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 next second.

He teased, "Don't take this wrong way. I know that today is not your ovulation date. I wouldn't bother to

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 and the

energy? Well, how much he loves

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

so exhausted.

bed, looking down

the quilt, leaving her arched

the dark circles under her eyes that made her

she made a choice. Though it pissed him off, for now at least, she would have no excuse

have a chance to leave him but during the year, he would use other means

me off,

he watched her face, his eyes were alight with ease and

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

long time to nourish your health. I think it wouldn't affect your health if you and Lionel plan to have another child now. You'd better have a child when you

held her hands. Concern and sincerity emanated from her and Ivy just smiled and nodded, suppressing the grievance inside

silent despite the fact that she had lived with the Tangs for such

had driven away Cassandra by her schemes but this

more and more distant from her. He didn't touch her despite the fact that they slept in the same bed.

he was indifferent. This brought a sense of crisis sweeping over

that Lionel found something out or was suspected something mysterious about her

not mentioned anything and treated her with respect in the presence of his parents, there were times when she was utterly

off her. He looked

tried to keep it all inside as to not break the superficial harmony since she couldn't bear

pulled Ivy from her reverie.

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

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

not joking. Some people I know have asked for her advice and are all