A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 86

Despite Cassandra's frightened expressions, Lionel chose to ignore her fear completely.

His hand stroked Cassandra's cheek, making her frown. She tried to slide away under his fingers, her eyes deeper than before.

"I don't mind doing anything in the car..." Lionel said while his finger lingering over her face down to her neck.

Cassandra evaded his touch, disgusted. She was growing impatient and simply wished to escape his company.

She remained silent but her body language was enough to indicate how much she hated Lionel's touch.

"Do you really hate me that much? Just a while ago when Rufus was here and you were standing so close to him, you didn't seem to mind it at all. What's the matter now?" Lionel said, grumpily.

He fumed with jealousy and her disgusted face made him even more angry.

"We were just talking about business. Rufus has been working overtime for the company's sake for weeks now. Today, he just happened to come over and ask about the progress of the project. It's just work, don't make a fuss about it," Cassandra snapped, annoyed.

Suddenly, Lionel grabbed her jaw and made her look at him.

"Talked about business, is it?" I dare you to look me in the eye and say that. Say it! What's so great about that Rufus that you keep defending him? He's nothing but a lowly bastard trying to get his hands on our family money. That's why he came back. He's no more than a worthless bug in my eye," he spoke through clenched teeth, letting go of her face with a jerk.

Cassandra kept looking at him, fearless.

Lionel stared back at the staunch frankness in her eyes and wondered what she had to say for herself.

"Lionel, I'm telling you once and for all today, you have no right to speculate on my relationship with Rufus with your prying eyes. Not everyone's like you. If you have the balls, show me some evidence. If you don't have any, stop slandering me!"

Cassandra's tone heightened as she scolded him, her face maintaining a constant look of disdain.

Lionel squinted, thinking, 'Rufus, Rufus! How affectionate.'

Undisturbed by Lionel's aggression, Cassandra stood calmly like a fearless martyr.

'What magical charm does Rufus possess that makes Cassandra defend him like that?' Lionel wondered.

Unwittingly, his eyes moved to her dark eyebrows, closed and lush red lips, and that stubborn expression on her adorable face, all of which tempted him to act upon his lust for her.

Lionel leaned in closer and closer to almost press his lips to hers. He wanted it so badly to crush the resistance she showed towards him, the defence she gave for Rufus and her courage to talk back to him, with his kiss.

Soon enough, Cassandra let out a grunt and tried to stop him.

"Don't defile me with your lips!" she shouted, dodging away from him.

How dare she resist his advance! Cassandra's words enraged Lionel so much he hollered, "Defile you? Let me defile you right here in the car today!"

Lionel felt the blood rush through his veins as the atmosphere in the car intensified because of the attacking and the struggling.

Just in time for him to grab her legs, his phone rang. Lionel glanced at the ringing phone, and then looked at Cassandra in an obstinate manner. 'Who is this prick getting in the way?' he thought to himself.

Lionel had to let go of Cassandra and pick up the phone. Sure enough, as he had guessed, the call was from Ivy.

"Hey babe, I miss you, and the baby misses you too. We are waiting for you to come home!"

He looked impatient, waiting to cut the call. But Ivy's voice through the phone sounded so sweet and soft, making him feel an inexplicable sense of guilt. His tone became more gentle.

"I'm on my way. Just finished work. I will be back soon."

Taking advantage of his distraction, Cassandra flung open the door and ran out of the car as if her life was in danger. By the time Lionel realised she had escaped, she was already too far from his reach.

He looked at her back, fleeing away like a chicken escaping from a slaughterhouse. Annoyed, he put the phone down.

"Shit!" he cursed in a mumble.

Soon, he reached home to a brightly lit mansion.

Ivy stood by the window of their bedroom, watching Lionel's car pull up the front yard. She patted her own face gently and prepared to greet him with a sweet smile on her face.

Coincidentally, right when he was getting out of the car, Cassandra also appeared at the front gate.

When Ivy reached downstairs, she saw them walking in together, causing her smile to freeze.

Her stomach started to twist in knots, looking at the two of them together.

"Lionel, you are back."

Cassandra was taken aback by this sudden, loud accusation. Soon though, she calmed down and pondered upon the meaning of his words.

'Dismiss? Who? Go to court? What's going on?'

Rufus's face was expressionless, all the light from his eyes drained.

"Things are not clear yet. Don't be so agitated. Cassandra is a great talent in our design department. It is best not to jump to conclusions before there is evidence,"

a defending voice came from a middle-aged man with glasses who looked very dignified. Cassandra knew him to be one of the only nice guys on the board.

However, she still couldn't figure out what had happened.

Rufus looked at Cassandra standing alone next to the conference table. She looked embarrassed, not knowing whether to sit or stand. Finally, he began to speak, "Manager Qin, the design that you submitted to ZC Group recently has been rejected and they have asked us to refund ten times of the deposit they had paid."

Cassandra couldn't believe what she had just heard. She clearly remembered how satisfied the CEO of ZC group was with her design last time when they met. He had signed the contract and paid a deposit of 3 millions on the spot. If there was a demand for the refund, there should at least be a reason! Definitely so, especially if they are asking for ten times the money!

"Is there a problem with my design? I have carried out many inspections of their underground mega mall, and my design should not affect..."

Before Cassandra could finish talking, Rufus interrupted, "The CEO found out your design was plagiarised."

Then, he pointed at the projector screen behind him, showing a design draft on it.

Cassandra took a deep look and saw that the draft was very similar to the one she had submitted. The outer ring designs, the layout of the functional sections, as well as the arrangement of the passages, even the guide signs of the outer walls were very similar.

Casssandra completely blacked out for a while, standing there petrified, almost at the verge of stumbling. She tried to keep calm and looked up at Rufus fearlessly, as was her response in all difficult situations.

"That's impossible, I would never plagiarize!"

Since the time she started working at the Tang Group, she had been designing the draft, and had spent a lot of energy on it, staying up many nights. And now to hear that it was plagiarised? Impossible!

Rufus's heart clenched, looking at her drained face.

Of course, he did not believe Cassandra would ever plagiarise, but the design draft on the screen had been submitted much earlier than hers. In fact, the construction for the project had already begun in H city.That was an irrefutable evidence.

What went wrong? Why was Cassandra's design similar to that of the other design draft? Was there anyone in the company plotting to set her up?