A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 240

"It's late. There is no need to rush into finishing the job. It can wait until tomorrow,"

Rufus spoke softly, coaxing Cassandra into giving up her idea. The bitterness in her smile escaped him.

"Creative work needs inspiration, and an idea has just struck me. If I stop now, I might lose my momentum. It'll be too late tomorrow,"

Cassandra argued. She did not want to stay with him longer than necessary.

The more she stayed with Rufus, the more difficult it got to rein her emotions. The air around them was becoming stifling even as she spoke, and all she wanted right now was a moment's peace from the turbulence inside her.

"Fine. I'll give you a ride,"

Rufus conceded, nodding his head thoughtfully to show understanding.

"Don't bother," Cassandra answered back, a little too quickly. Rufus noticed it as well. His head shot up at her response. "Your leg is fine now, and there is no need for me to take care of you. Go back to the Tang mansion tonight. You haven't met your family for a long time," Cassandra continued, stubbornly refusing his offer.

She looked at Rufus with a steady gaze, her face impossible to read.

Rufus gave her a long look in return.

'Family?' he scoffed inwardly at the word. 'The Tang family never regarded me as one of them.' When his leg got hurt, Lionel made changes to the dinner party without consulting him. He knew what Lionel was doing when he deliberately let Amanda play the piano at the finale. Clearly, every step he took was to derail Rufus's plans.

Cassandra looked at him in silence, but he knew she had already made up her mind. He pressed her no longer.

To her, family was the most important anyway.

"All right. I'll drive you to your company and then go back. If it gets too late when you finish, don't go back to the villa. Go to the apartment."

The apartment she rented was very close to Qin Group. If she stayed there, Rufus could feel more at ease.

"Alright."

Cassandra nodded and cast her eyes down. For a moment, a shadow seemed to pass across her face, but her bowed head concealed it from Rufus.

The car pulled to a stop at the gate of Qin Group. Just as Cassandra was about to get off, Rufus's phone rang, shattering the silence that had settled between the two during the whole ride.

Cassandra threw a quick glace at his phone—Amanda's name flashed on the screen. She winced at the flashes, as if her eyes were stung by something that was too bright and glaring.

She smiled cynically in dissatisfaction. Her jaw felt stiff at the forcefulness of the movement. It had not been long since Rufus left Amanda, and now she was calling him again.