A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 271

She knew she had to move out. She couldn't live in this apartment any longer. Rufus acted as if it was his apartment and she was something that belonged to him. Now Cassandra realized she must have been nothing but a well-thought-out plan for him.

But she didn't want her heart to sink deeper.

A few days passed in a blur. When Rufus came to her apartment again, he opened the door to nothingness. The apartment was empty.

There was no trace of Cassandra, not the tea cups, not the potted plants, not the chinaware in the kitchen...Everything was gone. Well, everything but one thing.

Rufus saw it, passing by the bedroom and suddenly came to a halt. He walked back a few steps and then into the bedroom. A unicorn lay on the night stand.

He looked at it with pursed lips for a while, then picked it up gently. Its happy smile suddenly seemed sad. The glow in its eyes seemed like brimming tears.

He remembered Cassandra telling him how she would always hold the unicorn doll in her arms when she was a young girl, how she used to pour her heart out to it. The only reason she treasured it so much was that it was the first ever gift Rufus had ever given her.

And now, she was gone, taking everything with her but the unicorn. Rufus knew it wasn't carelessness. He knew it was deliberate.

She must have known that Rufus would come by again and hence decided to leave it here, as a token of an end, a goodbye. They were done. She didn't have anything to do with the unicorn, or with him.

Rufus seized the doll. Inside, he felt cold and hollow, almost as if wind could pass right through him.

'Cassandra, you can't wait to get rid of me, right?' he said to himself.

But the trouble wasn't over, like Cassandra would have thought. From the very next day, she began to receive roses in her office. There was no name tag on them. They were fresh and beautiful; their bright colors cought her eyes throughout the day. She tried to reject them every time, but they kept coming.

Soon, the employees of the Qin Group started to gossip about it. It wasn't so much a controversy, rather a sense of envy they felt at her receiving those beautiful roses every day.

Apart from that, they were also quite bored. Qin Group hadn't gotten any projects of late. Everyone simply dragged through the day to pass their time.

There was no news that was beneficial to Cassandra. Once in the list of the Top 10 young entrepreneurs of G City, she was now replaced by someone else. But she was resilient, taking in silently whatever life threw at her.

She knew how people looked at her. In their eyes, she was someone who could be seduced easily. After her divorce with Lionel, she fell in love with his brother, Rufus. On top of that, she was put into the detention house being a suspect of an intentional homicide. Who would want to collaborate with a woman of such bad reputation?

Qin Group had just started to run on the right track a while ago and now they seemed to be boycotted from the market. Cassandra felt extremely pressured.

Not just that, since there were so many employees, even to pay their salaries was becoming difficult. If she couldn't find new clients soon, the Group was bound to see a major crisis within a couple of months.

Cassandra was ridden with anxiety from the moment she got up to the moment she went to sleep. She tried contacting the old clients but everyone rejected her. Most days, she would come back to the office in despair and hopelessness.

She didn't find herself another apartment; instead she put up a bed and hung her clothes on hooks in a small warehouse in a corner of their office. She set up a small stove and managed to find a broken shelf to keep the rest of her belongings on.

Anyway, nothing matter because most of her day was spent at work. She struggled so hard to keep the company floating, with every effort. But the condition remained the same. There was barely any scope of improvement.

Eventually, the employees started to feel threatened regarding their salaries. By the end of the month, some already resigned.

The worst thing was that Cassandra had no argument to make them stay. She couldn't stop them from working at a better place. Moreover, at this point, she was more concerned about the expenses and hence didn't persuade them to reconsider, given that she might not even be able to pay them the next month.

She understood that people had different aspirations. She couldn't make herself a stumbling block in their path.

A month passed. The roses kept coming. The situation was such that there were more bouquets in the office now, than there were employees. The entire company became desolate overnight.

Finally, one day, Cassandra's assistant handed out her resignation letter. She felt extremely sorry for Cassandra but had lost faith in Qin Group. She didn't think she had any choice but to leave. There was no chance of the company to be revitalized.

Cassandra glanced at the letter and let out a bitter smile. The gradual degradation of the company this time, was the same as it was during Vernon's time. Cassandra felt powerless with no ambitions to drive herself.

How could she keep Qin Group alive when she felt so suffocated herself?

The next day, Lionel visited her, walking with a swag into the building. He didn't need to make any appointments now. Cassandra was not busy and she did not have an assistant any more.

She was on the phone with an old client, asking for new projects, but she was rejected, again. Everyone now gave her perfunctory replies. She hung up and sighed, closing her eyes. Right then, Lionel pushed the door open and entered her office.

"Cassandra, you seem to be in some trouble. Am I right?"

Lionel said with a smiling face. Cassandra felt uncomfortable looking at his very face. She immediately straightened herself and got alert.

It gave Lionel immense joy when he heard about the employees quitting at Qin Group, about the company going bankrupt, about Cassandra's terrible condition. He drove all the way here with a lot of excitement and joy.

"Sweetie...Everyone has difficulties. Hang in there, I'm sure everything will be okay," Lionel said, sneering.

Cassandra was on her guard. Since she knew how Lionel felt for her, she definitely couldn't give him any wrong clues.

She tightened her chin like a proud rooster. She didn't want to show any signs of weakness.

Lionel's smile widened. He could see how alert she was, but he knew her weakness.

"But you know what, I don't think Qin Group can wait any longer. As far as I know, you've borrowed some money from the bank and according to my calculation, the repayment date is due soon."

Lionel looked at Cassandra, waiting for her to break down.

But he was wrong. She remained still and firm. There was no chance of her giving in to Lionel.

"Mr. Tang, I thank you for your concern. But I will find a way to repay the loan. It's none of your business!"

Cassandra alienated herself from Lionel intentionally, speaking with a sense of finality.

Lionel stopped beating around the bush and finally got to the point.

"Aren't those roses beautiful, Cassandra? Guess what, they were chosen by me. Do you feel satisfied?"