A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 194

Ivy might have a tricky mind but that didn't mean she was a woman of wisdom. She was a bit dense that she would even go as far as sacrificing her own son just for driving Cassandra away.

To Amanda, Ivy was a naive woman ready to be used at her disposal.

When Amanda saw that Ivy was deep in meditation, she started the car.

"Ivy, aren't you going to attend the ball? Do you already have something to wear? I can help you. I'll take you to my friend's shop and we can choose a dress for you. Put all your worries aside. What's important is you wear something nice so you can go with Lionel to the ball. You know we women gotta work!"

Amanda played her words with two meanings, which not only stopped Ivy's awful ideas coming out this morning but also drew her over her side.

Not to mention Amanda hated Cassandra too—these were the types of people she wanted to keep in her life!

"Manager Qin, here's the Business Newspaper for today,"

the assistant said as she placed today's newspaper in front of Cassandra —and on the front page was Cassandra's interview from the other day.

"I think they made a mistake..."

the assistant said hesitantly, sneaking a shy glance at Cassandra.

Cassandra grabbed the paper and quickly skimmed through the article and there it was—a quick blurb about Cassandra's personal affairs.

Business Newspaper: Manager Qin, as a business woman, what can you say about love?

Cassandra: Don't look for it. It'll come.

Business Newspaper: Is there someone special in your life right now? Maybe, someone you love?

Cassandra: Yes, I do have a partner right now and I love him very much.

Business Newspaper: Do you have plans to get married?

Cassandra: We haven't talked about that yet.

Business Newspaper: Hoping for the best, Manager Qin.

Cassandra: Thank you so much.

"I don't think there's anything wrong here. What are you talking about?"

Cassandra said in a puzzled tone as she raised her head to look at the assistant. All the questions were pretty standard—nothing impressive or offensive.

The assistant bit her lip and flipped to the next page to show Cassandra another article.

It was the entertainment section and the article was about Lyndsy.

The article was accompanied by a huge photo of Lyndsy's face. The title of the piece was "Best Actress's Boyfriend Was Snaked By A Former Flame! Rumored Woman in Man's Heart said to be 'Two-Faced and Artificial."

The article basically said that Lyndsy had a business colleague who stole her boyfriend. For her own sake, she kept mum about it.

The other woman meanwhile was described as a powerful woman. Although the woman wasn't named, the description matched Cassandra's precisely: a divorcee whose father was in jail. This article could not have been more blatant.

Cassandra merely shrugged it off, a light smile playing on her lips. She was already so used to the rumor that it had already become a joke to her, something to be laughed at.

Cassandra was very aware of what Lyndsy was like and what she'd just gone through. There were so many things going on in her life that every detail of it was being broadcasted everywhere.

"Don't worry about it, this is nothing,"

Cassandra said nonchalantly as she crumpled the newspaper into a ball and threw it in the trash bin.

"But... We have two clients in the middle of a deal who's suddenly refusing to sign the papers. They said they wouldn't sign because your character and values were questionable..."

The assistant wanted to say more but decided against it when she saw the look on Cassandra's face.

"I'm not guilty of anything so I don't need to clean up after myself. You have to stop caring what others think and say of you,"

Cassandra said, consoling the assistant. If she worried about everything going on in her life, she would have died of anxiety by now.

"What about the clients?"

The assistant said in a worried voice.

"I'll handle it. I'll be attending the ball tonight, I can talk to them after."

Cassandra offered to fix the situation so that her assistant wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Cassandra took a deep breath when she thought of going to the ball—she was going to have to face her industry peers and some higher-ups alone. She needed to be on her best behavior so that she can make the Qin Group look good.

It was a great opportunity and she would be stupid to not take advantage of it.

The ball was going to be held at the biggest hotel in G City. Cassandra arrived on time and she found that so many people were here and they were all clustered in groups.

Cassandra didn't know how to join a group chatting so she kept to herself, just observing everyone.

Guests arrived by the truckload and they were guided inside by Miss Etiquettes.

Suddenly, people were fussing towards the doorway—a man and a woman had just arrived at the ball hand in hand.

The man was Rufus who looked like a god in his dark suit.

The woman was Amanda clad in a green, fairy-like dress.

They looked perfect together that everyone was staring at them and admiring them.

"Were you at Amanda's last concert?"

The two women standing next to Cassandra were whispering between themselves.

"Yes, Amanda said she was staying in G City for someone and now anyone with eyes knows that it's Rufus from the Tang Group."

"That's true. The Tang Group was also the one who will build the Amanda Piano School. Their lives are so connected, huh, well they are like husband and wife."

"G City is very committed to development now and it's all thanks to Rufus. It could even attract international attention especially if Amanda's going to be the spokeswoman for the tourism area..."

They spoke in hushed tones but Cassandra could still hear them clearly.

She lowered her arms to her side and gripped her dress tightly, her palms sweating profusely.

She and Rufus hadn't talked in days but she assumed he was just busy with his business. But apparently, she was wrong because he was obviously busy with Amanda and not his business.

As they stood together hand in hand, they truly looked like a perfect couple.

Rufus skimmed around the room until he found Cassandra standing alone in a corner—the look on his face suddenly softened. He tried to lift his arm to wave at Cassandra but Amanda tightened her grip on his arm.

"Oh, they're here. I can already see some of the officials I know. Come, I'll introduce you."

Amanda purposely ignored the fact that Rufus was just about to wave Cassandra over. She dragged Rufus across the room to mingle with the officials.

Rufus stole a glance at Cassandra who was just getting herself a glass of wine from a waiter—at this moment, Rufus felt his heart sink.

He knew pretty well that she was a lightweight and if she did get drunk, it was going to be pretty embarrassing.

As he thought of all of these, Amanda was dragging him across the room.

By the time Cassandra lifted her head with the wine in her hands, she could only see Rufus's back.

There was barely any space left between Amanda and Rufus—they were standing so close to one another that Cassandra felt her heart ache.

It seemed that everyone belonged with someone and here she was, standing out like a sore thumb in her lonely corner.

After he had finished mingling with the officials, Rufus scanned the room again in an attempt to look for Cassandra but she was nowhere to be found.

Around this time, music was already playing and people were slowly making their way towards the dance floor. Amanda, of course, wouldn't miss this opportunity to force Rufus towards the center of the dance floor.

Rufus danced with Amanda robotically, his eyes still sweeping the room.

Amanda felt her insides drop when she realized Rufus wasn't even looking at her.

Amanda orchestrated this entire thing so that she and Rufus would end up showing up at the ball together.

She did this purposely because she knew Cassandra was going to be here. She wanted to show Cassandra that she was the woman for Rufus and not her. Cassandra was nothing but a commoner to her and she couldn't believe she even had to compete with someone like her.

Amanda never left Rufus's side just to make sure he wouldn't talk to Cassandra. This sight of Amanda and Rufus side by side the whole night broke Cassandra's heart.

No woman could care less about her image and status in a relationship. Amanda knew that with everything Cassandra was going through, Rufus was in no place to be committing to anything much less a relationship. And Cassandra wouldn't be wrong to doubt him at this point too.

Distrust can break a relationship. In this case, all she needed was to sit back and watch from afar.

"Rufus, I'll be announcing that you and I are going to be the spokespeople for the tourism area of G City. Get ready, okay?"

Amanda whispered to Rufus, purposely brushing her head against his chest so she could close in the little space between them.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do,"

Rufus said coldly, stepping back so that he would create a space between him and Amanda.

"I didn't mean to boss you around. I'm just reminding you how valuable I am to your business and I'm a bit sad that I have to remind you of that," she paused and looked at Rufus in the eyes, "she can't do anything for you, Rufus, she'll only hold you back."

Amanda's tone was knowing and suggestive and on her face was a casual smile.