A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 200

Intimacy radiated across the hall as Rufus held Cassandra passionately, and everyone present gaped at the sight of them. When Amanda saw this, anger brewed inside of her that she held the glass in her hand tightly. Her strength was so great that her fingers were beginning to turn pale and it seemed that the glass she was holding would shatter any moment. She was trembling in anger, and her lips twitched in rage.

Amanda glared at Rufus as he walked out with Cassandra in his arms, and her face was filled with jealousy and annoyance. She was so angry that there seemed to be a burning fire in her eyes.

'Cassandra, you are so stupid! How can you let Rufus do this for you in front of so many people! How dare you ignore the bad reputation it would bring to Rufus for being so reckless to leave with you!

You're just a woman who should be criticized by everyone. Why is Rufus so gentle to you? Why?' Amanda thought irritably.

Just as Amanda was lost in her own thoughts, a man's voice was suddenly heard from behind her.

"Hello, Miss Ke. Hope to get along well with you!"

The man's voice sounded very gentle. He was staring at Amanda with a beaming smile. At this point, Amanda had braced herself and was beginning to feel awkward.

She turned around and found that the man standing next to her was Arthur. He had a look on his face as he tried to start a conversation with Amanda.

Amanda thought Arthur's smile was somewhat weird, but she couldn't tell exactly why she felt that way. 'Was this the man who had replaced Rufus to be the spokesperson? Why did the government make a sudden change in the decision? What was with him that changed the decision? What is his real identity?' she wondered.

Rufus didn't want to be the spokesman in the first place, so the fact that Arthur was elected as the spokesperson was not so unusual. However, the sudden change of plans was so strange and it made Amanda probe as to what the truth was.

"You have such a great influence and high morale in G City, Mr. Zhuang. I also hope that we can get to know each other well!"

Amanda answered with a sweet smile, hiding away her doubts for Arthur.

"Thank you, Miss Ke. It's their decision. They valued me enough to make me the spokesman! To be honest, it was completely out of my expectation and I was quite surprised!"

Arthur had seen the angry expression on Amanda's face when Rufus and Cassandra left. He looked at her with an understanding smile, but he did not bother to ask her the real reason for being so angry.

"That's great, Mr. Zhuang. In fact, I admire you for achieving so much at such a young age!"

Amanda always knew how to deal with businessmen—complimenting them without making them feel it was on purpose. So she praised Arthur liberally.

Arthur was a superficial man who enjoyed being flattered by others. Naturally, his face lit up after hearing Amanda's words.

Still, Arthur did not forget what the man had told him to do. After a short chat, he smiled at Amanda and changed the topic.

"By the way, Miss Ke, Mr. Ji asked me to tell you that he missed you very much."

After saying that, Arthur lifted his glass slightly, nodded to Amanda, then turned and left.

Upon hearing the man's name, the smile on Amanda's face suddenly froze.

The name itself recalled the most horrible nightmare for Amanda. It was like a venomous snake wrapping around her neck so suffocating and making her pale.

It was the worst nightmare that happened to her that year. Amanda shivered with fear at the thought of it and tried desperately to shut off the memory on her mind.

'How was Arthur related to him? What on earth does he want with me?' Amanda doubted.

She felt so desperate as if the sky above her was covered by heavy clouds. At the same time, she knew that something bad was about to happen. Her body began to tremble with fear as she still held the glass in her hand.

A man standing near her seemed to notice the oddity in her and asked her with concern, "What's wrong Miss Ke? Are you okay? Are you feeling ill?"

He thought that Amanda might be uncomfortable and somewhat hypoxic because the room was too stuffy. He held her waist and wanted to take her out for some fresh air.

Amanda, however, tried to squeeze a smile at the man who was caring for her and then fell on the ground with her eyes closed.

A female guest screamed in horror when she saw the scene. At the same time, the guests that were around Amanda instantly gathered around and began to babble.

"Call an ambulance! Be quick!"

Someone called for an ambulance and other guests were so shocked that they had no idea what to do but stare at Amanda, who was lying on the ground. Soon, the reporters surrounded Amanda and were busy taking as many pictures as they could.

The scene was chaos. However, in the far corner of the hall, Arthur was standing quietly. He took a sip of the red wine with a sinister smile on the corner of his mouth.

'It seems that Mr. Ji is very important to Amanda, ' Arthur thought.

Meanwhile, as Rufus and Cassandra arrived at the door of the villa, Rufus kicked the door open, walked in with Cassandra in his arms and closed the door with his foot again.

"Be gentle! Are you going to destroy the door?"

For almost the whole time Cassandra was held by Rufus in his arm, they were never parted except when she was driven back home in the car.

Rufus portrayed such an impulsive and intimate behavior towards Cassandra in front of so many people today, regardless of what others would gossip about them. Cassandra was sad yet happy about it.

She felt sad because she and Rufus had been trying so hard not to disclose their relationship to the public. But today, Rufus just revealed their relationship on such an important occasion, which meant that all their efforts became useless.

On the other hand, she felt happy because Rufus boldly admitted that she was his girlfriend. It was as if thorns were pulled out from her chest. Their relationship was no longer a secret, and there was no need to care about what other people would think or say about them. At last, they were free to express their love for each other.

What Cassandra felt, was really a kind of contradictory and complicated emotion. She thought all the while that she was generous enough to accept the cruel fact that her relationship with Rufus could not be made public. This made her train herself that she would not mind whether she could be admitted as Rufus's girlfriend or not. She even pretended that she had nothing to do with Rufus. But she was wrong!

All her assumptions were disproved by what happened just now, because Cassandra realized that every woman including her had a common wish. They all hoped that their beloved man would be brave enough to stand and show their love for their partners in front of everyone in the world.

Rufus took Cassandra directly to the bed. He gazed at Cassandra seriously yet attentively, and his face was full of pity.

"I will let everyone know that you are my girl."

Rufus was gentle yet somehow bossy. He was declaring that he was the only one in the world who could be Cassandra's boyfriend.

"Rufus, aren't you afraid?"

Cassandra asked with her eyes closely fixed on him.

"Afraid? What should I be afraid of?"

There appeared a confident smile on the corner of Rufus's mouth.

"Afraid that people will gossip about us..."

Cassandra's eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't want to hear anybody saying anything bad about Rufus.

Rufus stared at the little woman with a spoiled smile and gently caressed her snowy face.

"Well, let them gossip all they want. I'm not afraid of anything."

They stared at each other with affection and time seemed to be at a standstill.

Cassandra regarded his dark eyes. She was completely attracted by Rufus's directness and bravery.

She put her hand around his neck and gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

She belonged to Rufus and only he could appreciate her beauty.

Cassandra could feel her temperature rising as her passion and desire for Rufus burned. However, Rufus's phone rang at this critical moment.

Both of them turned to look at the screen of the mobile phone and found out that the call was from Amanda.

Rufus didn't answer the call. He locked the phone with his eyebrows knitted. He didn't want to listen to what Amanda would say, but the phone kept on ringing.

He was about to turn it off. However, his phone rang one more time. This time, it was from Charlie.

Rufus glanced at Cassandra apologetically and then answered the phone.

"Rufus! I heard Amanda was sent into the hospital just now! She's been looking for you! Go to the hospital and see her now!"

Charlie's voice over the phone was full of concern as he was so worried about his daughter.

"I told you to take good care of Amanda when I left several days ago. Have you forgotten that?"

Charlie blamed Rufus in an angry voice, but Rufus did not refute at all.

Cassandra changed into her pajamas and then got out of the bed slowly in silence. However, she was shaking her head in disbelief with her lips pale as she turned her back on Rufus.

'Amanda! Why is it always Amanda?' Cassandra thought.

Like a devil's name, it was cursed and unspeakable. It seemed that it was chasing Cassandra and cornering her with nowhere to go.

"I'll go to the hospital to see Amanda right now. Don't worry too much, Charlie." Rufus responded over the phone.

Charlie was a mentor to Rufus so he couldn't refuse his demands. He was left with no other choice but to say yes.

Rufus hung up and turned to find Cassandra. When he saw that she was stepping out of the bedroom, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.

He hurriedly walked up to her and grabbed her arms. Then, he turned her around and let her face him.

"Cassandra, I'm sorry. I have to go see Amanda. She's in the hospital right now. I hope you understand."

His voice was full of apologies and he was very sorry.

"Never mind. Go and see her at once. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed soon."

Cassandra gave out a reluctant smile and tried to pretend that she wasn't bothered at all.

"I'll be back soon..."

Rufus touched Cassandra's face and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Cassandra pushed him with a smile.

"Go ahead! I'll be waiting for you."

Rufus took a firm look at Cassandra and then hurried out of the villa.

Moments later, Cassandra heard the sound of his car driving away and the sound of the gate slowly closing in the courtyard.

She had been used to these sounds, but now they just sounded so cruel.

'Rufus, why do you hurt me like this? I've been so patient and I've given up a lot of things for you!' Cassandra thought bitterly.

It seemed that the originally beautiful night suddenly turned into a black hole, which had taken away all Cassandra's good wishes.