A Graduation Gift

Not a single word came out from Cassandra's lips. This caused an unbearable silence to fill the air in the room. The smile Rufus had been wearing, got swept away from his face when he looked at Cassandra. But she just kept quiet, appearing to be so dejected.

"Is there something bothering you, Cassandra?"

Rufus asked, thinking that there must be a reason why she seemed to have been laden with anxiety in front of him.

"Rufus, what is your excuse for keeping things from me? Haven't we already made a deal to always be honest with each other?"

Those words Cassandra laid out were much like a frozen sword, driven straight into Rufus's chest, piercing right through his heart.

"What do you mean by that, Cassandra? What are you implying?"

Rufus seemed quite puzzled, as he was under the assumption that he had actually told Cassandra everything already. So, why would she even say that? Surely, there must've been some kind of misunderstanding.

Cassandra's lips twitched a bit, and she let out a faint smile upon hearing this.

She had gone this far already, so for that reason, Rufus should have come clean and straightened things out.

"The qualifications written under your resume weren't real, and you didn't really have any experience working as a senior executive of an overseas company. As it turns out, you're actually the founder of the TY Group, and yet, not once did you ever mention anything about that to me."

It took the best of her to keep herself calm, to keep her voice down, and to keep it from breaking. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't hold it in, her voice was suddenly shaking.

palms of her hands, to such an extent that they could actually pierce through if she didn't stop. The pain that it caused her, however,

her saying that, Rufus

And did

decisively. The deeper in the shadow he was, the safer he would

and her entering his life was something he never anticipated. He fell in

secret, it was clear as day that she didn't simply find out about

it from me and just said it straight to my face. Could it be that your intention for hiding that information from me was because you detest the idea that it would make me hang onto you like a sloth? Or maybe you got scared that I might cling tightly onto your

Rufus refused

I was so afraid that you would be

laughter dying down, it just kept on getting louder and louder. It lasted so long that it almost seemed as though there would be no end

doubt, Cassandra had been letting her imagination run wild. Such an innocent woman she was! She was getting upset over

was, Rufus stretched out his arms to grab Cassandra. But before he got any closer to her, she immediately shot up and took a step back, steering clear of any form

she could remember, looking back, he was able to resolve most of their arguments in the past through 'physical contact.' But this time around, she wanted to keep her eyes peeled, staying within a safe distance between the two of them until

won't swallow you whole! I don't bite!"

long time since the last time he was able to wrap his arms around her. Sadly, even though she was close enough for him to touch, he still wasn't able to satiate his thirst for her.

Cassandra walking away from him instantly. They could've kept going on like that if it weren't for the bookshelves right behind her. With her back against the shelves,

hope you're not forgetting that we're

and her voice was shaking akin to leaves rustling