A Graduation Gift

But Cassandra thought otherwise. For a man that only saw her as a childbearing body, marriage was nothing but a tool!

'This is ridiculous. I can not believe it but I am still in love with him at this moment! I'm such a cheap and worthless person...' she was mad at herself.

Having a child with Rufus was supposed to send happy thoughts through her head.

Still, it saddened her that her child, though could be materially satisfied by Rufus, wouldn't grow up in a whole family.

"Rufus, what is the problem? You gave your condition and I accepted it," Cassandra asked.

There was finally a smile on her face at this moment but it was not the kind that he expected. It pained him to see this kind of smile.

"Nothing bad, okay. We can observe it from now on," he replied.

Rufus wasn't sure of when he started to find it difficult to compose himself around Cassandra. When she implied that she was willing to sacrifice a year of her life just to get rid of him, rage started to burn inside him.

He was tired of being a gentleman. He reached over, clasped her waist and hoisted her up on the table.

Rufus noticed her tenseness. Suddenly he heaved a sigh and tightened his hug.

"Not today! Tomorrow, you will not go back to your apartment after work. I will arrange a driver to pick you up so you don't have to feel guilty for using the company vehicle for personal needs," he said.

Rufus knew how she thought. She did her best not to use the company vehicles for private purposes.

In regular times, Cassandra would refuse. But in today's situation, she had no say in the decision.

Rufus held her in his arms and put her into the tub before he turned on the warm water. He said nothing as he washed her.

Cassandra was worried that he would take advantage of her again but to her surprise, he just bathed her with great care and no trace of violence.

She wondered whether he had been stung by his guilty conscience and thought he might have regretted what he had done.

soon as she opened her mouth, it closed the

this wrong way. I know that today is not your

her. Sure enough, he wanted nothing but a child. Rufus had lived with her for a long time, so he knew very well about her physiological period. And there was surely no difficulty for him in calculating the ovulation period

his energy? Well, how much he loves himself!'

covered with a quilt. She drifted into sleep right away, unbothered by hunger or

so

sat by the bed, looking

her arched eyebrows

circles under her eyes that made her look rather

a choice. Though it pissed him off, for now at least, she

him but during the year, he would use other means to make

piss me off, or fool me!' he said to her silently.

her face, his eyes were alight with ease and joy as some inspiration sprung into

her. Thinking about Jill's remarks from the night before filled her

it wouldn't affect your health if you and Lionel plan to have another child now.

from her

remained silent despite the fact that she had lived with the Tangs

away Cassandra by her schemes but

was worse, Lionel had become more and more distant from her. He didn't touch her despite the fact that they slept

but now he

something out or was suspected something

anything and treated her with respect in the presence of his parents, there were times when she was utterly

that whenever Lionel met Cassandra, he was not able to take his eyes off her. He looked at her with as much intensity, if not

it all inside as to not break the superficial harmony since she couldn't bear to think what would happen to her if she dared

female colleagues' chitchat pulled Ivy from her

that there is fortune teller who can tell you about when exactly you can get pregnant. Aren't you preparing for pregnancy?

only believe in science. Measuring body temperature daily and using the ovulation test strips would be okay," the other one replied.

advice and are all pregnant now," the first woman said