A Graduation Gift

There was fire in Rufus's eyes. He could not believe what was happening.

"You can't do that,"

Rufus said furiously as his grip on Cassandra's wrist tightened.

"Rufus, you're being ridiculous. I expected more from you. Right now, you are just acting like a spoiled brat! You show up when it pleases you and before I know it, you're gone without so much as a goodbye. Where were you when I needed you? Whenever I asked for an explanation, you never gave me one. Instead, you decided to keep your secrets and keep me in the dark. What the hell were you thinking?"

Cassandra glared at Rufus, mustering all the courage she had to finally speak her mind. Finally saying all these things felt like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders.

Rufus looked at her, dumbstruck as he slowly realized Cassandra's image of him: complicated and suspicious.

As it turned out, she saw Rufus as a jerk.

He came and went as he pleased without even considering how she must have felt. Because of him, her life became full of uncertainty. He never gave her a stable life or a promising future.

"Cassandra, I am doing this for your own good,"

Rufus said. There was hesitation in his voice, possibly brought about by Cassandra's face that was red with rage. She seemed absolutely fed up with the situation.

"For my own good? You want to do something for my own good? Let me give you a very good suggestion: Disappear from my life for good and leave me be!"

Cassandra shouted as she broke free from Rufus's grip, turned, and walked away.

She had had enough of the drama. She did not want to put up with Rufus's childish whims anymore. His actions did not make sense to her. There seemed to be a huge disconnection between the mature and independent image he portrayed in public and the childish and unreasonable way he acted when he was with her.

But Rufus was not about to let her get away so easily. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms.

Cassandra struggled as Rufus slowly looked straight at her face. Staring straight into her eyes, he decided to tell her the truth.

"Fine, I will tell you what I am doing," he started.

Finally realizing the significance of the moment, she stopped

dead. It was only a dozen years ago

looking deep into Cassandra's eyes. Cassandra stood still and listened to him quietly.

what to do. My mother could not stop crying. I blamed her for giving birth to me. I told her that she should have had an abortion instead of having me and giving me a life without a

was dim. Rufus's voice was the only thing that could be heard apart from the deafening

mother fell ill with a serious disease, my aunt took us abroad to have her treated. But before I left, I went to see Horace in front of the Tang Group. That

coldness in his voice. It made

Group to prove myself. Then, I hid my identity, came back to Horace, and took over the Tang Group. I wanted Horace to see everything he built and worked for, go down in shambles. I wanted him

had been tending

because of his mistake.

story very unsettling. She could not believe what Rufus would do to Horace, his biological father, the man who gave him life. No matter what Horace did, it did not change the fact that he was his flesh and

so unfair. How could he marry someone like Jill, bear a child like Lionel, and live a life of fortune and opportunity while my mother and I spent our days looking for shelter and struggling to make ends meet? The

his teeth. Everytime he remembered his poor mother and Horace's absence, his hatred and

do such things. Otherwise, she wouldn't have worked hard to bring you up all by herself. Also, she would

had never seen Rufus this angry. Grabbing his arms, she realized that his whole body was stiff. Clearly, he was in pain just thinking about all of this.

an attempt to calm him down, but her efforts were useless. Rufus was so overwhelmed with anger. It was

only brought her tragedy. Well, I'm different.

stubborn. Nothing that Cassandra

he is your only family. You shouldn't hate him. I'm sure he also had his own battles during that time. He was also trapped in his own circumstance. Besides, he already realized that he was wrong. He even made efforts to correct his mistake

he remained unmoved. Years of hatred had hardened him. In fact, it was almost a part of him.

disowned by her own family because of him. She even renounced her father and changed her last name to her mother's maiden name. She wasted her youth raising me all by herself. For the first half of my life, I never had Horace there. Now that I'm all grown up and I'm doing better, he suddenly steps up and wants to be my father? What the hell is that? He allowed my mother to die. Why does

mom and of his childhood filled Rufus with so much rage.

lips, not knowing what to do.

he would become. So, she thought that it would be best

father and I did not want you to get involved. Now that you know about it, I hope you will do what is best by staying out of it. All I ask you to do is to wait for me. Be patient with me. When I finish with all of this, let's go away. Let's leave this wretched place together, find a

and calmed himself down. Then, he looked

if...I don't want you to push

she looked into Rufus's eyes.

I have been working on this plan for