A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 164

A sad smile formed on Cassandra's lips. The miserable day made her feel depressed.

Previously, love was a taboo between Rufus and her because she had been married to Lionel. Now that she had gotten a divorce, they were still in the same place.

Was he waiting for a good time? Or was he not thinking about it at all?

Cassandra raised her head. The billboard at the crossroad ahead had been replaced, but it was still an image of Amanda.

She made a bigger splash in G City compared to other female stars. Cassandra heard from her employees that she would be appointed as the tourist ambassador of G City.

It was clear that Rufus loved Cassandra only. However, every now and then, Cassandra would find out something or hear something that would make her heart drop.

Amanda used to be with Rufus until he broke up with her. When he did, she didn't press on and Rufus didn't bother to give an explanation too. They just parted ways and now their romance was nothing but a thing of the past.

However, Cassandra couldn't get over it.

In big bold letters and a spring-like theme, Amanda's billboard was definitely something.

Cassandra stood on the other side of the road and just gazed at the image of Amanda smiling on her billboard.

She was a beautiful woman and very few men could resist her given her identity.

When Cassandra returned to the company, she wasn't in the best mood. As soon as the elevator doors dinged open to her floor, an assistant walked up to her right away.

"Manager Qin, Mr. Wang is waiting for you in the office."

Cassandra was the boss of Qin Group on paper, but she didn't want anyone to call her President Qin. In her heart, it was still Vernon's position.

"Okay. I'll meet him now."

Cassandra lifted her spirits by pasting a smile onto her face.

Mr. Wang was an important client. They presented the design draft yesterday. He might have come today to seal the deal and talk about further business.

"Manager Qin…"

The assistant opened her mouth and then closed it for several times—she was hesitant to speak.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

Cassandra could feel her insides dropping as she sensed the assistant's hesitance.

"Manager Qin, Mr. Wang seems to be unsatisfied with our design."

The assistant frowned. Worry was etched on her face. When Mr. Wang arrived at their office, his face was twisted into a scowl. The assistant served him tea before calling Cassandra. Cassandra had come right in time.

Cassandra was nonplussed as she listened to the assistant.

The design draft they submitted was finished by the design department. She had reviewed it herself and was sure that there was no problem.

Although it was not outstanding enough for a competition, it outshone other ordinary designs. Anyone with a discerning eye could easily tell that it was an excellent design. Why didn't Mr. Wang like it?

"I see. I'll go talk to him. Wait outside. I'll call you if necessary."

Cassandra was on the verge of panicking but she knew she couldn't, so she forced herself into calming down. She didn't want to worry her assistant any further. She was the manager here and her job was to solve problems.

With a hand on the doorknob and a few deep breaths from her chest, Cassandra walked in with a bright smile.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Wang. I was held up by some work."

Cassandra maintained her cool demeanor as she approached Mr. Wang and shook hands with him before sitting.

Mr. Wang pushed the design draft in front of Cassandra and bent his fingers to knock on the table.

"Take a look at this design draft."

Cassandra opened it with a smile, quickly browsed, and then closed it.

"Mr. Wang, I have personally reviewed the draft. It is flawless and it meets your requirements. May I know what your concern is?"

With her fingers interlocked, Cassandra looked very confident.

"Well, I'll go straight to the point. I've heard a lot about you. That's why I chose your company for my project. But this," he pointed to the draft, "is not your design. Someone else designed this but not you."

Mr. Wang furrowed his eyebrows as if in anger—for him, he was cheated.

"Mr. Wang, I'm the manager here and not a designer, but I can assure you that I was still fairly involved in this design. I personally reviewed and supervised this entire draft. There's absolutely no problem with it,"

Cassandra explained patiently, still smiling.

"I don't care who designed it. I want you to put your signature on the design. No matter how good the design is, I can't accept it if you are not the designer! I chose to work with your company because I admired your talent. Why else would I choose you over so many other companies?"

Mr. Wang was obviously not new to the business—he didn't buy Cassandra's explanation at all because he was still fuming.

The divorce agreement between Lionel and Cassandra clearly stated that she couldn't work as a designer anymore. Although she participated in the company's design drafts, she wouldn't sign her name to avoid arousing suspicion. She couldn't do anything about this.

Mr. Wang was unexpectedly very concerned about the designer of the draft. Cassandra had to appease him, "Mr. Wang, while I know our company is relatively small compared to others, you still can't deny that we've provided you with services and benefits you can't find anywhere else. We treat every client sincerely, and we squeeze our profits. You will get maximum value for money from our design. Other bigger companies don't do this. Qin Group is not new to this, and you know that. It was established years ago. We just decided to focus on design this year.

Design is absolutely our strong point. You chose us because you believed in the strength and skills of our design department, right? No other designers in G City can present you with a design as good as this. Don't even get me started on how reasonable our price is,"

Cassandra charmingly smiled at Mr. Wang as she waited for him to respond.

She didn't want to mention the terms of her divorce agreement which led to this arrangement so she could only convince Mr. Wang of the benefits of choosing Qin Group to work with him.

"Manager Qin, I have nothing against your company. In fact, I'm very happy about your company—you're giving me a fair price and you're the boss now. I'm very happy with all of that. We've worked with each other when you worked for the Tang Group. Although it was just a small project, the construction company praised your draft profusely and the project was completed perfectly. I know what you're capable of. But this design draft is not under your name, and I'm not sure I'm satisfied with that."

While Mr. Wang wasn't angry now, he still wouldn't budge on making Cassandra sign her name as the designer.

"Mr. Wang, I believe that as a CEO, you should take the interests of your company seriously and it should be your priority. When I worked as a designer in the past, I devoted myself to my work. Design was my top priority, and I didn't need to worry about other things. However, since I took over Qin Group, everything has changed.

A manager should make decisions based on the interests of the whole company and not just one side. For example, for this draft—while I can easily sign my name on it, but it would be terribly unfair to its real designers if I do that, right? They worked very hard for this design and if I sign my name on it, I would be taking credit for their hard work.

I personally chose all my designers. They deserve to sign their names on this draft because they worked on this. I won't deprive them of their right to do that on account of my personal affairs. I believe you can understand that, Mr. Wang."

Cassandra's sincere, reasonable arguments silenced Mr. Wang.

Cassandra sensed his hesitation, so she went on, "Mr. Wang, rest assured that we value your project very much and we will work very hard on it. My signature will not change anything because we'll work hard nonetheless. Having Qin Group design your project will be your greatest investment."

Mr. Wang looked at Cassandra and gave a hearty laugh.

Cassandra heaved a sigh of relief when Mr. Wang let out that laugh.

He shook his head with an easy smile and said, "Haha. Vernon's daughter is remarkable indeed. You are much more capable than your father. A ragged colt may make a good horse. Keep going and surely you'll go places!"