus, who was signing off some document. The loud noise made him look up from the document and gaze at the approaching figure of Lionel. He stopped in front of Rufus's desk, then slapped hard on it with his palms, making it shake under his hands.

"Rufus Luo! What on earth do you want?" Lionel questioned, his voice trembling with rage.

Rufus stared back at him with a rather nonchalant look. Refusing to pay any heed to Lionel's intimidating demeanor, he turned his head towards Leo and instructed, "Send this document to the human resource department. Tell them to complete all the procedures within a week."

Leo took the file and paced towards the door. But before he could even reach the door, he found Lionel standing right in front of him. In one smooth move, Lionel blocked his way out of the room and grabbed the file from his hand.

After that, he slapped the file back on the desk so hard that all the contents inside the file came out and got scattered on the floor.

Lionel's eyes fell on a piece of paper on top and his pupils got dilated. It was a dismissal notice.

Picking up the note, he thrust it back in front of Rufus and shouted with disbelief, "He is the marketing manager of our company! How can you just dismiss him! Have you ever considered the consequence?"

Rufus did not reciprocate to the temperament displayed by Lionel. Rather he maintained a calm and cool composure. He just leaned back to the backrest of the chair, folded his arms as he maintained the indifferent gaze on Lionel. It was as if he wasn't a part of the quarrel and he was just watching the episode as an outsider.

Rufus's cool and adamant behavior frustrated Lionel all the more.

"Rufus Luo! Right now you are too much indulged in your role as the CEO of the company! Don't forget the person who granted you the power! If father ever realizes that you are dismissing the employees at the management level randomly as per your own whim, which will adversely affect the company, he will take his action against this!" Lionel attempted to threaten Rufus.

However, Rufus looked completely disinterested in getting into a confrontation. He even refused to utter a single word in retaliation to Lionel's threat. Instead, he lifted his head, and gave a cold stare at Lionel.

"This is the decision of the board of directors, not me. We had a vote. As the marketing manager, he didn't actively establish relationship with new clients, which was part of his responsibilities. Moreover, some of our regular customers even turned to our competitors because of him! How can we continue to hire such a worthless man?"

Lionel's rage was showing in his eyes which were literally burning. He was aware of the meeting, but wasn't informed that it was about human resource management. Busy with Ivy, he decided not to attend. Now he regretted, and attempted to revoke this decision.

"He was hired during father's term. Now you want to fire him, but you haven't asked for his approval!" Lionel brought up the topic once again to negotiate with Rufus.

Rufus's silence was getting on his nerves by now. He brought up the name of Horace once again and tried to suppress Rufus.

Rufus then stood up. With his height and build, he was firm and unwavering.

"When you referred him to father, you had never mentioned that he was Ivy's cousin," Rufus stated coolly.

This sentence, though not long, thumped on Lionel's heart heavily.

Indeed, this person was suggested by Ivy. After talking to him for several times, Lionel felt that this person could possibly be hired for the manager's role. And it happened that there was a vacancy for marketing manager. So, he suggested his name to his father.

others, he had never revealed this fact to anyone else. How could Rufus possibly know about the

Lionel wasn't ready to give up. Suppressing his voice low to sound firm, he warned Rufus, "You know that Ivy is pregnant with the eldest grandson of the Tang family. If she gets to know that her cousin is fired, she may get agitated, which in turn would probably affect the baby. Do you think you can escape from the

face broke into a mocking smile as though he

from your wife. Is that something to be proud of?

coldness in Rufus's voice and his indifference rendered Lionel completely at a loss of words. He could not find any other way to bargain

hope in

Group for so many years, during which you never had

A sinister smile gradually crept on Rufus's lips, which made him

is just for the benefit of Tang Group. As regards to how you interpret my actions, I don't care," Rufus stated with

that he had no way to turn it around. He couldn't change Rufus's decision, nor was he in the position to threaten him. Lionel found it difficult to calm himself down though. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at Rufus for the last time and said, "You… You just wait. Rufus, sooner or later, I will make you regret!" Lionel's voice creaked and his hands were trembling out of fury as

just shrugged and maintained the cold gaze at Lionel with

Rufus

his face as he summoned Leo to discuss about a few more dismissals that

from Rufus's

towards the floor-to-ceiling windows. A very clear view of the city could be seen from this place. Rufus set his eyes on the panoramic

city, the bird view of the city was breathtaking. Rufus took a deep breath and then recollected as

his first visit to the Tang Group building. It was ten years ago. What an overwhelming experience it had been to stand on the ground and look up at the skyrocketing building that soared higher to literally engulf the

be saved by the surgeon, she had become like a

Before he left the country, he decided to

He was standing at the entry gate in front of Tang Group building,

that time, thanks to his

class, wearing

and chatting between themselves, they boarded a luxurious car and drove away. Their radiant faces, laughters and their jovial camaraderie were still so fresh in

a cold and stern look, stood with clenched fists at the main

heart that day. His gaze was so intent, and the color of his eyes was even darker than the darkest

the rightful place for

owner of this building. He remembered how loathsome it was to watch

himself, 'Horace is at the peak of his life because of the support from his wife's family. He left my mom for money. And now my mom is lying on the cold patient bed, unable to utter

hatred soon brimmed his eyes as he watched Horace that day. At that moment, he vowed to himself, 'Someday, I'm going

take all these

his moment when he took the resolution. And now he seemed to have completed it. He had reached the height and the position that he had aimed to achieve. Even though he was standing in the office of the

fast. Lionel was incapable as a leader. The men in the

dire situation, Rufus came in the picture, with his perfect scores in college and management experience. Horace had no choice but to assign him as

met Horace's expectation. Within only half a year, the situation in the company started looking up. The slumping trend of the company was replaced with a thriving one, and the people who held power in the company didn't dare take advantage because