A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 115

Cassandra had always convinced herself that as long as she indulged herself in working hard, things would become better.

For her not to be a person who couldn't earn her living and be dependent on others, she went to Rome to study architecture and design.

While some of her classmates were shopping, dating and partying, Cassandra stayed in the library, studying piles of thick books about architecture.

Cassandra, as one of the few Asians in college, consistently scored higher than her classmates and won the full scholarship. She was studying at one of the prestigious schools in Rome without spending a penny.

In one instance, she had beaten some famous designers and won a prize in a design competition when she was still a college student.

When she was employed by the Tang Group, no one really trusted and respected her. She was so young and inexperienced. Everyone wondered how she could be the manager of the design department of the Tang Group. Cassandra ignored all those criticisms. She had just kept her mouth shut while busy signing contracts one after another.

There was a two-hour lunch break in Tang Group. During the break, everyone in the office would gather together and get out to grab some food. Cassandra, however, would always take a snap, order something to takeout and then get back to work right after lunch.

She was never late or got off work early for no reasons. Instead, she always worked late, determined to give her clients a perfect design.

She worked very hard these past years, thinking that her life was getting better and better gradually. However, now she felt exhausted. She didn't know whether she could carry on with her way of life.

"Cassandra, some senior executives of your father's company came to our house today. They asked me about my plans. They said if the business volume couldn't recover, they might resign,"

Edith called Cassandra during the lunch break. She sounded so nervous on the other end of the phone that Cassandra could even imagine her anxiety without seeing her.

"I see, mother. I will go to dad's company tomorrow and talk to them. Please don't worry."

When she hung up the phone, Cassandra bent over the desk and sighed, helpless.

She felt stressed and drained.

Cassandra thought the prize she won in the competition could support herself for a while. However, Horace gave all her cases to the other designers and she couldn't even fight for that. Otherwise, people would think her as a self-centered and arrogant manager who would take all the credits and didn't give opportunities to others.

She was so annoyed.

Suddenly, the door opened. Victor walked into her office, with a food container in his hand.

"Good afternoon, Manager Qin. Mr. Luo asked me to bring you this."

Victor walked towards her desk and put down the food container and left. Victor's timing was just perfect. Cassandra was hungry and she was glad that someone sent her some food.

She opened the container, the meat dishes and vegetables all looked tasty and smelled better than the takeout she used to order.

Fried potatoes with green pepper, stewed pork trotters...everything looked mouthwatering.

Cassandra could see that Rufus had put a lot of effort into preparing them.

She decided to give herself a break and enjoy the sumptuous meal. Clearing off her desk, she took the dishes and carefully placed the silverware on the desk. Now it seemed to her that she was eating in a restaurant.

When she was about to eat the dish, Cassandra noticed a card stuck at the bottom of the food container.

Pulling it out, she couldn't help but be amazed at how thoughtful Rufus was.

The note said, "Enjoy your meal and take some rest."

A wave of warmth rushed over Cassandra making her excited to take a bite of the dish.

Although Rufus was always quiet, Cassandra knew that he cared for her. He helped her sign up for the design competition, helped her find Joel who framed her up. And now, he was worried about her health since she always ordered takeouts all the time and prepared meals for her. He even included such a thoughtful note.

Cassandra blushed when she fumbled at what was written on the note. It reminded her of what Rufus said to her last tiime, "Be my woman."

'Rufus, just wait for me. I will leave the Tang Group one day. By then, we can stay with together forever, ' Cassandra thought to herself.

When Victor came back to Rufus's office, Rufus just finished his work and turned off his computer.

"Did you throw it away?"

he asked Victor with a gloomy face, obviously annoyed and frustrated.

"Throw… away?"

Victor was very confused. He thought Rufus just made a mistake.

"Angie told me that she gave the food container to you. Didn't you throw it away?"

Rufus raised his eyebrows inquisitively. Victor wasn't a talkative person, but he was an efficient one. Rufus could sense that something went wrong since Victor just hemmed and hawed.

Hearing Rufus's words, Victor felt electrified, as if there was something buzzing inside his head.

Later this morning, at about lunchtime, when he walked into Rufus's office, Angie handed him the food container and said, "President asked you to handle this."

Professional as always, Angie gave him a sweet smile before going back to her desk.

Victor touched the container and it was still warm. Opening it to see what was inside, he was surprised to see a feast of a healthy meal.

Victor assumed Rufus asked him to give it to Cassandra.

Now it appeared that… he misunderstood Rufus! It was not supposed for Cassandra. Victor didn't know how to tell Rufus that he had made a mistake.

"The food container… I…I…I…gave it to Manager Qin…"

Victor stuttered and dared not to look into Rufus's eyes. It was the first time that he made such a stupid slip-up.

Rufus remained silent for a long time. Victor lifted up his head and peeked at Rufus. Judging from the look of his face, Victor knew that something was preoccupying him at the moment.

"What was Manager Qin doing in her office?"

Rufus knew Cassandra well. She used to work during her lunch break. But since she didn't get too much work lately, he wondered what she was doing during lunch time.

"Uhhhhmmm… Before I knocked on her door, she was talking with her mother on the phone. It seemed that something went wrong with her father's company,"

Victor said carefully. It was rare that Rufus didn't get mad at him because of his mistake. Usually Rufus was very serious about work and very strict when they made mistakes. Needless to say, the reason why he hired Angie to be his secretary was that she never went wrong, like a robot.

"All right, you can leave now."

Rufus motioned Victor to leave. He breathed a great sigh of relief and was about to leave when Rufus called him again, "Oh, Victor, one more thing. Wait in Manager Qin's office. When she is done eating, get the container back and throw it away, okay?"

Victor nodded his head and left the office. Rufus stood up and continued to work on the files.

Rufus had collected some information about Vernon's company before. He thought there was no chance for him to use that information. But it seemed that the information he had gathered were not all of no use.

If Cassandra went to the company on her own, she might not be able to solve the problem. At this time, he needed to the step in and be the person whom she could rely on.

Meanwhile, at Cassandra's office, Victor took the food container from her. With it in his hand, he walked out of the building and threw it in a dustbin at a street corner near the company.

He felt relieved. 'Mission accomplished!' he thought. Turning around, he was approached by a wide, friendly smile. It scared him, making him step back instantly.

"Hi! Victor! What did you just throw away?"

Stella just had a very nice baked rice for lunch in a nearby restaurant and was in a very good mood. When she saw Victor, she walked to him and said hi.

After all, it was Victor who saved her when she was caught up with the dumb man last time. Since then, she never saw that man again. She felt relieved at the thought that no one would bother her again.

What frustrated her even more was, as a real food lover, Stella used to enjoy hunting for nice meals for lunch. But since she was stalked by that crazy man, she dared not to go outside and had to order takeouts for a few days.

Thanks to Victor, the man dared not to trouble her any more. Victor punched him hard and that really scared him.

Victor felt very edgy because of Stella's sudden show-up. He wasn't a talkative person and he hadn't quite recovered from the embarrassment that he had made a silly mistake just now. Stella scared him and he didn't know what to say.

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It made Stella suspicious.

She took a glance at the dustbin and saw the food container. Strangely, questions on her mind were beginning to form.

'Is it broken? Why did Victor throw it away?"

Stella wondered. But she didn't show her suspicion.

"Let's go. Let's go for a walk. It's good to walk after lunch, isn't it?"

Stella had a talent in engaging people naturally. Although she and Victor were not that close, she knew that he was a nice person. He was just introversive and looked cold. He was the kind of person who was serious in manner and speech.

Stella held his arms and slowly walked back to the company with him.

"What did you have for lunch?"

She looked at Victor and asked indifferently. She wanted to find some clue from his face.

"Just takeouts."

Victor stiffened since Stella was holding his arms. He looked extremely unnatural.

Stella, however, didn't believe him at all.

'Takeouts? I've never seen a takeout in such a large nice food container. What a waste just throwing it away!'

Stella kept on thinking about this on her way back to the company. Glancing at her wristwatch, she realized that she still had ample time for the office hours hadn't begun yet. She decided to go find Cassandra.

Cassandra didn't have any projects to do lately. Stella was afraid that she might not get used to it.

She pushed the door and walked into the office quietly. Cassandra was still sleeping at the desk. She seemed to be in deep sleep.

Indeed… Cassandra really had nothing to do!

Stella walked closer to her and noticed a white card paper.

She peeked at the card and read it, "Enjoy your meal and take some rest."

The creases of wrinkles on Stella's forehead increased in confusion. The handwriting was good and neat. She knew for sure that it was a woman's handwriting for she had some training on chirography.

'Who is this woman that has written the note to Cassandra?' she wondered.