A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 173

Rufus's face remained emotionless even after the maid had told him all the details.

Was Jill merely behaving this way because she thought of Horace as a grumpy, old, arrogant man? It couldn't be denied, though, that Horace's health had deteriorated day after day—he was getting old and therefore, grumpy and arrogant as many men had come to be.

Rufus had no other thought in his mind but to make sure he executed his plan right away. Horace was, after all, old enough now—he might die before experiencing what it was like to be betrayed by his own son and at the same time, lose his own company. Horace deserved no less after all he'd done to Rufus and his mother. He did not deserve to die a peaceful death.

Meanwhile, in the ward, Jill still hadn't stopped sobbing and Lionel was starting to become impatient. He kept bugging the nurse, asking what time his father was going to wake up. In fact, he did it so much that the nurse had started to avoid him.

Rufus waited outside the ward the whole night. Before dawn, Horace finally woke up.

"Horace, Horace, how are you feeling now?"

Jill rushed towards Horace the moment he opened his eyes.

Rufus was also wide awake and alert outside the ward—he was calm and so sure of what he was going to do.

The doctor came in to check all of Horace's vitals and was seemingly satisfied. He spoke in a cool tone, "Everything looks good here. He doesn't need as many people to stay with him—one is enough. The rest of you can go home and rest. Mr. Tang needs quiet too."

The ward was so crowded that the doctor advised them to leave in order to give Horace some peace and quiet.

Rufus scanned the room with his eyes before he offered to stay, "I will stay here and look after him. You can all go home first and come relieve me later."

Rufus's tone was calm and somewhat matter-of-fact. Jill glanced at him from the side and murmured, "Such a hypocrite," before yawning and leaving the room with Ivy.

"Father, I have to go and attend to a few appointments. I'll be right back after I'm done,"

Lionel said as a goodbye to his father. When he left, only Rufus and Horace were in the room.

Although he had already woken up from his coma, Horace still looked pallid and weak.

He tilted his head as he looked at Rufus with a confused look on his face, as if his mind was buzzing about something.

Rufus didn't make a sound, instead he just gazed blankly back at his father.

"Rufus, I had a dream. I dreamt of your mother,"

Horace said in a weak but yearning tone.

"She stopped talking to me. I'd lost all contact with her for years. I had no other way to find out you were my son," he continued.

Horace pressed his eye lids together as if he was deep in thought.

Rufus remained silent and stoic but inside, he was raging.

After a while, Horace fell back into a deep sleep. Rufus took this chance to call Victor so he left the room and made his way to the corridors.

"Tell me what happened last night."

The previous night, Cassandra and Dylon went to Dylon's apartment. Victor would've stopped it if something was really going on between them.

"Mr. Tong left after awhile so only Miss Qin spent the night at the apartment. Nothing happened,"

Victor reported in a calm tone.

Even if he had already expected this, Rufus still couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

"Go to the company now and get me the files I need to deal with."

When he hung up the call, Rufus immediately pulled up a photo saved on his phone.

The photo was of his mother, young then, sporting a huge smile. Her hair was roughly tied with a handkerchief.

In the coming years after that photo was taken, she became sick. Hellen was practically a vegetable—couldn't talk or move. She had been merely staring into nothingness, unmoving.

She died ten years later.

When his mother was struggling to earn money so she could support him, Horace married Jill and they had Lionel. Horace had this whole new and happy life while his mother worked herself to the bone for him.

Her body ached all the time but she endured the pain day in and day out. She never complained even when she was getting sicker and sicker everyday.

She willingly took all the burden of supporting Rufus, which was unbeknownst to Horace.

He was too caught up with all the money and power Tang Group and Jill brought to him.

Rufus shut his phone and raised his eyes. Once again, never had he been more sure of anything in his life.

'Horace Tang, I'll make you watch Tang Group collapse into a million pieces then your family's going to abandon you. Soon, you'll know what it feels like to lose your loved ones!' Rufus angrily thought in his mind.