A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 157

Ivy was astonished at what Lionel said just now. She froze in place. It was as if someone threw a bucket of ice water on her, which instantly doused the burning desire she had for him.

'When it comes to our sexual life, Lionel has always been so active for so many years. He has never, ever refused me like he just did today. What is wrong with him?' She thought to herself.

After she finished that trail of thought, she felt even colder than the moonlight outside the window.

It was the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, which was also known as the Lantern Festival. Horace, Lionel, and Rufus went out to the concert so it was only Jill and Ivy at home.

The two women spent the night talking, where Jill mostly comforted Ivy and told her to take better care of herself. She also mentioned that the Tang family was prepared to compensate her abortion that was caused by Cassandra.

Even though deep inside she was still very anxious, Ivy was trying her best to stay behaved and sensible. She simply nodded along and agreed with what Jill said.

"I love Lionel. Nothing else matters," Ivy said sincerely.

'I know that Jill loves Lionel best among her family. For as long as I can show her that there is nothing more important to me than Lionel, she would definitely see me as the most suitable wife for her son, ' Ivy thought.

Since she came back from the hospital, Ivy felt that everyone in the Tang family had changed their attitudes towards her. Though it was not obvious, she could feel it.

Ivy never hesitated to go after Lionel after he divorced Cassandra. However, it felt strange that she seemed to have to walk on eggshells with the Tang family.

It was common for someone who had nothing to lose to dare to do anything. Ivy was like that. Since day one, she had nothing but the baby in her womb. She had no choice but to frame Cassandra in causing the abortion. If she failed, she would rather die and took Cassandra down.

But, this was the opportunity she had been waiting for. Cassandra had divorced Lionel and left the Tang family. 'My long-cherished desire for many years is about to be fulfilled. This is my chance. I must seize this chance to get what I want, ' Ivy thought. 'But somehow, it feels like it is much more difficult than I've imagined.'

Originally, Lionel was the President of the Tang Group, and he was being groomed to be the successor of the company. However, the position was now occupied by Rufus and it seemed that he had taken Lionel's place.

When Lionel and Cassandra were still married, Horace actually appreciated his daughter-in-law. Rumors had it that the father and son actually argued about the divorce. Lionel took the divorce settlement to Cassandra and asked her to sign her name on the contract. He did it behind his father's back so that the divorce went through in the end. Horace found out after it was already done.

There was no use for Horace to stop the divorce. He knew his words would no longer sway them so he turned a blind eye.

Then, Ivy had moved in with the Tang family since she became pregnant with Lionel's baby. Jill liked her because Ivy did all she can to flatter her.

Ivy thought that Lionel loved her very much. However, as they grew closer, she gradually discovered that he was strongly possessive of Cassandra and actually wanted to win her heart. She knew she had to do something about the situation. This led her to gather the strength to abort her own baby and framed Cassandra. The loss of his baby caused him to lose his mind. In anger, he asked Cassandra for a divorce without thinking. Ivy justified her action by thinking that 'If I haven't done like this, they'd still be married and I'd be nowhere near being Lionel's wife.'

Her goal was now within her grasp. She was the one sharing Lionel's bed. Then, in a drunken stupor, Lionel said that he was actually in love with Cassandra. This shocked Ivy.

But instead, she didn't dwell into what he said that much. She only hoped that Lionel would marry her and treat her well in the future.

She then tried to seduce him by fondling his back, showing her desire. Surprisingly however, he bluntly refused her. What did this mean?

Maybe he was too tired to understand what Ivy was thinking about? Not long after, his breathing became steady, which signified that he was asleep.

She stared at his back, hoping that she could read his mind. But it was impossible.

She wondered, 'We've been together for seven years. Are we going through the seven-year itch? Are we going our separate ways soon?

No! Absolutely not! I will never allow this to happen to me.

I have sacrificed so much for him already. It's impossible to stop now!'

She would do anything to become Lionel's wife. No matter what.

The moon shined coldly on the couple in bed before it hid itself among the clouds.

Rufus was worried to miss the clock hitting midnight so he drove his car as fast as he could, checking the time every now and then.

When he entered the villa at the end, he gave a sigh of relief upon seeing that it was only 11:30 in the evening.

He prepared everything in the courtyard, pushed the door open and went in.

As usual, the house was still very clean. Ever since Cassandra came to live there, she had taken upon herself to clean it every day after getting back from working in Qin Group.

Rufus thought that he never saw Cassandra clean the house when she was staying in the Tang family house. Of course, all chores there were done by servants. Knowing that he lived in a house cleaned by her hands, Rufus felt warmer.

Stepping into the dinning room, he saw his sweetheart curled up on the sofa, like a small hedgehog. How cute she was! The television was on, but the volume was very low. The light shined on the her face. The shadow was changing but she kept her calm and beautiful face all the way.

He slowly walked towards the sofa, leaned forward and stared at her beauty.

She slept so soundly that she didn't even notice him coming in. She must have been very tired.

He then remembered what he saw at the Decoration Material Mall this afternoon. Cassandra was so tired that she slumped into a chair and struck her legs and waist. A hint of concern then appeared in his eyes.

Then Rufus fantasized, 'If she was an ordinary housewife, she would completely rely on me. She would be obedient and always put me first. I would be happy to see that.

However, she is unique and different from other woman. I am very much fascinated by her charm and I think I'm deeply in love with her.' He then lowered his head to kiss her.

Cassandra seemed to sense something and suddenly opened her eyes. She then saw his beautiful brown and smiling eyes right in front of her, it was heartwarming. Suddenly, she pushed him away and hurriedly sat up.

"Ah! I fell asleep!" Cassandra exclaimed.

She straightened her clothes and tried to stand up. Since she slept in an awkward posture, her legs were already numb. She almost fell to the ground the moment she stood up.

Fortunately, a pair of powerful arms caught her and pulled her into a warm and loving embrace, thus avoiding her hitting the floor.

A chuckle came above her head and she heard a deep voice say, "This is my house. But seeing your reactions, somehow, I feel like an intruder!"

Rufus laughed at her sensitiveness and panic. Faced with this, she was so ashamed that her face began to turn bright red.

"You came back so late I fell asleep," she whispered.

Cassandra buried her little face into his arms. A pitiful feeling was obvious in her words.

"Well, here I am. I hurriedly came back because I want to be with you," Rufus replied softly.

Rufus stretched out his hand to glance at his watch and saw that the 10-minute countdown he set earlier was fast approaching.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom like newlyweds did.

She felt very shy and thought, 'How could he do this? He just came back and he's taking me straight to the bedroom.'

As they walked into the bedroom, they approached the large window and he pulled them open.

Cassandra became confused at why he would do this. She thought to herself 'It's so cold outside. Why would he open the window? It's not stuffy in here anyway.'

"Face the window and close your eyes. I have a gift for you," he requested with excitement in his voice.

Rufus raised his lips as he stared at her waiting for her response.

"A gift? What gift?" Cassandra asked.

Her face was filled with confusion and it actually looked pretty cute. Seeing this, Rufus couldn't resist the temptationto kiss her. But he refrained from doing so.

"Honey, don't ask anymore questions, okay? Just close your eyes and you will soon find out," he answered.

Standing by her side, he pulled her head against his chest, put his hand over her ear and covered her eyes with his other hand.

"What are you doing? Why are you being so mysterious?" she asked.

Cassandra then pouted her lips with a look of discontent.

Leaning against him, she felt his heart beating faster and faster. The anticipation was building inside him and now it seemed like it was transferred to her. She started to hear his heartbeat again, which was different from her own.

His was so strong and powerful and pulsed with great vitality.

"I'm going to count down now. Open your eyes as soon as I hit one. Do you understand?" Rufus asked her.

He bowed his head and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head as a sign of comfort.

Hearing what he said, Cassandra felt more curious and excited so she hurriedly agreed to it.

Rufus then narrowed his black eyes as he turned to look out the window.

He then checked the indicator of his wristwatch and began to count down accurately, "Five, four, three, two, one..."

As he counted to one, Rufus quickly moved his hand from her eyes to cover her ears to protect them from the loud sound.

Her beautiful eyelashes fluttered like the wings on a butterfly as she opened her eyes.

A deafening sound suddenly came from outside the window. Fortunately, her ears were covered by his hands. Otherwise, it would have hurt her ears.

Looking up, Cassandra watched a wonderful display of colorful fireworks lighting up the beautiful night sky.