A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 60

Upon hearing Horace's words, Jenks Tong looked towards the woman and smiled.

Then, he said with pleasure, "You're Cassandra Qin. Am I right?"

Cassandra had tried to hide her face by lowering her head and letting her hair cover her face, from the second the old man entered the room. She didn't want him to notice her.

However, her efforts failed, as he easily picked her out of the crowd, calling her by name.

With no place to hide anymore, she raised her head and met his gaze. Everyone in the room was staring at her.

Apparently, he was not surprised to see Cassandra here at all.

She didn't realize that the man had known who she was the day they met.

Anyway, Cassandra put herself together and said, "Nice to meet you, Director Tong."

There was not much to say. The only thing on her mind now was the story she had shared earlier about the canary and the birdcage. She feared that he would let slip the story.

She shouldn't have worried at all, as Jenks gave nothing away concerning their meeting. Instead, he went straight to discussing the construction of a new branch of the hospital with Horace.

At the end of their conversation, Jenks praised, "Rufus is a great man. Two days ago, he came to me and floated an idea for the project and I must say I was impressed. That's why I chose your company."

Hearing the praises heaped on Rufus, Horace smiled with satisfaction. It gave him great joy to hear someone speak so highly of his son.

Jill, however, wasn't happy about the new development. Two years ago at a dinner party, she remembered Mrs. Tong agreeing to Lionel taking up the same project.

She wondered why Rufus was getting a deal to which his brother had already committed. Did Horace find it right to shortchange one son for the other?

If things went on like this, Jill feared Lionel would eventually lose his current position at the Tang Group.

The only consolation she found in the whole arrangement was that Horace still needed Cassandra to undertake most of the major construction projects, like this one. But then again, Cassandra too would lose, if Rufus was to be favored against everyone else.

Out of the blue, Lionel cut in, with an unrelated subject. Listening to Horace, he had noticed how willingly his old man agreed to an arrangement that would unsettle their earlier deal. So Lionel decided to disrupt their scheme. For now, all that he needed was just something downplay the discussion. If he could derail their meeting, that would allow him time to plot a come back. He wasn't going to stand on the fence and watch his brother gain unfair advantage.

"By the way, Father, Cassandra and I are planning to have a child. I wonder if Uncle Jenks could recommend one of his doctors. Maybe we'ill need some help along the line."

The diversion worked like magic. No one in the room had seen that coming.

Horace burst into laughter at once.

As a fact, he knew that Lionel's marriage to Cassandra was the result of pressure from the two families. The parents on both sides had their own interests in forcing the marriage. But now, everyone knew that Cassandra and Lionel did not get along well with each other. Why did Lionel seem to have such a sudden change of heart?

Something was not adding up. For example, Lionel for the very first time had taken Cassandra to the hospital. All the other times, when she needed medical attention, he had left it to his parents to take her to the doctor. But since they came back from the hospital, Lionel seemed to have changed, although Horace doubted if that was for the better. In particular, the old man had realized the abrupt, almost make-believe manner of Lionel. 'Why is he suddenly trying to feign affection for Cassandra?' Horace only hoped that the young man would change for real.

"You should have had a baby earlier. If you did there would be more laughter in this house, and especially you'd have saved your mother unnecessary stress!"

The old man's reprimanding voice made Jill uncomfortable.

But she agreed. She'd be a happier woman if Lionel had a child. More so, a son - the first grandson of Horace. That would give Lionel a bigger chunk of inheritance. A big advantage over of his half-brother, Rufus, who was still unmarried.

Listening to the unexpected talk, Cassandra got very concerned. 'So this is what Lionel didn't want me know earlier.

A baby? With Lionel?'

That's ridiculous! Cassandra had never even thought of it.

She was sick of his touch, let alone having a baby with him.

Reacting to the unnecessary drama, Rufus clenched his fists in anger, forgetting that he had a wound.

It was Cloris who first noticed the blood on Rufus's gauze and in a panicked voice interrupted the meeting.

"Rufus! Is your wound bleeding again?" she asked, trembling.

When Cassandra turned to look, she was mortified by the sight of blood soaking through his gauze and the furious way he clenched the fist.

"That's too much bleeding. Call the driver now. We must send him to the hospital!"

Horace ordered immediately.

"I'll go with him!"

Cloris volunteered.

More anxious than anyone else in the room, Cassandra couldn't turn her eyes away from the red gauze. Her heart raced, feeling his pain cut through her. But she fought to hide her feelings, especially with Lionel and Jenks nearby.

The former was suspecting an affair between her and Rufus, while the latter knew her story about the birdcage.

If she did anything wrong, they would all suspect her intention. So, to keep her emotions in check, she bit her lip and lowered her head, to avoid looking at Rufus.

After Cloris and Rufus had left the hall, Horace and Jenks's conversation continued for a while before Jenks took his leave.