A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 168

Rufus explained to Charlie and promised that he would not date Amanda again. He knew Charlie loved his daughter very much so that he would prefer keeping her around instead of developing her own career in G City. It was too far away from home and him.

"No, I'm not stopping you from seeing her. Instead, I actually want you to help me take care of her,"

Charlie said with a wave of his hand. His words completely surprised Rufus.

Then Charlie sighed and explained when he saw how surprised Rufus was, "As you know, Rufus, I didn't allow your relationship with Amanda when you were in Dark Night Group. It was not because I disliked you. The only reason was because you were both too young at that time. Besides, I knew why you came to the Dark Night Group. You entered into the group because you hated your father and you wanted to train yourself to be a strong man to take avenge on him. I didn't want my daughter to stay with a man who had so much hatred in his heart."

There was nothing Charlie could do now about the past. What's done cannot be undone. 'It's no use lamenting about all of that now, ' he thought as he sighed out loud.

When Rufus joined the Dark Night Group, he was far more mature than his peers at the time, even though they were all the same age. It was probably because he never had a childhood. Rufus had to make it on his own and had to grow up way too fast for his liking.

He barely socialized and communicated with others. He concentrated only on intensive training in his mind and body.

Rufus was still a student at that time. Charlie was a sophisticate. He recognized that Rufus was clever, and believed that he would have a promising future. So he took care of him. He even invited Rufus home to treat him. Then unexpectedly and completely unbeknown to him, Rufus and his beloved daughter fell in love.

Charlie remembered back to the day when he asked a question to all the students before they started training.

"Why do you all want to be a part of the Dark Night Group? I would like you all to individually tell me your reasons and elaborate on the importance of this in your life."

Charlie stood with his feet slightly apart and his hands clasped behind his back. The young faces looked back at him with great respect. Then one after another, they began to report their reasons and goals.

"I want to develop the most powerful physique, muscular arms, strong fists and legs!"

"I want to become focused and evolve into one of the most talented business geniuses!"

"I want to be the wealthiest man in my country!"

Every young man was ambitious. They had the most important quality of excellence, which was their confidence.

When it came to Rufus's turn, he stated in a low voice, "I want to make someone regret his choice."

At that moment he showed no emotion at all.

The training field went silent upon his words. Everyone turned their heads and looked at this handsome, well structured young man with curious eyes.

This was a very strange statement and they all wondered what he meant by this. They exchanged looks at one another, having no idea what this young man was talking about.

'And tell me, who would that be?"

Charlie asked. He narrowed his dark piercing eyes and looked intently at this emotionless man.

"My father," replied Rufus.

He kept his chin high and his face stayed expressionless. He would never stand down out of defeat, towards his father.

All the people were shocked by his words. 'Did he mean to pledge war against his father and bring him down?' they wondered secretly. 'But why?' they were completely confused.

Charlie was also shocked by Rufus's attitude. Being an experienced coach though, he didn't show any surprise or emotion in front of these young men, who were watching intently.

Rufus impressed Charlie the most out of all the new recruits. This was the first day they met.

His goal different from others' and the determination in his eyes left Charlie deep impression.

Rufus became obsessed with practice, working harder than anyone else. This became his way of life later on. He endured the hardship and pushed through, showing the most stamina during training. He never complained about his pain or being tired. He never got lazy but strove to better himself in every way, using training as his tool.

He focused on excelling every minute of the day. He knew what it would take to reach his goal, and step by step, he was getting close.

Charlie got to know more about Rufus gradually. Later, he understood why Rufus hated his father so much. How could a man do that to his family? It was inhuman. He treated Rufus's mother with such malice, and then threw her into a dingy hole of a place, leaving Rufus as a young boy to care for himself. That was where the inner strength had developed, unfortunately at a terrible price though. Charlie had paid a visit to his mother and arranged better care for her, in a far better establishment.

Rufus hadn't trusted anyone, apart from his mother. But what Charlie had done made him trust and respect him.

Rufus built a strong relationship with Charlie and understood where he was coming from as well. In the end, Amanda broke up with him as Charlie wished. But he didn't blame Charlie. Instead, he understood him. He was a good father who loved his daughter and would protect her with his life.

Rufus knew he carried a lot of revenge and had no place for anything else. If Amanda had stayed with him, Charlie would have been constantly worried about her, and for good reason. His heart was filled with too much hatred to have a place for Amanda, which would break her heart eventually.

The romance he shared with Amanda was over, a long time ago. This mention of their past made Rufus puzzled. Charlie asked Rufus to take care of Amanda, which totally confused him.