A Graduation Gift

"Amanda Ke…"

It sounded familiar to Horace as he repeated the name, but he found himself at a loss in pinpointing it to an actual face.

"Ah, you might know her? She is a world-famous female pianist. She had a performance in a concert in G City not long ago,"

The man smiled and reminded Horace after sensing his confusion.

The name clicked into place at the man's remark. Horace remembered a concert in G City recently. The performers and singers were all from abroad; and major real estate developers in G City, including the Tang Group, sponsored the event.

Amanda Ke's piano performance was the grand finale. The next day, her name poured out from almost all the headlines of newspapers and social media posts. There was an overwhelmingly unanimous verdict— her performance was praised in words as an 'unprecedented success.'

With the turn of time, living conditions had been steadily improving in the city; and more and more people were gaining new appreciation for the arts. The government of G City was planning to build a new theatre in the newly-constructed tourism industrial area in order to host more performances from different artists in the future.

As for the TY Group, they took advantage of this opportunity by holding a concert for Amanda, and was well-received by the public. The tickets almost sold out only hours after the performance had been announced.

Horace didn't pay a lot of attention to this in the beginning, so it took him some time to recall the name, and all he knew was that she was an excellent pianist.

"I barely know her. How can I let Rufus and her be together?" he hesitated.

It would be strange to set Rufus up with a woman whom he didn't know at all. The very idea was ridiculous.

The man chuckled at his response and said, "I will connect you with Amanda. You can rest assured that she would be agreeable to a marriage with Rufus."

He sounded confident, his laugh was loud and had an odd ring to it.

"Are they old friends? Then… what about our business agreement?"

Horace asked, his mind on the negotiations for the investment.

"When Amanda and Rufus decide to marry, I will put the money into the Tang Group's account. Money isn't a problem. Name your price, and we'll be sure to match it," the man answered nonchalantly.

He didn't seem to care about the money. From the way he spoke, it was as if the marriage between Rufus and Amanda was the only thing he had in mind.

deliberation, he had arrived at a decision.

forward to the success of this cooperation," he

the busy tone from the other end. The reality of the conversation had not

Horace that the company was known for its risk-taking strategies. The riskier

the establishment of the company, they had had to make a lot of changes and sacrifices, climbing their way to be one of the greatest companies in G City today. They had a steady foundation with their

seemed to be their best option as the Tang group needed their backing and investment.

Tang Group on the condition of the marriage between Rufus and Amanda. Horace found

even able to make it to this world. Now, he was asked once again to marry a son to

take its course between Rufus and Amanda. And so, technically speaking, if things went

be an opposite of his half-brother. Rufus wouldn't be as submissive as Lionel, if he

the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. He pored his eyes over

suite at a five-star hotel in G City, Amanda threw a file on the desk. She was seething

divorced woman!"

background, from the way Rufus behaved around her. It turned out that she was just an ordinary woman with a failed marriage. To top

carefully. In all fairness, she did win many competitions since her university days. However, her achievements were a speck of dust compared to Amanda's tower of successes.

raised the wine glass to her lips, emptying the contents. It was an

seduce her brother-in-law. A woman such as her would never deserve Rufus in a million years; and Rufus...he must have been blinded by her

in design at Sapienza University in Rome. Upon finishing her studies, she was employed directly by the Tang Group and was given the position of manager in the design department. Then, she and Lionel got

But

photo of Lionel

Rome, and Lionel was

strange about the date of Ivy's case history. Three days after Ivy's miscarriage, Lionel and Cassandra filed for

glass of wine as a thought struck her. The only possibility that she could think of was that Cassandra was the reason why Ivy had miscarried, and Lionel couldn't put up with it so he

industry in the coming two years. That

on to make it on her own. Such a young designer needed backing and recommendation to gain enough experiences in order to establish a name and build up a career. And the industry was not kind. It had always been a cut-throat competition. While it was true that some designers managed to became famous after slow and constant effort, success came at a later age to them. As for Cassandra, she just won the American architecture competition, which would have been a great stepping stone to infiltrate the international market. However, she let the

satisfied smile. She felt as if she had already defeated Cassandra when she had just barely

annoyed since he came to work. He kept pacing back and forth in the office. He felt stifled, and

at the company, Lionel saw Cassandra in the elevator, with some of her colleagues.