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.

They must just be busy ensuring they're safe so they don't have time to call you. That, or the connection might just be too busy because

right! Don't worry. I'm sure

and all of them quickly grew quiet and looked at

Please be careful,

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

look at the dark clouds forming in the distance, before looking back at her employees earnestly.

words. All of them smiled and

you so much, Manager Qin!" "You're seriously the

thank you, Boss! I was just worrying about the

in such a stormy weather. I'd better hurry

praises kept on coming as they piled their things

she'd be trapped within the rush hour. She grabbed her things quickly back in her office and ran to the exit.

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

forgot to close the windows this morning. She had to get home as fast as she

windows. Right at this moment, the rain

sofa. She reached for the remote

with the thunder, the rain and the lightning flashing across the sky. Fears were raised up in Cassandra's heart and she buried herself deep in the soft sofa with her arms

thunderstorm was roaring louder outside, rattling her

he were here, she might

caressed her face tenderly. She would

it was only her fantasy or daydreaming. All she had at the moment was

beside her, Cassandra saw the two flower planted in the yard.

incredibly fragile under the strength of the storm. As they swayed in the wind, Cassandra took it

those two flowers for her, and if they were blown away, she would never forgive herself

However, once she opened the door, the storm roared against her small frame. She pushed forward despite the strong winds and ran outside.

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 bottom with some heavy rocks, covering the flowers. Seeing the plants now safe and

her shoulders. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew up and she

was coughing, she suddenly felt someone approach her from behind. And the next second she was lifted up into a warm embrace. Cassandra screamed in the rain until she saw Rufus's wrathful face in

of them back inside the house. Rufus kicked the door open, walked in and closed

sake! You'll get sick standing in the middle of the

both emotions at the same time, and she

What was she thinking exposing herself to the rain? Rufus looked at her, glaring as he checked her face for any sign of guilt. Cassandra merely looked back, eyes glistening and cheeks

and hugged him tightly, feeling his strong, speedy heartbeat. She didn't dare say anything else. Despite shivering in damp clothes, she felt incredibly warm inside. She knew that Rufus cared for her and