A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 112

Vernon's case was finalized at court; the judges finally gave him a ten-year jail sentence.

Edith wailed with agony, however, Cassandra seemed so indifferent that not even a hint of tears could be found on her face.

Since the responsibility of managing the Qin Group fell on her shoulders, she did not have the luxury of time to allow herself to fall into sadness. There was a more pressing need for her to immediately start devoting herself to the hectic work schedule ahead of her.

Accompanied by Cassandra and Cloris, Edith stepped out of the courtroom. The sky was clean and blue; the clouds looked pure and white.

Having made up her mind to disperse all the grief-stricken memories that had been afflicting her family, Cassandra felt the need to say to herself silently, 'I will try my best to support the family, to maintain and sustain all the things that we have been enjoying.'

Finally, the Union of Real Estate was soon to be established in G City. The election of the Director of the Union was rather imminent, and everyone was highly concerned about this event. People from all walks of life were enthusiastically guessing which group would be able to win over the other, the Tang Group or the Dawn Star Group.

Although the two parties had their own strengths, it seemed that the Tang Group had a higher chance of winning the game. Recently, the Tang Group was exhibiting an overall enthusiastic aura. As the manager of their architectural design department, Cassandra was granted a resounding award thanks to her outstanding performance in an American architectural design competition. Meanwhile, the Tang Group had already invested in some projects in G City, such as the construction of Nursing Home Project and the Amusement Park Plan, which had all won the group a positive reputation as a strong foundation.

While the Dawn Star Group had undertaken just the same amount of projects as the Tang Group, due to these projects being of smaller scale, it was difficult for the company to broaden their sphere of influence in the city. Although the company did have a great number of business counterparts, it was highly likely that it would be at a disadvantage when it came to the scale factor. Given this, it was difficult to say whether or not Dawn Star Group could seize the votes of their partners.

Right at this critical juncture, a piece of rather heavy news was just disclosed by the insiders, which could possibly reverse the situation.

Vernon, who had just been sentenced to jail for bribing an official, was found to be related by marriage to Horace Tang, the Chairman of the Tang Group.

Even more shocking was the news that Cassandra was Vernon's biological daughter.

As the information was bombarded throughout the people in G City, the companies of real estate experienced much turmoil.

As Vernon was found to be guilty of his crime, the people turned cautious as to avoid any signs of connection with him. To the everyone's surprise, the Tang Group had quite a close relationship with the Qin Group.

The residents could barely stop their imagination from running wild. Since the Tang Group was so closely tied to the Qin Group, how could it be as clean and uncorrupted as it appeared to be on the surface? The inner workings were probably not much better than those of the Qin Group. They could be all tarred with the same brush.

For example, the largest private hospital in G City had planned to build a hospital branch recently. Such a crucial project ended up being taken over by the Tang Group. Although Jenks and Horace did share a friendly relationship, with someone spreading the news entangled with rumors, many still chose to believe that it was not as simple as it seemed to be—the Tang Group must have done something behind the scenes to get such an opportunity.

The discussions inevitably reached Horace's ears, who could do nothing but foamed with anger.

"Who could've done this? They exposed the relationship between me and Vernon at this crucial time. It must be part of some plan against the Tang Group!"

After slamming his hands on the table to vent his anger, Horace suddenly began to cough heavily.

In a hurry, Jill rushed up to him to pat his back and ease him as he channeled air back into his lungs.

"Don't be angry. Don't be angry. Lionel told me that the election for the Director of Union will commence soon. Is it going to get affected?"

Still in a blur, Jill could barely understand the complex business world with such an innocent mindset.

"Of course it's going to be affected! And the effect is huge!" Horace exclaimed.

Again, he fell into a coughing fit so hard as if he were coughing his lungs out. He could barely catch his breath.

In a panic, Jill hastily asked someone to call Doctor Jason in.

His eyes clouded by a dark mist, Horace was both angry and anxious. Who could've purposely disseminated the information?

It was timely, just before the election. If the Tang Group's reputation was damaged because of the incident, they would consequently lose the election, allowing the Dawn Star Group to take the winning position.

Unfortunately, the bad news didn't end there. Someone had also taken a photo of Lionel accompanying Ivy to prenatal care which later became another hit headline for the public. If the baby was Lionel's, news would get out that he had committed adultery.

In the past, the public only knew of his mistress but wasn't aware of Cassandra's existence as his legal spouse.

As it became known that Lionel was a soon-to-be father of his mistress's baby, the public wouldn't stop gossiping about it.

Maybe because it was a part of human nature, spectators loved to stick their noses in other people's businesses and comment on other people's affairs. The two incidents had been the hottest topics of people's daily conversations now in G City. Cassandra, who stood at the center of the gossip tornado, was under the most pressure.

It was already unusual for her to become the manager of the architectural design department right after her graduation from college, which many considered a stroke of undeserved luck and envied. Very few individuals truly appreciated her talents from the beginning. It was her hard work and skills that shut the others' judgmental mouths. Not only was she acknowledged by the employees of the Tang Group, but she also received many compliments and accolades from her clients as well.

Still, all her efforts and accomplishments seemed so trivial under the storm of rumors.

Some merely turned their blind eyes to her achievements and claimed that she had assumed the role because she was the daughter-in-law of the Chairman of the Tang Group.

Others claimed that she didn't have a real relationship with Lionel and that their marriage was simply an arrangement where the two had agreed to not intervene in each other's life.

Some even made the absurd claim that Lionel turned to Ivy because of Cassandra's inability to bear a child.

The overwhelming rumors gave Cassandra a severe headache to the extent that all she wanted to do was cover both her ears and shut her eyes until the nonsense cleared away by itself.

"It's all bullshit!"

as she fixed her coffee at the table, Stella advised her to ignore all the gossip.

Though Stella had always been straightforward and strongly worded, she indeed made sense and Cassandra had gotten used to the way she expressed herself.

While she tended to be rather carefree, Stella was well capable of doing her job.

In fact, she had arranged an interview with one of the local business newspapers and asked the journalist reporters to craft an interview journal with the Tang Group. In the question and answer session, she purposely threaded the topic about the widest spread rumors regarding the Tang Group.

"The Tang Group is the pioneer real estate company in this city and even in the province. One of the integral reasons for its success lies in the development of its employees. I am aware that our architectural design manager, Cassandra Qin, has been allegedly involved in some scandals recently. I can promise everyone that it is because of her ability that she has assumed her current position. As for her personal life, I hope that she is not unnecessarily disturbed by the public and is able to stay away from public focus. After all, everyone has the right to guard what he or she treasures in life," Stella stated.

Her solemn expression and ambiguous answer aroused even more curiosity in the public.

What was Cassandra trying to guard? After the interview, there was a sudden shift in attitude and focus of the public, and people started believing that it was Lionel who had done something wrong.

All of a sudden, the post headlines became criticisms on Lionel's affair and they were everywhere. The agitated public spoke on behalf of the diligent architect and condemned the disloyal husband.

In fact, when Cassandra's true identity was revealed, Stella had contested her, "Cassandra, am I not your friend? How could you hide that from me?"

Her anger almost brought her to tears.

"Stella, I didn't mean to keep it from you. I just didn't want anyone in the company to treat me differently because of my identity as the Tang's daughter-in-law," she explained.

After seeing Stella's reaction, Cassandra realized that the secret she kept from her had hurt her friend deeply. Although she was aware that trust was paramount between good friends, she still hesitated to confess to Stella until the moment it was unveiled by someone else.

"Do you really think I would do that? Would I judge you and doubt your skills just because of your relationship with the chairman?" With stern words, Stella challenged her friend.

Cassandra's betrayal seriously damaged Stella's trust in her. She was a straightforward person, so she naturally disdained any form of insincerity. Among the people in the Tang Group, Cassandra was someone she trusted the most, but she turned out to be the one who wasn't even honest in terms of her very identity.

"Stella, it's not only that I don't want others to see me as the chairman's daughter-in-law. Can't you see how the relationship is between me and my husband?" Heaving a deep sigh, Cassandra tried clarifying further.

As much as she didn't want to point out the harsh truth, that was her reality.

She simply wasn't capable of forcing herself to act as Lionel's dear wife in front of other people or follow him wherever he went. Her acting skill was not even comparable to that of Lyndsy, and she could barely hide her true feelings as well as Ivy could.

It turned out that Cassandra's explanation didn't do well for Stella, as she didn't buy it. Though she knew that Cassandra must have had her reasons, she wasn't so eager to find them out. All she knew was that she felt cheated—how could she not be the first to know of it?

Having heard the news from someone other than Cassandra was unacceptable to her.

"Then, what do you plan on doing next? Are you going to take over your dad's company?"

Quickly, she pushed aside her negative feelings and let her concern for Cassandra surface.

"I'll take over, of course. That's my dad's only asset in his entire life. I've tried so hard to save it and I'll guard it for as long as I'm able to."

Her tone was determined and firm.

"What is this nonsense?" Lionel shouted in anger.

The blogs and posts online only ignited his burning fury and almost drove him to throw his computer against the wall to vent out the fury.

"Mistress of Lionel Tang Forced His Wife Away!"

"A Playful Man and a Forbearing Woman, How Can the Able Woman Win the Game?"

The article titles that drew the eyes of the public portrayed Lionel as some kind of bastard Casanova of his era.

While Lionel was deeply irritated by the public judgment, Ivy, being one of the protagonists, was unconcerned by the offensive remarks online, for all she cared about was how to beat Cassandra. She had a vague feeling that by breaking the news, it would become harder for Cassandra to stay in the Tang family.

It was Cassandra who was under the most stress, being pressed by the Qin and the Tang families at the same time.

The Tang Group was eager to explore the market and expand themselves, while the Qin Group, under accusation, was on the brink of collapsing.

Being right in the middle of these two matters, Cassandra had no way to stay balanced.

If she supported the Tang Group, it would definitely doom the Qin Group; and if she decided to support the Qin group, Horace would be disappointed.

It was a tough situation. 'Which side will you choose, Cassandra? What will you do to break out of the predicament?

Which side will you tilt the balance to? Are you going to be trusted by the Tang Group as you were before?' Ivy asked silently.

As if she were the evil witch who saw Snow White with the poisonous apple in her hand, Ivy's mouth twisted into a wicked smile. She wanted to know how Snow White would make her final decision.