A Graduation Gift

Chapter 151 With You By My Side

In wine, there is truth. Through an intoxicated haze, Lionel recalled the first time he laid eyes on Cassandra.

The Qin family was the one who reached out to the Tang family for the proposed marriage. Still, Cassandra behaved like an arrogant and proud princess. She didn't even look him in the eye.

Lionel grew annoyed at that time. 'Who do you think you are giving me that look! I don't want to marry you either!' he thought. Both of them looked down upon each other.

The Tang family entertained Cassandra and her parents to dinner. When a waitress served the meal, she accidentally knocked over a plate. Horace became very unhappy and was about to lose his temper to yell at the waitress with his face darkened. But Cassandra did something surprising.

She walked straight to the waitress and asked her if she was hurt or burnt. Then she accompanied her out of the room to get some medicine for her wound. The waitress escaped from a disaster.

It seemed like her attitude towards this waitress was completely different from the one towards him. Lionel felt extremely curious so he found an excuse to follow her outside.

Cassandra was whispering something in the waitress's ears. She told her to be careful later. Tears could be seen rolling down the waitress's cheeks. It was clear that she was touched and appreciated Cassandra's concern.

"Just don't be so careless next time. Go and get some medicine now," Cassandra said softly to her.

The waitress was grateful. She then walked away, leaving Cassandra standing in the corridor with her back leaning against the wall.

The corridor was dim and her tiny figure looked so lonely standing there.

It was just a small incident. Cassandra was very young at that time. The waitress looked to be the same age as her so maybe Cassandra felt pity for her because of that.

However, Lionel continued to remember the image of that lonely figure in the corridor. How he wished he could have asked Cassandra, who was defensive against him at that time, whether they could just get along!

But, the truth was cruel. They had no feelings for each other and there was nothing but pain throughout their marriage. Ivy almost lost her life in a car accident and Lionel assumed Cassandra was at fault.

Why was she so arrogant? Why did she look down at him? Anger suddenly replaced the curiosity to discover more about her in his heart.

Lionel felt guilty towards Ivy. So he did whatever she asked of him later. Ivy became totally a different woman. She was no longer the obsequious girl but rather a tough and strong woman.

Lionel, on the other hand, was not as faithful as when he was younger. He started to go around and went out with different women. Even with that, he kept his love for his first girlfriend, Ivy.

After all these years, however, his love for Ivy seemed to fade as he became more and more interested in Cassandra but he couldn't seem to win her heart.

The very drunk Lionel had no idea that the woman lying beside him was not Cassandra, but Ivy.

Ivy stared at Lionel with vicious eyes which could freeze people.

'Cassandra! Cassandra again! Why is she like a recurring nightmare that kept coming back to my life?

She married Lionel but thank God they already divorced. But she took his heart away as she left!'

Ivy stopped staring at Lionel. She clenched the corner of the quilt, hatred flooding her heart.

'Cassandra, I made you disappear the first time when you got in my way. I can make you disappear again!' cursed Ivy.

The sky was dark, the moon and the stars were nowhere to be seen. A piece of thick cloud covered all the lights.

On Spring Festival Eve, Cassandra and Rufus snuggled together on the couch, watching the Spring Festival gala on television. Cassandra laughed easily at the sketch comedies. She giggled from time to time, which was something Rufus could not understand.

"Is it really that funny?"

Rufus did not think the skits were funny. But he did think that Cassandra looked so cute when she laughed. He observed that her eyes would turn crescent and light up as she chuckled. From NôvelDrama.Org.

"Rufus, you know what? This is my first time to watch the whole gala,"

Cassandra told Rufus in a serious tone when there was a break in the show.

"Oh? How come?"

Rufus's eyebrows raised as he asked. He did not care much for the gala, but this was a new opportunity to get to know Cassandra some more so he wouldn't miss this chance.

"I've been staying with my grandma ever since I could remember. Father and Mother would pick me up and take me home for New Year's Eve dinner. When the night fell, Grandma and I would sleep in a small room in the villa of our house. I could hear Cloris's and mother's laughter from downstairs in the living room. I knew they were watching the gala. But I couldn't join them,"

Cassadra recalled as she stared into the distance, as if visualizing it from long ago. What happened during those times made her heart feel heavy.

"Why couldn't you join them?"

He knew that Vernon didn't like Cassandra very much. But keeping his own daughter away from watching the television, wasn't that taking it a bit too far?

"Because Cloris was there. Somehow, she was scared of me when she was a little girl. She would hide whenever she saw me approaching her. Mother and Father did not want to see her all fussy and angry so they asked my grandma to take me back to the bedroom early."

Cassandra felt depressed now. It always made her sad whenever recalling Cloris's fear of her.

Both of their parents preferred the obedient and cute Cloris over her. Their faces would freeze whenever they saw Cloris trying to hide from her so they would find any excuses to send her away. Cassandra had no choice but to walk away and watch as her father played with Cloris from a distance.

"Have you ever asked why she was afraid of you?"

Rufus became thoughtful. He'd never heard of a situation like this before.

"Never. I only saw Cloris once a year. So I didn't think too much. When I came back as a middle high school student, she didn't fear me anymore like before. And that was it. But we were never really close. I lived on campus most of the time and would only go back home once a month. We rarely talked to each other."

Cassandra wrapped her arms around her bent legs, with her chin resting on her knees.

"I stayed with my grandma in one bedroom. But I wasn't able to sleep at all. She snored loudly. It was too noisy. So I secretly got up and pushed open the door so slightly, just enough to hear the television and laughter from downstairs."

During that time, Cassandra was so scared to be found still awake and listening to the television. So she wouldn't wear her slippers and crept to the door in barefoot.

They sounded so happy. How she wished she could join them downstairs and be a part of the family while watching those shows! But it wasn't meant to be.

The only thing left for her was to listen to their voices by the door and simply imagine being with a loving family.

"Didn't you watch the replays of the show?"

Rufus asked as he reached out and held her in his arms. What a silly girl! Stupid but extremely cute.

"The replays? I would still be alone..."

The cute and beautiful woman's voice fell as her eyes dimmed.

"I always felt like that I was excluded from my family. So I was quite a loner when I was a little girl. Things eventually got better as I grew up though."

The thought and memories of her gloomy past still made Cassandra sad. So Rufus kissed her gently on the forehead to show his love and comfort her.

"When I went to Rome for university, I still couldn't watch the gala at the student's apartment because of the poor internet connection. That's why I've never seen the entire gala."

Cassandra shrugged her shoulders to show her helplessness.

"Then, I came back here. So this would be literally the first time for me to watch the whole gala."

Cassandra buried her head into Rufus's arms as she said that. She could not feel happier.

How she wished she could be with him for the rest of her life! Staying with him made her feel that she had a home. He made her feel like family.

All of a sudden, the tender moment was disturbed as the bell rang. Rufus frowned and walked towards the door to check the monitor. He was completely annoyed at whoever rang.

Both Jasper and Michelle were standing outside, waving and smiling at him.

Rufus opened the door to let the two of them in. Cassandra got up in surprise to see them here.

"Michelle, what are you doing here!?"

'It is New Year's Eve. Why isn't she celebrating with her family, but instead, she came here, to Rufus's home?' Cassandra wondered.

Michelle blinked her eyes a few times and then she understood that Rufus had never told Cassandra about her real identity.

"I'm Rufus's aunt. This is my husband, Jasper. Obviously, we're here to spend the night with my dear nephew because we're family,"

Just as she said that, Michelle tossed the big bag filled with snacks straight on the table. Cassandra opened her eyes wide in surprise. Wasn't that too many snacks!

But, what was more shocking was that Michelle was Rufus's aunt! Rufus had never said anything about it before. He had kept his lips sealed and never even gave a hint about her real identity. Now it was all clear how he could make a reservation for Michelle's custom-made dress.

And about her husband...

Cassandra looked at Jasper from head to toe secretly. There were some gray hairs on his head, which actually made him look more mature and charming. He had an impressive appearance and an extraordinary temperament. Who was he? What did he do?

"They came without any invitation. Well, I'm afraid you won't be able to finish the gala tonight,"

Rufus said in a seemingly helpless voice. A smile crept on his face.

The beautiful fireworks lit up the night sky. It was loud and pretty outside.

It was time to ring out the old year and ring in the new! Cassandra prayed in her heart, 'I hope Rufus will be by my side every year starting today.'