A Graduation Gift

Mr. Wang finally stood up, design plan in his hands. He nodded to Cassandra with a satisfied smile on his face, his curious expression now long gone.

"Ms. Qin, I believe that your company's success will be beyond expectation. You have the ball at your feet! Please accept my congratulations in advance!" he smiled sincerely.

Cassandra's sheer confidence dispelled whatever doubt he had before. He looked at her approvingly before turning to leave her office.

Cassandra thanked him eagerly and promised to not let him down.

Once he was out of earshot, she squealed in delight for successfully nailing down the business transaction.

Her happiness was short-lived, however, when it finally dawned on her how exhausted she had been. Since she was the operator of the group, her mother was unable to help and her sister was too young to understand, she had to do most of the work herself. But no matter how frustrated she was, Cassandra knew it was all worth it. Her father must have felt the same when he started the group. She smiled to herself.

Although she had won several grand design prizes before, Cassandra promised Lionel that she wouldn't work on designing in the next two years, which somehow restricted her to gather a larger clientele for her company.

Most of the cases they undertook were similar that of Mr. Wang, and many clients came to her for the sake of her previous works. She quietly hoped that the group could provide them with some brilliant works in order to establish a long term cooperation relationship. Facts speak louder than words. However, if she was just able to design again, she knew she could have gathered a larger network of prospective customers.

A loud clap of thunder broke her from her thoughts as she suddenly felt her feet quake beneath her. She got dizzy as she noticed the glass windows rumbling.

Cassandra knew it wasn't vertigo, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She closed her eyes until the shaking subsided.

As if on cue, her phone beeped to alert her of the news. She quickly took her phone out to check.

It said that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck A city. The alerts updated her every other minute. The earthquake and the thunder shower triggered several landslides and there were still unconfirmed reports on casualties. The earthquake was strong enough to affect the surrounding cities.

G City wasn't very close to A City, but citizens there also felt the strong vibration.

Taking several deep breaths, Cassandra slowly stood up from her chair despite her dizziness.

When she opened the door to leave her office, the hallway was in utter chaos. Her employees were all scattered outside, discussing the earthquake.

"It was so scary! I saw the ripples in my mug and thought that I shook the desk by accident!" a female employee said.

Her voice was trembling and shaky.

"My uncle and his family are in A City. I tried calling them but I still couldn't reach them! I'm so worried," another employee cried out.

She was about to burst into tears and some of her colleagues gathered around to comfort her.

safe so they don't have time to call you. That, or the connection might just

sure they'll contact you

approached the huddled crowd, and all of them quickly grew

call it a day! The weather report says it's also going to rain soon. Please be careful, and make sure that all of you message me as soon as you're home," she

if they weren't at work, and they wouldn't even be able to focus since they were all too worried. That, and

the dark clouds forming in the distance,

surprised by her words. All of them smiled and sighed in relief,

Manager Qin!" "You're seriously the best

No, thank you, Boss! I was just worrying about the disgruntling commute home.

such a stormy weather. I'd better

they piled their things together and left

she didn't hurry herself, she'd be trapped within the rush hour. She grabbed her things quickly back in her office and

the main entrace, the wind almost blew her away. The gust was so strong and cold, and the fog had started

she forgot to

door and hurriedly closed the windows. Right at this moment, the rain drummed on the window pane heavily.

the living room to collapse on the sofa. She reached for the remote and turned on the TV. Just as expected, the news was broadcasting the severity of the earthquake and the storm. Her stomach

around the house, together with the thunder, the rain and the lightning flashing across the sky. Fears were raised up in Cassandra's heart

thunderstorm was roaring louder outside, rattling her windows from the strong gusts of wind. To her, it sort of felt like

about Rufus. If only he were here, she might not feel as scared.

could burrow her entire body into his chest and he would've caressed her face tenderly. She would be safe in his arms and that would have been enough

daydreaming. All she had at

the window beside her, Cassandra saw the two flower planted in the yard. Her heart dropped to her stomach at the

days ago, but under the heavy rain, they were bound to die. The poor plants were incredibly fragile under the strength of the storm. As they swayed in the wind, Cassandra took it

were

ran to the door without hesitating. She felt obligated to protect them. However, once she opened the door, the storm roared against her small frame. She pushed forward despite the strong winds and ran outside.

took a deep breath and made her way to the plants. Each step she took, the wind fought back, as if it were trying to prevent her from getting to the plants. When she made it, she quickly spread her oversize raincoat and secured around the

shoulders. Suddenly, a strong

she was lifted up into a warm embrace. Cassandra screamed in the rain until she saw Rufus's wrathful face in front of her. A warm current of joy coursing around her body, she bit her lips and nestled her head on

back inside the house. Rufus kicked the door open, walked in and closed the wuthering outside behind them. Then he turned to the woman, his eyes as

raging storm outside, for God's sake! You'll get sick standing

trigger both

looked at her, glaring as

didn't dare say anything else. Despite shivering in damp