A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 228

Cassandra felt someone tapping her on the shoulder as she got lost in her own thoughts. She was surprised to find Michelle when she turned around.

"Come in. He wants to see you," Michelle said.

Cassandra was startled—Rufus wanted to see her? Why?

Wasn't he staying with Amanda?

Michelle had already seen her hiding by the balcony earlier but she chose to ignore her. However, Rufus insisted on seeing her and Michelle really couldn't do anything about that so she did as he wished.

How difficult all of this was!

"Amanda's gone. It's just going to be you and him. Communicate and talk everything over, okay? Fix this."

As soon as Michelle finished speaking, she turned around and walked towards Jasper who was waiting for her in the corridor.

Both Michelle and Jasper turned around to look at Cassandra. Looking helpless, they both shook their heads and left.

Cassandra remained frozen and was unable to gather her thoughts. Was she really going to finally see him?

When Rufus was still in comatose, she took care of him all throughout hoping that she would be the first face he would see when he woke up. But now, she was afraid to see him, and even talk to him.

Cassandra took a deep breath to calm herself down. Then she pushed the door open and walked in. She didn't want to see him right away so she kept her eyes fixed on the floor and her mouth tightly shut.

"Come here,"

Rufus said in a placid tone. Cassandra slowly walked towards his bed.

Rufus felt something break inside him when he saw how hesitant Cassandra was to even look him in the eye. He reached out his hand and patted the edge of the bed.

"Come and sit,"

he softly suggested.

Cassandra sat on the edge of the bed—careful with her every move. When she finally raised her head to look at him, she found him staring at her deeply. It was difficult to read him.

"Say something."

Rufus frowned at her silence.

Cassandra wanted to tell him so many things but she couldn't make her mouth move as if her throat had been sealed shut.

She wanted so bad to ask him about Amanda and if he'd already chosen her. She wanted to ask him why he couldn't let her go.

She wanted to tell him how bad she was hurting and she wanted to ask him how he could treat her this way.

But when she saw Rufus's ashen face and broken legs, she bit her tongue.

"Are you feeling better?"

Cassandra asked after a long period of loaded silence. It was a simple question and anyone could have asked it. She didn't know what else to say to him.

"What's on your mind exactly?"

This was the first time that Rufus and Cassandra would be talking peacefully so he wanted to go straight to the point.

Cassandra couldn't utter a word, for she didn't even know what was on her mind. She should be asking him the same question.

She wanted someone who would love her and commit to it; she wanted a quiet life; she wanted to have a family—of all people, she thought Rufus should be the one to know all of this. However, now that he was asking what was on her mind, she didn't know how to respond.

"Did I ask too much from you? Was I too greedy? Are we where we are now because of me?" Cassandra asked.

Her face twisted into a sneer.

"No, it doesn't bother when you ask too much; it only bothers me when you don't ask at all,"

Rufus said, fixing his eyes on her. The last thing he wanted to happen was for Cassandra to leave him.

Cassandra didn't respond, instead she hung her head low and fidgeted with her hands.

Rufus sighed and reached out for Cassandra's hand.

"Don't leave me, okay?"

Rufus said in a soft voice, squeezing her hand. The familiar warmth of his hand softened Cassandra.

"When I was in a coma, I thought I heard you speaking to me. I wasn't sure if it was real but I was sure it was you and your voice,"

Rufus recalled, locking his gaze into hers.

"But you weren't there when I woke up. I was so disappointed," he finished.

He felt empty and disconnected when he woke up to find that Cassandra wasn't by his side—until now, he could still feel the pain he felt then.

"Don't leave me and don't be mad anymore. Come back, please, and we can live together again. We can get married. I'll organize our wedding,"

Rufus promised her. Suddenly, tears were welling up in Cassandra's eyes.

Arthur didn't bother refuting him. Instead, he followed him so that he was now standing behind the man.

"It's not too late, you know. I'm not stopping at real estate. I want to build something greater than the TY Group!"

Arthur's tone dripped with ambition. His goal was to be bigger and better than the best in G City.

"Then show me that you can destroy the Tang Group. If you impress me, I'll back you up in anything,"

the man said, turning around and looking at Arthur. He raised his chin as if to remind Arthur of his power and influence.

"I won't disappoint you, Mr. Ji!"

Arthur promised to Clark Ji, the mysterious and powerful man.

Lionel? Rufus? To Arthur, they were nothing but a few stones to be turned as he made his way to the top.

He would crush them into pieces and he wouldn't think twice about it.

Clark gazed at Arthur emotionlessly—his mind race at the things that he knew but Arthur didn't.

It seemed like Arthur wasn't aware that Rufus was also the president of TY Group. Clark could tell that Arthur was ambitious and that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. He was a wolf just waiting to be released from his cage by his master.

As long as the wolf was kept well-fed, he would do anything upon his master's command. He would kill his enemies if need be as long as there was a promise of sheep for dinner after.

Clark had always stood by the same rule for years: defeat the enemy but keep your hands clean.

Now, he couldn't wait to see what Arthur was capable of and what lines he would cross for him.

"I want you to take the Tang Group for yourself as soon as possible. That means dethroning Rufus,"

Clark said blatantly.

Back when he was still training in the Dark Night Group, he and Rufus had been on the same team. Rufus was better than him at everything. Even Amanda, Charlie's daughter, liked Rufus over him.

He had been nursing this sphere of hatred for a long time.

As luck would have it, Rufus eventually left the Dark Night Group. If he hadn't, Clark wouldn't be where he was now. Rufus would have probably been voted in place as the new leader for the Dark Night Group, not him.

Clark could have happily let everything go but since finding out that Amanda had been chasing after Rufus, he started to feel all the hatred come back again.

'So, Tang Group, huh, Rufus? Your father's company? I'm going to destroy it!'