A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 77

On a warm, winter afternoon, the soothing sunshine found its way into the patient ward, lighting up the dull, off white walls, filling the space with life. There was Cassandra, lying on her bed, just having prepared a cup of coffee for herself. She looked out as the sun shone in between the gently moving leaves, falling quietly in a daydream with her eyes open.

The hot Yirgacheffe, with its flower-like fragrance, induced warmth to her cold hands.

Quietly, the door opened, snapping her out of her reverie. She saw Edith walking in.

She wore an extravagant, pink fur coat which looked very warm apart from making her look absolutely gorgeous. Cassandra didn't remember her mother to be very fond of such fashionable clothes. Perhaps, it had been too long. She had no clue when and how things had changed so much.

But then again, maybe all women secretly wished to live an opulent and lavish life.

No wonder when her father's company was on the brink of shutting down, she was sacrificed to trade for the wealth of the family.

'Right. Who could deal with poverty after living such a luxurious life?'

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, wondering what had brought her mother, an infrequent guest, here. Inquisitive, she asked, "Mom, what brings you here?"

Edith wore a grim look. Without reacting, she took off her coat and placed it casually on the couch near the door. Now she walked towards Cassandra, already beginning to scold her harshly, "Have you taken a look at yourself? What sort of nonsensical attitude is this? Can you at least refrain yourself from your outrageous behavior? Have you completely forgotten you represent Qin family? Don't lose your status, you dumb girl!" She threw a folded newspaper in Cassandra's direction as she finished.

The newspaper flung open, and landed on Cassandra's lap.

It was a local newspaper, and the page in front of her had a section called, 'Unreliable Rumors', which targeted at the scandals of the celebrities of G City. It was clear this wasn't a trusted source and only curated news for gossip.

Cassandra read the highlight. It was about the on-going affair between the head of a well-known company and his sister-in-law. Indeed, it was fancy and scandalous.

Soon, her eyes reached the part that mentioned about the wardrobe malfunction that had occurred to Cassandra at one of the parties. Her gown had almost slipped down her body but Rufus had pulled it up in time.

Well, this was true. She couldn't deny it, even though the extent of exaggeration was a little too much.

Sheepishly, she forced a smile, pretending not to be bothered by the news. She crushed the paper into a ball and casually threw it into the bin across the room. Feigning a light tone, she answered, "Mom, do you really believe this fake bullshit? It's clear they write just about anything for more readership."

Unconvinced by her explanation, Edith scoffed, "Yeah, I don't want to believe in it, either. But news like this never rises from thin air. I'm sure some fishy business might have occurred to spark a story. You better mind your behavior, and don't lose the respect your father has earned."

Cassandra's eyes blinked repeatedly, trying to cope with what her mother had just said. Her heart clenched at the mention of her father.

"Did someone say anything in front of dad? Just take it like a pinch of salt and forget about it."

Edith was still pissed. It seemed like she hadn't finished with this just yet.

"Cassandra, I have looked at the evaluation of Cloris's internship. The final grade was not A. She cried for so long after she came back. What happened? Why didn't she get the best grade?"

Cassandra could easily picture her sister weeping incessantly with her inconsolable face. Anyone who saw that would feel sorry for her 'agonizing miseries'.

A freezing chill struck her heart, even though the heater was blowing out warm air.

Edith loved Cloris and had coddled her too much over the years. Ever since Cassandra could remember, Cloris had been the center of attention in the family, receiving most amount of care and support by their parents. No matter what sort of difficulties their parents were going through, when she played cute, all their worries would get expelled.

And now Cloris was being 'ill-treated' in Tang Group. How could Edith stand this!

"She is your sister! Shouldn't the human resource department consider that before assessing her?" Edith complained, talking from the point of privilege.

Her voice was harsh, filled with anger and discontent.

The burning rage coming off her mother made Cassandra feel even colder. She felt her heart sinking into a lifeless well, devoid of all sunshine, all warmth, all hope. The sun that shone outside didn't matter anymore; the leaves didn't catch her notice; and the cold winter feeling was back.

At first, she was surprised to see her mother. In fact, she'd gotten excited, thinking she'd come here to see if she was recovering well. She'd felt that rare, warm feeling of being cared for by her own mother after a long time.

Yet, as it turned out, 'rare' was an understatement. It was more like 'never'. Unexpectedly, first, her mother scolded her for the fabricated news, and then blamed her for Cloris's low grade. This was what she cared for and why she'd decided to come and see her.

Why didn't they help Cloris? Because they didn't know Cassandra was Horace Tang's daughter-in-law. But how could she announce something like that to them?

Her parents didn't really understand her pain. They probably believed it was a good marriage even though it was clearly arranged for business reasons.

Definitely, they had no idea about the kind of situation she was in. Lionel had brought Ivy home. If that got unveiled to the public, it would become a huge joke for both families.

What she was actually concerned about wasn't herself, but her parents and the face of Qin family.

Unaware of the change in Cassandra's emotions, Edith continued to reprimand her daughter, "I know Lionel and you are not married by choice, but, you are his wife, after all. How can you allow them to disrespect you like that by giving your sister only an average grade?"

All she could do was smile helplessly at the unreasonable blame. She didn't know how to even begin arguing back.

"Look, mom, the decision came directly from human resource sector which I couldn't influence. I manage the architecture department and wasn't in charge of evaluating Cloris's performance."