A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 180

Things at work seemed to be picking up just when Cassandra returned to the company.

Mr. Wang brought several friends to Qin Group and recommended Cassandra to take on a few projects for them.

"Mr. Wang spoke highly of Manager Qin's working ethic and recommended your company to us. Don't let us down!" a client remarked as he signed the contract with Cassandra.

She was on a roll. It almost seemed like she was already used to getting such demands.

"Rest assured that we will do our best to satisfy every client!"

Cassandra replied confidently, which made the client smile with content.

With this momentum and word-of-mouth among clients, Qin Group should be able to move past its current financial predicament pretty soon.

Right after the client left, someone else came knocking on the door, looking for trouble instead of business.

"Cassandra, come out here!"

Cassandra knitted her eyebrows when she heard the familiar voice obnoxiously shouting from the cubicle outside the office.

"Manager Qin, there's a man out there causing trouble. Should we ask security to kick him out?"

the assistant asked her through the slightly opened door, looking distraught.

"No, it's someone I know. Send him in,"

Cassandra replied as she calmly put away her papers.

Lionel kicked open the door of her office, stormed in and stood in front of her desk.

"You have some nerve snatching away clients from Tang Group. Who gave you the right to do that, huh? Are you out of your mind?"

Lionel glared, his face full of indignation.

As it turned out, Mr. Wang and the other clients who recently signed their contracts with Cassandra were Lionel's old clients. When he found out that their most recent works were signed with Cassandra, he fumed with anger thinking that Cassandra was deliberately trying to sabotage him.

Stunned, Cassandra looked at the angry Lionel who almost looked like a rabid monster.

"Lionel, you don't have proof to back up that accusation," she answered.

She wasn't intimidated by Lionel. She kept her head up while staring at him, unfazed.

"Proof? You need proof? The clients you signed were all Tang Group's and I was the one who personally signed them before. We have been working together for a long time. Why else would they end their contracts with Tang Group when you left and turn to Qin Group immediately? Isn't that good enough proof?"

Lionel boomed as he pounded the desk with his fist.

Cassandra sneered at his attempt to blame her for his own failure.

"If your clients ran away, you should look yourself in the mirror first instead of yelling in front of me. Don't you feel embarrassed? As the Vice President of Tang Group, isn't it degrading for you to come here and accuse our little company of doing you wrong? If you really believe that I have something illegal, feel free to hire a lawyer to sue me!"

Cassandra had no intention of arguing with Lionel. He was talking nonsense just like his mother, Jill.

"Don't think you can get away with this just because you left the Tang Group,"

Lionel threatened. He was not prepared for Cassandra's sharp response. It made him even more furious.

"Thanks for reminding me that I'm not employed at Tang Group anymore, Mr. Tang. That said, I don't have to listen to your reprimand. Please see yourself out!"

Cassandra said calmly as she clasped both arms across her chest. She sat on her chair and looked at Lionel indifferently. Her aura was that of courage, strength, and authority.

"Cassandra Qin, you bitch!"

Lionel yelled as he pointed at her with a shaking hand.

"Karma will get you, just you wait! You cannot steal all my clients!" he said angrily.

Then, Lionel walked out the door and almost knocked over the assistant with a dozen files in her arms.

The assistant walked in with a look of concern and inquired, "Manager Qin, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Everybody outside the office heard Lionel's growls from the inside. Several male colleagues even pulled up their sleeves ready to help Manager Qin kick him out. The assistant, however, decided to try go in and see what was going on first herself. Before she could open the door, she was almost knocked over by the rampaging Lionel.

"Him? He wouldn't dare! He's a coward!"

Cassandra didn't think Lionel was worthy of her attention. Knowing him for such a long time, she had already seen through the man.

He was incapable of anything and yet thought highly of himself. If anything went wrong, he would only blame it on other people. It was never his fault.

Cassandra rejoiced at the fact that she was no longer married to him.

Still angry, Lionel rushed back to his car and hit the steering wheel with such a force that he almost had to destroy his car to subdue his anger.

Cassandra refused to yield to his intimidation and left him almost speechless.

He thought that after leaving the Tang family, she would struggle to survive. But now, it seemed like she wasn't having too much trouble starting a new life after all.

Lionel believed that he could blame her for the failure of his company and she would have given in. However, she was actually much stronger than him, which had dealt a heavy blow to his ego!

His recent business had been snatched by Dawn Star Group, and now, Cassandra was going to get a piece of it too. He now had very few of his old clients. If he couldn't find new ones soon, his position in the Tang Group would be in jeopardy.

Everybody fawned over him when he was the president. But after Rufus took over, as Horace's eldest son, people kissed his ass more.

The high-level executives he had planted in Tang Group were all dismissed by Rufus for various reasons. He also didn't succeed in relying on Ivy's son to regain his status in the family. Now, he was really backed up to a corner.

His thoughts were interrupted by a call from Ivy.

"Lionel, what time will you be back home this evening? Your father said that he had an important guest coming over and he wants you to be home early," she said.

Instead of being comforted with Ivy's gentle voice, it made him even more irritated.

"I don't have time! I'm working right now! Don't call me unless it's important!"

Lionel yelled as he cut off the call, shut down his phone and threw it to the back seat of his car. He massaged his scalp through his hair and tried to ease his suppressed indignation.

Looking up, he suddenly saw Cassandra carrying a briefcase as she walked out of the office building. She went across the road and hailed a taxi. Lionel got an idea.

Cassandra looked as if she were on her way to meet a client. Maybe he could follow her to see who she was going to meet since so many of Tang Group's clients had been taken by her.

Lionel put on his sunglasses and started tailing Cassandra's taxi while maintaining a safe distance.

Cassandra, in the taxi, did not realize that Lionel was following behind her. Since she came back from A City, the company's car had been sent for maintenance. She had been taking a cab going to her meetings for the past few days.

Inside the briefcase were files about a client recommended by Mr. Wang. He was a foreigner who wanted the Qin Group to handle his design.

Cassandra and her team had already finished the design requested according to his requirements and he suggested that she bring it over to the hotel he was staying in.

Cassandra went straight to the client's room when she arrived at the hotel, and a young man opened the door to greet her.

He was dressed in a suit with an amiable smile on his face.

"Manager Qin, right? Hello, I'm David, assistant to Tom. I'm here to represent him,"

he said as he ushered Cassandra into the room. There seemed to be no one else in the two-bedroom suite.

"Is Tom not coming?"

Cassandra felt a little confused because she had previously signed an agreement with Tom.

"Tom has already returned home because of other business, and I've been tasked to check the design draft for him,"

David replied, smiling infectiously. He led Cassandra to the sofa and poured her a glass of water.

"Mr. Wang bridged our company to yours and our design team has been working day and night on this project. I have reviewed everything and there is no problem with it. I think Tom will be satisfied,"

Cassandra said as she handed the design draft to David. She picked up the glass of water and drank.

A satisfied glimmer of light flashed across David's eyes, but he still looked through the design with a smile on his face.

"It is not easy to run a company alone. You are such a strong woman,"

David remarked as he absent-mindedly scanned through the pages. It was obvious that he was looking for something to talk about with Cassandra.

Meeting David for the first time, Cassandra did not know how to react to his comment. She gave him an awkward smile in response.

"I am managing it on behalf of my father. When my sister graduates, she will join me in running the company,"

she shared as she drank another mouthful of water and wondered why David kept talking to her about unrelated things instead of inspecting the draft.

Suddenly, Cassandra felt dizzy. She shook her head slightly, thinking it was an illusion.

"Is something wrong, Manager Qin?"

David asked with concern.

Cassandra looked at him and found that her vision began to blur. A feeling of despair enveloped her whole body!