A Graduation Gift

Cassandra had always convinced herself that as long as she indulged herself in working hard, things would become better.

For her not to be a person who couldn't earn her living and be dependent on others, she went to Rome to study architecture and design.

While some of her classmates were shopping, dating and partying, Cassandra stayed in the library, studying piles of thick books about architecture.

Cassandra, as one of the few Asians in college, consistently scored higher than her classmates and won the full scholarship. She was studying at one of the prestigious schools in Rome without spending a penny.

In one instance, she had beaten some famous designers and won a prize in a design competition when she was still a college student.

When she was employed by the Tang Group, no one really trusted and respected her. She was so young and inexperienced. Everyone wondered how she could be the manager of the design department of the Tang Group. Cassandra ignored all those criticisms. She had just kept her mouth shut while busy signing contracts one after another.

There was a two-hour lunch break in Tang Group. During the break, everyone in the office would gather together and get out to grab some food. Cassandra, however, would always take a snap, order something to takeout and then get back to work right after lunch.

She was never late or got off work early for no reasons. Instead, she always worked late, determined to give her clients a perfect design.

She worked very hard these past years, thinking that her life was getting better and better gradually. However, now she felt exhausted. She didn't know whether she could carry on with her way of life.

"Cassandra, some senior executives of your father's company came to our house today. They asked me about my plans. They said if the business volume couldn't recover, they might resign,"

Edith called Cassandra during the lunch break. She sounded so nervous on the other end of the phone that Cassandra could even imagine her anxiety without seeing her.

"I see, mother. I will go to dad's company tomorrow and talk to them. Please don't worry."

When she hung up the phone, Cassandra bent over the desk and sighed, helpless.

She felt stressed and drained.

Cassandra thought the prize she won in the competition could support herself for a while. However, Horace gave all her cases to the other designers and she couldn't even fight for that. Otherwise, people would think her as a self-centered and arrogant manager who would take all the credits and didn't give opportunities to others.

She was so annoyed.

Suddenly, the door opened. Victor walked into her office, with a food container in his hand.

"Good afternoon, Manager Qin. Mr. Luo asked me to bring you this."

Victor walked towards her desk and put down the food container and left. Victor's timing was just perfect. Cassandra was hungry and she was glad that someone sent her some food.

She opened the container, the meat dishes and vegetables all looked tasty and smelled better than the takeout she used to order.

Fried potatoes with green pepper, stewed pork trotters...everything looked mouthwatering.

Cassandra could see that Rufus had put a lot of effort into preparing them.

she took the dishes and carefully placed the silverware on the desk. Now it seemed to her that she

was about to eat the dish, Cassandra noticed a card stuck at the bottom

she couldn't help but be amazed at how thoughtful Rufus was.

said, "Enjoy your meal and take

over Cassandra making her excited to take a bite of the

competition, helped her find Joel who framed her up. And now, he was worried about her health since she always ordered takeouts all the time and prepared

was written on the note. It reminded

just wait for me. I will leave the Tang Group one day. By then, we can stay with together forever,

Victor came back to Rufus's office, Rufus just finished his work and

throw

Victor with a gloomy face,

"Throw… away?"

very confused. He thought Rufus just

gave the food container to you. Didn't you

a talkative person, but he was an efficient one. Rufus could sense that something went wrong

felt electrified, as if there was something

morning, at about lunchtime, when he walked into Rufus's office, Angie handed

as always, Angie gave him a sweet

what was inside, he was surprised to see a feast of a healthy meal.

asked him to give

Rufus! It was not supposed for Cassandra. Victor didn't know how to tell Rufus that he

I…I…I…gave it

to look into Rufus's eyes. It was the first time that he made such a stupid

peeked at Rufus. Judging from the look of his face, Victor knew that something was preoccupying him at the

Qin doing in her

knew Cassandra well. She used to work during her lunch break. But since she didn't get too much work lately, he wondered

on her door, she was talking with her mother on the phone. It seemed that something went wrong

get mad at him because of his mistake. Usually Rufus was very serious about work and very strict when they made mistakes. Needless to say, the reason why he hired Angie

right, you can

to leave. He breathed a great sigh of relief and was about to leave when Rufus called him again, "Oh, Victor, one more thing. Wait in

office. Rufus stood

Vernon's company before. He thought there was no chance for him to use that information. But it seemed that the information he had gathered were not all of

to solve the problem. At this time, he needed to the step in and be the person whom she could

walked out of the building and threw it in a dustbin at

'Mission accomplished!' he thought. Turning around, he was approached by a wide, friendly smile. It scared

did you

very nice baked rice for lunch in a nearby restaurant and was in a very good