A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 140

Long ago, in his younger years, Rufus was quite a rebellious child. He had lived with his mother ever since his birth, and had never seen his father. By chance, he knew that he was the bastard of Horace, the kind of bastard who would never be legitimized by his father because of the latter's ambition.

At that time, he was not yet mentally mature enough to accept the cold, harsh truth. Daily, he constantly felt defeated, depressed and dejected.

Ever since the day he could form coherent thoughts, his mother had constantly told him that his father had passed away, and he was the last thing on his father's mind even on his deathbed. Using that as a driving force, his mother pushed him to strive hard in his studies.

And he believed it. With all his heart and soul he believed that he was loved by a father he had never seen. He believed that he was never deprived of love. He was determined to live his life to the fullest, in honor of his father, who did not have the chance to live long.

He worked hard; he obtained the best grades; he was the posterchild of brilliance in everyone's eyes.

However, things started to change when Rufus turned 17. His mother's health condition worsened. Her low blood pressure that plagued her for years has pushed her body to the brink of collapse.

Maybe she was afraid of taking her secret to the grave, or maybe she was afraid of leaving her child alone in the world after she passed away. So she eventually decided to tell him every bit of the truth about his lineage.

It turned out that the truth was too much for him to bear. He became a rebel for some time.

He missed school; even if he did attend, he would only stay for half the lesson. He was also involved in a lot of fighting. In no time, he went from being the exemplary student to a problem child, one who brought forth headaches for all the teachers and his frail mother.

One day, he was reprimanded by his teacher. After much arguing, he was fed up and stormed out of school.

While wandering around, he happened upon a stubborn little girl.

He examined her uniform and realized that she was from another school. The skirt ended only above her knees. Rufus couldn't help but stare at her exposed legs.

She seemed to be obsessed with a claw machine. He couldn't keep count of how many coins she had put in.

One, two, three… She promptly inserted her coins into the slot of the machine, played, but all seemed futile.

Rufus stepped closer to the girl and observed her intently. Her earlobes were surprisingly tiny, and her skin was spotless and smooth.

Her eyelashes were elegantly long, and would swing everytime she moved. She stopped and stood still, gazing at the metal arm of the machine.

Slowly, the arm inched closer to the white unicorn and lowered to grasp it. It always dropped close to it, but just couldn't hold on long enough to pick it up.

It was her last try. She had run out of coins. The tip of her nose was caked in tiny beads of sweat—she was nervous.

To her dismay, the metal arm once again failed to get the toy she desired.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She was visibly upset. As much as she wanted to try again, she was out of coins and had to go.

Then, an idea formed in Rufus's mind. He fumbled around his pocket and took out a coin, which he promptly inserted in the slot.

Beating the claw machine was pretty tough, but it could be very easy as you get the hang of it. The fundamental rule when it came to this game was to be fast and precise, which required a certain level of skill.

It just happened that Rufus was a master of this. Most of the time, his classmates would turn to him for help with this game. He had gotten so many prizes that he had literally got bored with it.

But today, for some strange reason, he was moved by this little girl's determination. She was so stubborn that she had spent so much just for that one doll.

She could have easily bought a few dolls with the amount of money she spent.

How silly she was!

That was why he decided to interfere. Without any effort, he got the unicorn.

The little girl was speechless when she finally grasped the doll she wanted so much. Her cute mouth was agape in shock. She was so cute.

His voice was as tender as the warm glow of the afternoon sun. He just pushed the unicorn to her chest, and she accepted it with both hands.

"Here you are. It's yours now. Next time, if you know you're not good at it, don't play it. You'll just end up disappointed. And disappointment," he wagged one finger in front of her face, "is no good."

He was right. Disappointment was no good at all. It was what made him a totally different person, stripped of his ambition and hope.

Still clutching the doll, the little girl raised her head and stared at him blankly.

Rufus took one last look at her before turning around to leave.

Never had he seen the girl again.

She left a lasting impression on him. He couldn't ever forget her stubborn look. Maybe he saw himself in her at that moment. Then maybe what he couldn't forget, was his stubborn self.

After snapping back to reality from his daydream, he examined the familiar white unicorn in his hand. He couldn't stop grinning.

'I see, Cassandra. That stubborn little girl by the machine was you, huh? It is indeed our fate to fall in love with one another, ' he thought.

Having scanned the room, he could tell that she had at last moved all of her things in. This meant that she had finally left the Tang family and was free from the shackles of marriage with Lionel.

A few days ago, he had been overseas handling some business matters. He was such in a hurry that he had no chance to tell the others about it. A lot of things had happened while he was gone, it seemed.

Putting the reminiscent doll by the bed, he then walked out of the room, and went to the study to retrieve the name list Amanda had requested.

With a mischievous smile on her face, Amanda opened her arms to embrace him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Rufus! It's been so long. How about we grab dinner together? I can cook for you. My cooking skills are as good as my piano skills!" she proudly exclaimed.

Amanda had been searching for him all these years, and now she finally found him. He had become even more handsome and mature than the man from her memories. He was so much more attractive now, as well!

A feeling of regret crept into her heart. She shouldn't have let him go. Back then she was too young and naive. She believed that she could find herself a better man. Even when they had been through hell together, she still left Rufus.

As she recalled the past, she blamed herself for being so stupid.

The good thing was, she thought, that it was not too late yet. Luckily, she learned from her past mistake and would definitely do it right this time! She was never going to give up until Rufus's heart was hers!

However, Rufus politely refused, "No, it's okay. I have dinner plans with my girlfriend. I don't have time to spare. I might have to take a raincheck on this one."

For a brief moment, when he mentioned his girlfriend, a rare kind of tenderness surfaced on his expression. It was also the first time she saw so much of contentment in his eyes.

Warning klaxons rang in her head. 'Girlfriend? Was he referring to the woman who was dressed like a gardener in the yard he asked me to stay away from?' she wondered.

She even went towards the strange woman and asked her to go away. 'Could she be the girlfriend Rufus was talking about?

How could Rufus settle for such a simple woman?' she pleaded inwardly.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she blurted out, "Your girlfriend… You mean the woman who was digging a hole outside just now?"

Amanda stammered when she asked this. How could that dirty woman be so deserving of Rufus's caliber?

A satisfied and warm smile formed on his lips, which irritated Amanda.

"Yes, and her name is Cassandra. She's my girlfriend and soon-to-be wife," Rufus answered proudly

He had been so cold towards Amanda the whole afternoon, but at the mention of Cassandra, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. Amanda's heart sank.

She was aware that someone as handsome and fetching as Rufus had no shortage of admirers. As someone who was once an important part of his life, she knew that the only thing he was concerned about was to strengthen himself. He wanted to make his father regret abandoning him and his poor mother.

At that time, even though they were a couple, Rufus just couldn't give her any sense of certainty.

He didn't know how to flirt with girls; he was so rigid even when he was on a date.

Amanda was once attracted to his appearance, but fell for his outstanding qualities. However, Rufus was a complete stranger to love. He knew nothing of romance and the subtle nuances of a functioning relationship. Even though she loved him, she had to gave in to her father's strong opposition.

But now, Rufus was radiant. He smiled brightly for a woman, and even went as far as declaring her as his future wife! Amanda started to doubt whether someone replaced the Rufus she knew so long ago.

"Well, your fiancee is gone,"

Amanda jeered as she pointed towards the yard.

Rufus was taken aback for a moment before he ran towards the door. She was right. The only thing in the yard was the small hill of mud—Cassandra was nowhere to be seen.

He then peered at the main gate. He remembered closing it with his remote, but now it was wide open.

Cassandra took off!

"Amanda, I'm sorry but it seems I don't have any more time for you today. I have to attend to this matter. Let me send you off."

Before Amanda could say anything, he pulled at her arm and took her out of the villa. Then taking out his phone, he called Victor, "Get to Garden Villa fast. You need to pick someone up, in 5 minutes!"

After letting go of Amanda, he went out to the main road and looked around. He wondered, 'Where did the little woman go?'