A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 76

It was in the Tang Group.

The door of the CEO office was pushed open. The thrust echoed through the office as Lionel stormed towards Rufus, who was signing off some document. The loud noise made him look up from the document and gaze at the approaching figure of Lionel. He stopped in front of Rufus's desk, then slapped hard on it with his palms, making it shake under his hands.

"Rufus Luo! What on earth do you want?" Lionel questioned, his voice trembling with rage.

Rufus stared back at him with a rather nonchalant look. Refusing to pay any heed to Lionel's intimidating demeanor, he turned his head towards Leo and instructed, "Send this document to the human resource department. Tell them to complete all the procedures within a week."

Leo took the file and paced towards the door. But before he could even reach the door, he found Lionel standing right in front of him. In one smooth move, Lionel blocked his way out of the room and grabbed the file from his hand.

After that, he slapped the file back on the desk so hard that all the contents inside the file came out and got scattered on the floor.

Lionel's eyes fell on a piece of paper on top and his pupils got dilated. It was a dismissal notice.

Picking up the note, he thrust it back in front of Rufus and shouted with disbelief, "He is the marketing manager of our company! How can you just dismiss him! Have you ever considered the consequence?"

Rufus did not reciprocate to the temperament displayed by Lionel. Rather he maintained a calm and cool composure. He just leaned back to the backrest of the chair, folded his arms as he maintained the indifferent gaze on Lionel. It was as if he wasn't a part of the quarrel and he was just watching the episode as an outsider.

Rufus's cool and adamant behavior frustrated Lionel all the more.

"Rufus Luo! Right now you are too much indulged in your role as the CEO of the company! Don't forget the person who granted you the power! If father ever realizes that you are dismissing the employees at the management level randomly as per your own whim, which will adversely affect the company, he will take his action against this!" Lionel attempted to threaten Rufus.

However, Rufus looked completely disinterested in getting into a confrontation. He even refused to utter a single word in retaliation to Lionel's threat. Instead, he lifted his head, and gave a cold stare at Lionel.

"This is the decision of the board of directors, not me. We had a vote. As the marketing manager, he didn't actively establish relationship with new clients, which was part of his responsibilities. Moreover, some of our regular customers even turned to our competitors because of him! How can we continue to hire such a worthless man?"

Lionel's rage was showing in his eyes which were literally burning. He was aware of the meeting, but wasn't informed that it was about human resource management. Busy with Ivy, he decided not to attend. Now he regretted, and attempted to revoke this decision.

"He was hired during father's term. Now you want to fire him, but you haven't asked for his approval!" Lionel brought up the topic once again to negotiate with Rufus.

Rufus's silence was getting on his nerves by now. He brought up the name of Horace once again and tried to suppress Rufus.

Rufus then stood up. With his height and build, he was firm and unwavering.

"When you referred him to father, you had never mentioned that he was Ivy's cousin," Rufus stated coolly.

This sentence, though not long, thumped on Lionel's heart heavily.

Indeed, this person was suggested by Ivy. After talking to him for several times, Lionel felt that this person could possibly be hired for the manager's role. And it happened that there was a vacancy for marketing manager. So, he suggested his name to his father.

In order to avoid suspicion from others, he had never revealed this fact to anyone else. How could Rufus possibly know about the secret!

Yet Lionel wasn't ready to give up. Suppressing his voice low to sound firm, he warned Rufus, "You know that Ivy is pregnant with the eldest grandson of the Tang family. If she gets to know that her cousin is fired, she may get agitated, which in turn would probably affect the baby. Do you think you can escape from the blame?"

Rufus smirked at Lionel in a sardonic manner. Then his face broke into a mocking smile as though he regarded Lionel as a clown.

"Well, the eldest grandson of Tang family is not from your wife. Is that something to be proud of? Besides, what has this got to do with me?" Rufus sneered.

The coldness in Rufus's voice and his indifference rendered Lionel completely at a loss of words. He could not find any other way to bargain his way to save the job of Ivy's cousin.

At last, Lionel stood up and with a faint hope in his heart, he made his last attempt.

"Rufus, do you think that you can get control of the entire company just by sacking all the people who are associated with me? I have been in Tang Group for so many years, during which you never had a chance to step you foot in the business. And now, how is it even possible for you to clear all my people from the company!" he scowled.

The agitation from Lionel once again met a cold and flat reaction from Rufus. A sinister smile gradually crept on Rufus's lips, which made him look like a blood-thirsty and cruel monster.

"Whatever I am doing is just for the benefit of Tang Group. As regards to how you interpret my actions, I don't care," Rufus stated with a scornful face.

Lionel realized that it was his turn to rest his case. The argument with Rufus was not going anywhere. It was clear that he had no way to turn it around. He couldn't change Rufus's decision, nor was he in the position to threaten him. Lionel found it difficult to calm himself down though. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at Rufus for the last time and said, "You… You just wait. Rufus, sooner or later, I will make you regret!" Lionel's voice creaked and his hands were trembling out of fury as he spoke.

Nonchalant to Lionel's desperate words, Rufus just shrugged and maintained the cold gaze at Lionel with a cynical smile on his face.

"Whatever you say!" Rufus replied blatantly.

Lionel turned around and stormed out of the office. Rufus remained unaffected. The usual indifferent look was back on his face as he summoned Leo to discuss about a few more dismissals that had to be processed. He instructed Leo, "There are three more dismissal notices in this week. Get it done fast. I don't want to give them any chance to fight back!"

Leo nodded in agreement as he picked up the dismissal notices from Rufus's desk, and then he headed towards the human resource department straight.

After Leo left, Rufus rose up from the chair and walked towards the floor-to-ceiling windows. A very clear view of the city could be seen from this place. Rufus set his eyes on the panoramic view and got lost in his thoughts.

From the pinnacle of the tower that was centrally located in the city, the bird view of the city was breathtaking. Rufus took a deep breath and then recollected as he relished the city view from his office.

Standing alone in front of the windows overseeing the busiest commercial space in the city, Rufus remembered his first visit to the Tang Group building. It was ten years ago. What an overwhelming experience it had been to stand on the ground and look up at the skyrocketing building that soared higher to literally engulf the sky! The very thought of it gave him goose bumps.

His mother had a cerebral hemorrhage. Though she was lucky to be saved by the surgeon, she had become like a vegetable.