A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 87

This had to be the most embarrassing moment of Cassandra's life. All the board members were staring at her. A deadly awkwardness went through her body and she felt like everyone was analyzing her. 'This couldn't get any worse, ' she thought.

And worse of all, Rufus noticed it too. This was a big blow to her confidence.

"I have no idea as to why this design is similar to mine. But I'll look into it until I figure out what the truth is, I promise!" explained Cassandra.

Her explanation had no impact on those present. The board member who had spoken earlier screamed at her angrily, "How can they be so similar if you didn't plagiarize? That project is ahead of yours! Look into it? What will you look into? Truth is in front of our eyes, so please don't try to fool us. Don't try to find any excuses anymore. Just admit what you've done!"

This insult came as a surprise and Cassandra tried hard to stop herself from crying. She had no clue how to respond at this moment.

Whatever she would say would be in vain. Indeed, the bottom line was that the project had already begun in H City. ZC Group discovered the mistake hence it was reasonable for them to reject and return her design. Undoubtedly, they had asked for compensation. However, she knew this wasn't a mistake from her side. She was being set up by someone. She knew she didn't steal someone's work but had no idea how to convince everyone of her innocence.

Cassandra knew that she was not a design genius, but she was diligent enough. She had achieved her reputation through her hard work. But now she was being wrongly accused. 'How can I stand this injustice?' she wondered. Normally, she was a kind and forgiving lady, but when it came to her work, she was pretty serious. Swallowing her grief, she was determined to punish the person who had set her up.

Cassandra clenched her fist and stayed without uttering a word. Never before had she experienced such a public humiliation. A lump was rising in her throat which made her feel like crying. But she did everything in her power to hold back the tears since she knew showing her weakness would do nothing but to embarass her more.

Seeing Cassandra standing there helplessly, Rufus had the urge to help her. However, he controlled himself because helping her in front of these board members who were as sly as the foxes would make his emotions too obvious. And it would only create more problems for Cassandra.

"Well, I have a plan now. Why don't you take your annul leave, Manager Qin? You shall look into the matter and give us a satisfying explanation. As far as we know, ZC Group has not filed a lawsuit against us. To make things easier and quicker, I will send some men to investigate it as well. And guys, If Manager Qin is genuinely wronged, I'm sure the truth will come out eventually," said Rufus, trying to stop everyone from accusing Cassandra.

Cassandra immediately understood that Rufus had said those words to buy her more time. Earlier, she felt alone but his help made her feel truly thankful. She cast him a glance which indirectly meant thank you.

On the other hand, Rufus's words indeed subdued the situation. The board members decided not to push Cassandra too hard. They sighed, stood up and left the meeting room.

When everyone went away, Rufus signaled Leo to leave him and Cassandra alone. Obliging Rufus, Leo closed the door and left along with the others.

The moment the door was shut, Cassandra's tears started to flow. She could not hold them anymore. In front of Rufus, she had no fear of showing her vulnerability.

She squatted down, grabbed her knees, put her head into her arms and started sobbing sadly.

Watching the scene in front of him, Rufus felt a sudden pain surge in his heart. It felt as if he was being pricked by a needle. He hated seeing her look so miserable.

Now that everyone was gone, he had no intention to staying away from her. He stood up, walked to her and squatted beside her. For a moment, he watched her cry. Slowly, he stretched his hands and held her. In a forbearing tone, he said, "It's okay. Don't cry. I don't know about the rest but I trust you! At the moment, our priority is to find out how this happened. I can tell something is definitely fishy."

Cassandra raised her eyes and looked to Rufus through her tears. His words encouraged her to take some actions.

'Yes, I shouldn't be crying and sitting over here. This won't change anything! I didn't make any mistake then why should I be wailing? It's time to do something about it!' she said inwardly.

Rufus had shut out the critics and appointed her as the designer of a major design task along with this case. Due to this, she had to devote most of her time and energy to the other case. Hence the design for ZC Group was less urgent and did not make great progress. However, she did not completely leave it behind. In spite of her busy schedule, she worked on this design from time to time. Even though it wasn't her best work, it still had her effort in it.

'What went wrong?' she contemplated. Only after the party at which Lionel and Ivy's indecent video was leaked, could she devote all her time and effort on this design.

Slowly, Cassandra started to recall incidents and started filling Rufus with the details. Rufus, on the other hand, listened patiently as she spoke. Not a single word was ignored by him and he made it a point not to interrupt her. After she was done, a dead drop silence fell into the office. For a while, they both were left in thoughts. Frowning, he asked, "Have you ever shown this design to anyone else?"

Cassandra thought carefully for a few seconds and then shook her head.

"I know what you are hinting. But I don't think our people did it. No one would show their company's confidential information to others."

Rufus pondered over her words and nodded in agreement. Somehow he believed there wasn't a betrayer inside the design department. Otherwise, other projects would have encountered tons of difficulties. The ZC Group project was not a key project. Should there be a betrayer, it would make no sense to choose such an insignificant case to destroy her reputation.

"I think you should take some rest for a few days. I'll deal with the rest," Rufus said, trying to placate Cassandra's mood.

Cassandra nodded but after giving it a second thought, her mind went blank. 'Rest for some days? Where can I stay to take rest? And how?' she thought worriedly.

Rufus immediately realized the reason behind her confusion and helplessness. A comforting smile was shown on his face.

"I saw Michelle's assistant come here this morning. Didn't she send you an invitation? You can make some preparations and go. Being alone is boring, anyway."

Rufus knew that he was unable to accompany her this time because he had to go to H City. Over there, he had to check how things were going with the ZC Group.

"Yeah. Thanks."

Cassandra nodded obediently. She reached out and wiped off the tears from her face. In slow steps, she left the office.

'Who on earth is doing this to me? Someone had planned and set this vicious trap for me. The intention was to accuse me of plagiarism and it worked! Obviously, that person must have thought I would get expelled from the designing circle because of this. Plagiarism is considered a taboo in this field.

If I do nothing then people will assume I am guilty. Not only will I have to pay the whopping compensation, but also my reputation will be scarred forever, ' said Cassandra in her mind.

All these years, Cassandra had been treating her job with complete seriousness. Her goal was to become one of the best designers in this field. This wronged accusation would bring shame to her career. And this was something she couldn't afford.

'Who could this person possibly be?' wondered Cassandra, racking her brain. Secretly, Cassandra swore to make that person pay for his dirty deed.

On the way back home, Cassandra was still lost in her thoughts. She was so lost that she even forgot to turn on the cornering lamp when her car turned. She seemed to be blind to the road in front of her. Her mind was busy replaying everything that happened in this awful day.

Deep down, she knew she had to compose herself. This absentmindedness was extremely dangerous. What happened next proved the risk of her carelessness. When she turned to a corner, her car rear-ended the vehicle in front because she was too careless to hit the brake on time.

The loud vibration and noise snapped her back to the reality. She got off the car abruptly to check the damage she had caused.

Her little car had bumped into the car that was in front of hers. On top of that, the rear of that car was a little dented. The driver inside the other car also got out. Now Cassandra was beginning to panic. She kept apologizing to him for the unfortunate accident. It was her fault and she was willing to take responsibility for it.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. This is my mistake. I'll call the insurance!"

While she was apologetically speaking, a familiar voice replied her with a smile.

"Hi, Miss Deer. Here we meet again!"

Cassandra raised her head from the dented car and looked at the master of this voice. A bright and handsome man in casual clothes was standing right before her. He looked about thirty and his eyes looked like crescent when he smiled. His expression made him look like an easy-going man. People would never feel uncomfortable around him. In fact, something about him put them at ease.

'What did he just call me now? Miss Deer?' wondered Cassandra confusedly.

After thinking for a few seconds, it clicked her where she had heard it last time. This special name took her back to the afternoon on a snowy day. 'Yes, I remember it! A man with a beard saved me once, ' she thought with relief washing over her.

He saved her life! In her mind, this man was the symbol of kindness and warmth whose smile was as brilliant as the fireworks.

"Gosh, this is the worst way of meeting someone again! Especially that you've saved me, but now I broke your car,"

Cassandra said, looking apologetic. She realized something bad could have happened if she continued being so careless. 'What if I had killed someone?'

On the other hand, the man kept smiling and Cassandra couldn't detect any sort of anger in that friendly face. In truth, the car was the last thing on his mind to worry about. He was still lost in the happiness of being reunited with Cassandra.

"We seem to meet every time you are in a worrying state. This is what people call fate!" he said jokingly.

They looked into each other's eyes and then laughed all of a sudden. Cassandra felt herself forget about the events of the day. At least for the time being her mood was lifted.

Soon, the insurance company staff came over there and took some photos of the damage that was caused. They had some files which had to be signed. Once that was done, they towed away their cars. With a sorry looking face, Cassandra asked, "Once again I am sorry about this. Why don't you have dinner with me? Don't bother fighting because this one is on me. What would you prefer? A traditional dinner or a Western one?"

The man looked at her and replied in a gentle tone, "It depends on you. I'm fine with either."

Cassandra thought for a few seconds and a great idea popped into her head. Yet she thought it was necessary to ask his opinion before selecting a place.

"I know a restaurant where they serve pretty good steak. What do you think?" she asked eagerly.

The man smiled and asked, "Are you referring to the one in CBD? It's too expensive. If yes, am I allowed to change the destination? How about we go to the beach for a barbecue?"

At first, Cassandra was a little puzzled to hear he had refused her proposal. But soon she realized that he said it only because he didn't want her to spend too much on him. As a man, he did not want the woman to buy him an expensive dinner.

She was somewhat touched by his considerate behavior. This guy was indeed careful, sensible and sweet. Somehow, Cassandra felt very comfortable being around him.

The wind was strong by the sea. The fact that it was winter made things worse. Sitting outside for the barbecue was definitely not a good choice.

Hence they went inside. The man selected a dining table by the window which seemed like the perfect place. Now they could enjoy the dinner as they relished the beautiful campfire scene which was happening outside.

"What would you like, Cassandra?"

He casually asked while his eyes were glued on the menu. Just when she was about to answer, she found herself shocked. 'How did he know my name?' she thought, looking startled.

Since he didn't get a reply, the man raised his head and looked at her. A beautiful smile appeared on his face as he noticed her confusion. Even though she was surprised, his smiling crescent eyes made her feel warm and peaceful.

"You gave me your name card. Don't you remember?"

She bit her tongue and passed him an awkward smile. In truth, that incident had almost slipped out of her mind. Hesitantly, Cassandra said, "I... May I know you name, please?"

The man's deep eyes looked at her with concentration. After a moment, he replied in a serious tone, "Name is simply a code. You can call me whatever you like. My friends call me Delight."

"Haha!"

Cassandra couldn't help but let out a loud laugh as she heard his reply. But at the same time, she didn't want to sound rude. Therefore she reached out to cover her mouth with a hand and explained in a hurry, "I'm sorry... I wasn't laughing at your name!"

Seeing her acting so funny, the man did not feel offended at all. Instead he burst into a hearty laughter and replied, "I'm Dylan Tong. But you can call me Delight. I'm serious!"

Now Cassandra decided not to hold back her laughter. She laughed out happily. 'Dylan Tong? Delight? Haha now that is a funny name! But yes, he is just like his name. He makes people feel delightful, ' she agreed in her mind. Slowly, she glanced at him and passed him her sweetest smile.

Outside the window, the waves were beating against the shore and the fire was burning. But inside the restaurant, the air was so warm and soothing. There was something about the atmosphere here that made people forget all about their sorrows.