A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 138

Cassandra had signed her name on the dotted line countless times before but this was different. This time, she was feeling all sorts of emotions—most of which was relief. She smiled from ear to ear as she signed her name on the piece of paper Lionel handed to her.

Signing her name on that dotted line was all she needed to finally free herself from the cage she had been stuck in for the past years. She was more than happy to do it.

It didn't matter if she was framed or not—she still ended up in the same place. Now, she could finally be free and that was all that mattered to her.

She didn't even bother to read through the document—she just went ahead and signed her name.

"Don't you want to have a look at the terms?"

Lionel was a bit taken aback at how calm Cassandra was. He didn't expect she would be this cool and collected. Cassandra just casually signed her name without putting up a fight or protesting even.

"I'll read through them after I've signed. I'm sure none of these terms were written up to favor me, but I guess the worst would be asking me to leave the Tang family with nothing on my back. I don't mind that because I don't want to take anything that doesn't belong to me."

Cassandra shrugged, her tone was nonchalant but you could tell she wasn't lying or pretending. It really seemed like she didn't care about not getting any money from the Tang family. Lionel didn't know what to make of this.

Cassandra was right—the terms were ironclad, almost too ironclad especially for someone who had been married to him for five years. Firstly, she would not be able to take anything that came from the Tang family when she left. Since she had been working as a designer for the Tang Group, part of the terms also stipulated that she had to finish the amusement park design without compensation. In addition, she couldn't work as a designer for any other company in the next two years to preserve the secrecy and privacy of the Tang Group.

The terms were too harsh that Lionel assumed Cassandra would start a spat making it a perfect opportunity to humiliate her. However, he was surprised to find her pausing for just a second before signing her name.

She pushed Ivy down the stairs, consequently killing the forthcoming son of his. Who could blame Lionel for despising her? Lionel specifically asked his lawyer to draw up ironclad terms that he knew Cassandra would protest to. He wanted her to suffer for all that she'd done, but here was Cassandra acting like she didn't care at all.

Cassandra didn't care that the Tang family would absolutely abhor her and she most certainly didn't care that she was coming out of this whole deal without receiving a penny. She didn't care that her life as the rich wife of a wealthy man had ended. She didn't care that they spat all those hurtful words to her. She would merely lend them an ear and didn't even bother retorting anything back. In fact, she really didn't care about any of these—she just wanted to be done with this whole thing and get her freedom back.

For Lionel, Cassandra was an evil woman because she virtually killed his unborn son. But seeing Cassandra's demeanor today confused Lionel.

What was Cassandra really thinking? What did she really care about? Lionel had no way of knowing the answers to all his questions.

"All right. I signed all the papers. We can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau now to finalize our divorce,"

Cassandra said while getting up. She straightened her clothes then turned around to get her coat from the hanger. She put on her coat and glanced at Lionel, who was still standing and unmoving. Cassandra paused then said, "Or I can get a taxi there myself. I will see you at the Civil Affairs Bureau. Oh, I almost forgot. Here you go. The keys to the car your father gave me."

Cassandra dropped the keys on the desk and headed out of the office with her head held high. She never looked back.

Lionel just watched as Cassandra proudly left the office. He watched until he couldn't see her shadow anymore. Then he turned to look at the keys lying on the desk. He was utterly flummoxed because this Cassandra was different from the woman he'd been married to for the past five years.

Meanwhile, Cassandra didn't expected for things to go as smoothly as she had wished.

Getting a divorce was much easier than getting married especially, when she made it easy for herself by simply signing the papers without a protest. By the time they stepped out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, they were no longer married. She finally had nothing to do with Lionel Tang.

The past five years were like a dream for her. She got married to the son of the Tang family when her own family was in need and she left the Tang family when her family was in trouble again. This was quite surreal.

After getting the divorce, Cassandra went back to the house of the Tang family to get her things. Only by then did she find that there weren't many things of her own in that house even though she had been married to Lionel for five years. She just packed her clothes and some of her personal effects and that was all. All of her other things, apparently, didn't really belong to her.

Of course, she also took the unicorn with her—the one toy that had been in the corner of the closet for years now.

The eyes of the unicorn were still black and gentle, just the way they were years ago. However, the person who owned it had changed so much over the years. Cassandra had grown from that little innocent and pure girl to this divorced woman today.

She suddenly remembered that boy who had caught this unicorn for her. If she could ever see him again, she really wanted to thank him again for giving the lonely and depressed girl a warm gift that had lit up her whole world at that time.

The Cassandra now was unbreakable. She was able to survive her former husband's family framing her and divorcing her. They left her without any money even when her own family needed it badly. Cassandra was not afraid to get on with her life now that she was free. She thought there was nothing else that could break her anymore. She wanted to let the people who really cared about her know that she could finally live for herself and be the strong woman they wanted her to be.

Cassandra knew she could do it, because now the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with was going to be by her side. He wasn't very talkative and was dominantly stoic. The man was a bit too stubborn, sometimes even for his own good, but he cared deeply about Cassandra. He treated Cassandra differently, like she was special to him. You could see it in his eyes how much love and affection he had for Cassandra. She was absolutely smitten and now that she was fresh from a divorce, there was no reason why they couldn't be together.

In the end, Cassandra packed up only three suitcases. She didn't take anything that didn't belong to her in the house of the Tang family.

Jill, her former mother-in-law, was in the living room downstairs. She watched or rather, glared at Cassandra as she moved her suitcases downstairs. The suitcases were heavy and Cassandra struggled to bring them downstairs all on her own. Two servants wanted to walk up to help her with the suitcases. But Jill stopped them.

"She is no longer the daughter-in-law of the Tang family. And she's not the one who pays you. I do!"

The two servants exchanged glances before retreating. They couldn't do anything.

Cassandra snorted. She stubbornly moved her suitcases downstairs by herself. When she finally brought them out of the house, she was sweating all over.

She turned her head back and looked at the house of the Tang family for the last time, then said goodbye in her heart.

The taxi which she had booked arrived. She moved her suitcases in the trunk and got in the car. When the driver asked Cassandra where she wanted to go, the corners of her lips lifted into a smile.

"The Garden Villa."

This was where Rufus lived. And she had the key to the villa that Rufus had given her before.

He had said to her that she was always welcome in the villa. And now, Cassandra was going to take him up on his offer.

There was a coded lock on the big gate. Cassandra put in the combination that Rufus had told her. It was her birthday. Then the gate slowly opened.

Rufus lived in this big villa alone. He hired a couple of people to come and clean once a week. Other than that, he was the only one who lived, ate, and slept here. Cassandra used the key that he gave her to open the door to the house. Once she got in, she found that this house felt a bit empty and didn't have a lived-in feel about it. It seemed that Rufus hadn't come home yet.

As Cassandra looked around the room, she realized that this was going to be her home from now on and she couldn't help but feel excited. She couldn't wait to live her life and her future with Rufus.

She went upstairs and chose a room. Then she started to unpack and fix her things. She hung up her clothes in the closet and put her unicorn beside the pillow.

After that, Cassandra went to the nearest supermarket and bought all the things she needed. Then when she got home, she started cleaning the house and decorating the room.

The Spring Festival was nearing. During the four years she spent abroad, Cassandra had always celebrated the Spring Festival with her classmates. But of course, the Spring Festival in Rome was not as festive as it was in China. So this year, she was determined to have a good holiday with Rufus.

Cassandra completely transformed the whole atmosphere of the villa. Originally, it was just grey all over but now she made it lighter and more fun.

She changed the grey table cloth into light green and put a clear vase with lilies inside on the table. Lilies were Cassandra's favorite flowers. Suddenly, the room seemed to come to life a bit. It was starting to feel like home.

The curtains were wide open, leaving only a thin layer of gauze with white lace. The light at dusk shone in through the window, making the whole room glow a golden light.

Satisfied with her work inside Cassandra went out to the garden with a spade in her hand. She had bought two flower seedlings on her way home. She wanted to plant them in the garden so she could enjoy a garden of spring with Rufus next year.

She chose a place that she thought was suitable for growing flowers and crouched down to dig a hole in the mud.

The setting sun shone down on her body. She looked like a fairy in the dusk light. A few strands of hair stuck to her forehead because of her sweat. Cassandra used her arm to wipe away the sweat. And right at this moment, she saw a Range Rover slowly slide through the big gate.

Her eyes suddenly shone with delight. She was just too familiar with this car. She had cried in that car and been comforted in that car. It was Rufus's car.

Rufus was finally back!

Cassandra immediately stood up. She even forgot to put down the spade in her hand and wide off the mud that was on her clothes. She was just staring at that car with expectant eyes and watching it slowly pull over and stop. Then, Rufus got out of the car.

He was wearing a black wool coat which made him look somewhat intimidating. Rufus closed the car door on his side carefully. He was now facing Cassandra. She could vaguely see his handsome face that could make every woman swoon.

She just could not take her eyes off him, watching his every move with a big smile on her face. Cassandra was just so happy to see him. She couldn't wait to start their new life.

She knew that Rufus saw her too but he didn't run towards her and envelope her in a hug like she had expected. Instead, he just stood there unmoving, looking back at Cassandra.

Rufus was far enough that Cassandra couldn't see the look on his face. She wanted to assume that he was just surprised but still nonetheless happy to see her here. He must be, right? After all, he had pleaded for her to come here so many times before but she kept refusing. This time, she came without telling him so he must have been surprised.

And this time, she was ready. She was ready to begin her new life with him. A life of freedom that only belonged to Rufus and her.

What if he asked her why she was suddenly here? How would she answer this question? A lot of other questions ran through Cassandra's mind.

Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest out of excitement. She stared at Rufus with intense and expectant eyes, waiting for him to start walking towards her. But suddenly, something unexpected happened.

The car door on the other side opened, pulling Cassandra out of her trance. A woman dressed in red stepped out of the car.

She had a great body, tall and thin. She was wearing a red hat and a long red coat. The black waistband showed off her slim waist. Even from afar, Cassandra could tell that she was elegant.

All of a sudden, Cassandra felt that time had stopped around her. She froze in place and her world suddenly seemed so quiet.

She couldn't see clearly but she could tell the woman had a smile on her face based on how bouncy her steps were.

She walked to stand beside Rufus, and tilted her head to look at him. Then she grabbed his wrist and walked towards the house, dragging him with her.

They got closer and closer. So close that Cassandra could see the looks on their faces.

The woman looked at Rufus with a sweet smile on her face. Then she reached out, put her arms around his neck and said in a seductive tone, "Rufus, didn't you know? I have been missing you so much."