A Graduation Gift

With a grumble, Arthur came in the door in frustration.

"What happened, Arthur?

Why do you look so upset?" Cloris asked, looking confused

The phone call he was on was simply too disappointing to him. There must have been something wrong.

Shooting a glance at Cloris, he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but nothing came out.

It was Clark whom he was on the phone with. After he was told that Cassandra had gotten the Tang Group's tender from Horace, Arthur thought about what their next steps should be. If Cassandra helped the Tang Group, he had a strong feeling that Clark would lose this competition.

It just so happened that Arthur had dealt with Cassandra often in the past. From those experiences, he knew that Cassandra had the tendency to be extremely competitive and he had been defeated by her for several times already—he was rather scared of confronting her.

When Cassandra was still with Lionel, Arthur had to rack his brain about how to deal with her, doing all he could to get her into trouble. It was a great relief when he heard the news that the couple had gotten a divorce, and after Cassandra left the Tang Group, the company's business plummeted.

It was unbelievable that Horace had persuaded Cassandra to help the Tang Group. What could he do to prevent it?

Suddenly, Arthur thought of something when he noticed Cloris's presence. She was grabbing at him, concerned.

"Cloris, I think I'd better give up this bid,"

pretending to have made up his mind, he spoke firmly to Cloris.

"What? Why? Haven't you already poured so much time and effort in it?"

With eyes wide open, Cloris asked him in disbelief. Ever since she came back, Arthur had been talking about his competition with the Tang Group for a project. He had put numerous hours into it.

With a sigh, he continued, "Cloris, Cassandra is your sister.

Now that she's involved, I don't feel comfortable competing with her. I don't want this competition to influence your relationship. I want you two to get along."

He did a good job playing the part of the worried partner because Cloris believed him wholeheartedly.

"Arthur, what do you mean?" she asked, looking anxious already. "I don't understand. Why is Cassandra involved?"

His words puzzled her—why was everything about Cassandra?

"Cloris, someone just tipped me that Cassandra was helping the Tang Group revise the tender this time. And you know that when I went against your sister before, I lost. I don't want that to happen again.

I'd rather quit," he explained bitterly, irritating Cloris to the core.

to work on this project. You've invested so much in it. How could you even think about

part of the bid disappointed her immensely.

Horace made the headline of every newspaper in G City. Everyone was talking about it. Why would Cassandra help the man who kicked her out of the

I really don't want this

more concession

have to worry about

to ruin her reputation, Cloris couldn't

head, she strongly and repeatedly wished Cassandra bad luck and hoped that her sister would fail in whatever she was doing. Therefore, Cloris couldn't let Arthur quit—it was an easy

you must win this bid! I'm here to support you, every step

lost, it would only mean that he wasn't as competitive and clever as Cassandra. She couldn't put up with it.

"Cloris…

you want me to compete with your sister?" he asked in surprise.

spend the rest of my life with you. Of course,

she buried her face

as he stroked her

for your support. But to be honest, I don't have any confidence in this bid since your sister is

when she heard Arthur's worry.

there any way to stop Cassandra from helping the Tang

circumstances could she allow Cassandra to win.

flash drive. She's probably revising it by now. I

was getting frustrated. But Cloris wasn't

flash drive? If that was the case,

course, she had done it before.

roll of her eyes,

"I've got a plan!"

into

"What have you got?"

plans running through his head, he could do nothing. If Cloris offered to help him, things would

if Cassandra found something, Cloris would

calculation, Arthur wanted to let

and swap it with Cassandra's. When the time comes, I'll start the program and the tender file will get corrupted,"

a thing so she felt rather confident about her

"But…

can you switch them? You could get

risky…" Arthur

"Don't worry.

to coordinate

wasn't as innocent as it used to be.