A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 148

It felt like Rufus was burning into her skin. Part of her felt so shy that she wanted to tear herself apart from his embrace, but that only made him clutch her tighter and tighter.

"Rufus.." Cassandra said softly. "The dinner is ready, I have to arrange the table..."

Rufus gently planted his soft lips on hers before she could go any further. The fusing of their mouths, the feeling of his hands moving all over her back ignited a kind of electricity in her body. She moaned and exhaled with pleasure, only wanting him more. She let herself flow for just a few seconds, before saying, "Rufus...Stop... Please...It's time for dinner. It took me so long to make all those dishes. You wouldn't want to eat them all cold, would you?" Cassandra brought herself to say despite the fire she felt in the pit of her stomach.

After leaving the Tang Group, she had hurried back simply so she could cook dinner for Rufus, which was something she had always wanted to do. For her, cooking for her beloved and waiting for him to come back home after a day's hard work was the real happiness in life.

With his face buried in her neck, he let out a small chuckle and finally pulled himself back. Well, he thought he could wait a bit after sensing her embarrassment. They had the whole night to themselves.

At dinner, they sat face-to-face, with dozens of appetizing dishes on the table between them.

"I don't think Chinese food goes very well with red wine. I have here a pot of traditional yellow wine that my granny left me. Do you want to try it?"

Before Rufus could even say yes, Cassandra already picked up a porcelain cup, filling it up fully. As the pure, amber colour liquid flowed out of the beautiful, antique crock, a lovely, intoxicating aroma greeted them.

"It tastes great, but this kind of yellow wine really has a kick to it. Just try a little first, you might get drunk pretty easily," she said, putting down the crock and pouring herself a cup of tea. "Cheers! With the wine and the tea, let's toast for my resignation from the Tang Group today!"

Cassandra announced gleefully, raising her cup and waiting for Rufus to clink it. Rufus was torn between smiling and weeping at her words.

"I never knew one could be so happy losing their jobs, you know," he said, amused.

And then he raised his cup, clinking it with hers. They looked deep into each other's eyes as they sipped from their cups.

The amazement escaped Rufus's face the moment the cup touched his lips. Pleasantly surprised by its flavor, he took a good look at the liquid. Now, it looked orange-red to him, even clearer in the white porcelain cup. Although it looked fairly transparent, the taste of it was quite dense and as rich as the smell that lingered in the air. Even the aftertaste had the perfect balance of acidity, sweetness and a slight bitterness.

This was the first time he had had yellow wine. It was unlike anything he'd drank before, as if it had things to express and stories to tell.

"This wine tastes really rich! It seems so special. Tell me more about it," he urged, reaching for her hand.

Judging by the antique pot and its traditional flavor, he guessed it had a deep historic background.

However, Cassandra's face fell at the question. A look of sorrow came across her beautiful eyes.

"It has another name—Maiden Rose," she said slowly after a while. "I was brought up by my granny, who was in fact my mother's wet nurse. She was a southerner, and followed the tradition of burying a pot of this kind wine under the ground if a girl is born into the family. The wine is to be kept underground till the day the girl is married," she recalled. "This pot was prepared for me when I was born...but Granny passed away before I got married..."

Cassandra continued, her voice trailing off just before she finished, with a sense of suppressed sadness. Her granny's smiling face flashed in her mind.

When she was married into the Tang family, she had cried her heart out and had gone to find comfort in the cottage where she had grown up with her granny. It was then that she found this pot of Maiden Rose kept under her granny's bed. A yellowing, decrepit tag hung from it, with her date of birth written on it.

She had burst into tears looking at those handwritten characters, memories of her beloved granny flooding her head. Granny was the only person she had most dearly loved ever since she remembered existing, a love she had neither received from her parents, nor given.

At that moment, she had decided, wiping the tears off her wet cheeks, to keep the pot, as a token of her granny's memory and for the happy moment of her life.

As per that plan, she should've brought it out four years ago when she married Lionel, but there was no affection involved in that marriage whatsoever. Her heart never allowed herself to present the wine to anyone, or to ever open and drink from it. But, now she was with Rufus, the man she truly loved. She had not been so sure of anything else in her life as she was about him. This was the right time, with the right man.

Rufus kept looking at her face, touched by what she had just told him. He hadn't expected that the story behind the wine would also be a story about Cassandra.

He could somehow feel that she wasn't really attached to her parents. For all he knew, her parents, Vernon and Edith loved Cassandra's sister, Cloris, much more. No wonder, for her, the granny who prepared this pot of Maiden Rose held much more importance than her own real family.

"Where is she laid to rest?"

Rufus asked in a soft voice.

"Her children died while they were still young. She treated my mother like her own daughter, and of course the love was mutual. We buried her ashes in the cemetery that's located in the suburbs of the city, where we thought she would've liked to be,"

Cassandra answered, no longer holding back her tear. She truly loved her granny and her memory always brought tears to her eyes.

Rufus's lips arched down in an empathetic manner as he saw her wiping her tears, looking slightly embarrassed. He cleared his throat, as if to gauge whether he should speak something or not. "Cassandra, I have taken a day off tomorrow, how about we pay her a visit?"

he finally suggested. For one thing, he wanted to thank her granny for taking good care of Cassandra. And for another, he wanted to know more about Cassandra's deep past.

He still couldn't figure out why Cassandra's parents sent her away. She was completely healthy, without any disease or defect, certainly no burden to the family. Why was it that Vernon didn't like her, his own daughter?

Through her tears, Cassandra smiled, feeling grateful.

She clutched his hand and said, "How about we forget all these sad things and enjoy all these dishes I've made for you?"

Changing the subject abruptly, she served him small portions of everything on the table. The sheer thought of him liking any of it filled her with joy and anticipation.

One by one, Rufus tried all the dishes, pleased and surprised with each.

The food was so delicious and she must have put all her heart into it. He never knew she was so good at cooking as they had all kinds of chefs at the Tang mansion. She'd never had the chance to show off her wonderful skills.

"Did I tell you? I've always dreamt of preparing a table full of delicious dishes for a loved one. It never came true until just tonight,"

Cassandra said, her chin cupped in her hands. There was innocence in her clear eyes.

Looking at that beautiful face, Rufus lost all control of himself. Her beautiful plump lips were too tempting, at once arousing him.

All of a sudden, he got up and walked to her side. Breathing heavily, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the sofa, looking deep into her eyes. Cassandra let out a small cry of surprise as he flung her on the sofa, but her voice was soon muffled by his lips.

The roses he'd bought for her were placed next to the sofa on the table, emanating a sweet and enchanting smell into the air as the two were lost in each other, making love.

In the morning, Rufus asked her if she wanted to visit the cemetery. Cassandra was overwhelmed by how much he cared. They decided to go to the suburbs.

On the gravestone, there was a photograph of her granny, smiling wholeheartedly. Just looking at the picture, she looked like a warm and beautiful person, inside out. Rufus stared at the photo for quite a while before finally placing a bunch of chrysanthemums on her grave, then bowed to show respect.

He could imagine how Cassandra felt. His mother had been the closest person to him, the same way Cassandra's granny had been to her. Now, both of these women were granted eternal rest, leaving him and Cassandra to spend their days together.

May they bless the two of them with peace and happiness...

Cassandra was deeply moved by his sincerity and felt like she had regained courage to face the bad things in life. While they were leaving the cemetery, she suggested paying a visit to Edith.

Edith still didn't know about Cassandra's divorce, because of which Cassandra felt this heaviness all the way home. She couldn't imagine how her mother would react upon finding out.

They reached the Qin family villa. Rufus got out of the car too. Cassandra had wanted to ask him to stay in the car and wait for her, but it seemed like he had already decided to go in with her.

"Don't be afraid..." he said, "I'm here with you,"

His voice was heartwarming and comforting, giving her strength and resolve. She realized he wanted to go along so she wouldn't have to bear the brunt of Edith's blaming and ranting.

Giving him a grateful look, she nodded and rang the doorbell.

Edith opened the door, Her face lit up when she saw Cassandra at the door. "Cassandra!" she exclaimed, giving her a long hug. Only then did she notice Rufus. She smiled at Rufus but was unsure of why he would come with her.

Nevertheless, she let them both in warmly and called out to Cloris with joy.

"Your sister's back, Cloris, and Rufus has come, too. Get them some water, will you?" she asked, looking toward the living room.

Cloris had been lying on the sofa, watching TV. Her face darkened as soon as she sat up and saw Cassandra.

She was still very mad at her. The last time they'd met, she'd splattered paint at Cassandra, warning her not to go against Arthur. Arthur was moved by her petty action. Cloris remembered how he had hugged her, calling her a silly girl and saying she didn't have to stand up for him in the future.

"Oh, but I'll feel terribly bad if anything happens to you!" Cloris recalled him saying.

He had said it so heartily, and hugged her so tightly. To Cloris, it was a fruit of what she had done for him.

Since then, she had accorded herself to keep an emotional knot in her heart for Cassandra. Now, seeing her again, she felt quite uncomfortable, especially because Edith was around.

Cassandra, on the other hand, smiled at her gracefully, as if nothing had happened.

Honestly, what Cloris did to her didn't even compare to the trouble she had in her marriage with Lionel. Now that it had been resolved and she had moved on, she felt generally positive about life. She could easily let go of Cloris's childishness.

As she saw it, Cloris hadn't entered the society yet. She still had a few years to be outspoken and impulsive.

Since she was in a relationship with Arthur, and deemed her sister as a stumbling block in his career path, it was perfectly natural for her to hold things against her. Disagreements were typical between siblings.

Now that Cassandra no longer worked in the Tang Group, she posed no threat to Arthur. The coldness between them should automatically resolve.

She decided not to think of it and greeted Cloris with a bright smile.

"Hi, Cloris. I heard you are going abroad soon. Anything I can help with?"

she asked, walking toward her and trying to start a conversation. To her surprise, Cloris stood up immediately with a cold, stony face.

"I don't feel well, mom. I am going to rest for a while," she said, stiffly.

Before turning and leaving, she threw the TV remote on the tea table. The noise it made was so loud it sounded like her intention was to smash it to pieces.