Beads of sweat formed on Ivy's forehead. 'She must be in terrible pain, ' Lionel thought. His body was
with Ivy, but his mind drifted away to what had happened earlier today.
In the serious conversation he had with his father today, Lionel felt that his father was deeply
disappointed with him. The way he talked showed that he had a clear preference for Rufus. His father's
words kept on echoing on his mind, and he couldn't fall asleep.
When Ivy finally dozed off to sleep, Lionel felt he needed some fresh air and went to the yard for a
smoke. The cold breeze comforted him and eased some of his stress. He enjoyed the tranquility of the
moment and stayed a little longer.
On his way back to the mansion, he happened to run into Cassandra who just came down the stairs.
The moment he caught a glimpse of Cassandra, he was astonished. Even in the dark, her face was
fresh and the nightgown she was wearing showcased her delicate curves. Her black flowing hair
extended through her back like a stream steadily flowing through her eloquent shoulders. There was
something about her that was so alluring. Never had Lionel imagined that the same woman he looked
down on could stir his desire at that instant. He wanted to feel the warmth her body, the softness of her
lips, and the smoothness of her skin.
Then he stopped recalling about Cassandra and thought about Ivy's condition. He knew that the baby
in her belly was the most valuable chip he had to bargain his worth. If anything happened to Ivy and the
baby...
Clearing all those thoughts away, he focused himself on walking briskly to the yard with Ivy in his arms.
Jill was following closely, and she was meticulous enough to take a blanket and cover that on Ivy.
"Be careful!" Jill reminded Lionel while he carried Ivy to the car.
They went straight to the Jenks's hospital. Lionel was tense and out of his breath. He cared for Ivy and
her baby as well.
Ivy was immediately registered and was then made to go through a few checkups, and check for the
fetal heartbeat. Once the doctor cleared all suspicions of possible problems with regards to Ivy and her
child, Lionel heaved a sigh of relief. It was only then that the series of events went back to him and he
started to express his frustration.
"Why did you go downstairs in the middle of the night? The light was not even on! You were lucky that
nothing serious happened. What if you got a miscarriage? How are we going to deal with that?"
Ivy had been working hard to stay calm and patient as she went from one test to another. The last thing
she expected Lionel to do was to scold her. Soothing words were what she needed right now. With a
pang of annoyance, she complained, "Sure, it was me who went downstairs in the middle of the night.
You were out too, weren't you?"
Lionel's eyebrows met as he tried to decipher what Ivy was conveying and it did not take him long. He
suddenly realized that what happened was not an accident. Ivy staged it intentionally. She knew what
would happen if she let Lionel continue his move with Cassandra. Ivy created such havoc to cut
Lionel's desires short.
The moment he had this realization, he immediately let go of Ivy's hand and his confusion turned to
rage.
"You must know your place. You are part of the Tang family only because you are carrying my child.
Cassandra is my wife!" he roared angrily.
Ivy was stunned. Lionel had always been gentle to her. Now, she could barely recognize her lover with
his monstrous expression and harsh words.
Fury and jealousy rose in her heart. She thought, 'How could he do this? He promised to love me and
no one else but me.'
"You told me to wait for you. You promised me that one day you would divorce that woman and marry
me! I trusted you so I waited. And now, this is where it got me? I am pregnant with your child and yet
you crawled into her bed? You two are married, I know. But please don't do this to me right under my
nose. Don't you know how much I love you?"
Ivy cried with painful tears. Her tears seemed to smother up the anger in Lionel's heart.
Now that he was exposed, there was no use denying. Even though he knew that he wronged Ivy
gravely, his ego kept him from apologizing. He was not about to admit his mistake. Instead, he decided
that it was best that they ended the discussion about the matter as soon as possible.
"All right, my dear, stop crying now. Just get some rest and leave everything else to me. I've promised
you that the baby will not be taken away from you, and I will keep that promise. Don't worry about that.
And yes, I will divorce Cassandra eventually," he assured her.
As soon as he could take over the Tang Group and beat his strongest competitor, Rufus, he would
finally be able to do anything he wanted. No one could stop him from ending his marriage with
Cassandra and kicking her out.
However, for some reasons Lionel could not fathom, a tinge of pain crept his heart when he thought
about losing his wife.
From a time he couldn't exactly tell, the woman whom he had so much hatred and aversion for, had
suddenly become so dear to him. It seemed that the intense negative feelings he held for her had
ebbed away.
Worst was, those negative feelings were replaced with his obsessions for her.
Irritated, Ivy turned her head away. Anxiety diffused through her entire body making her shed cold
sweat.
Lionel's attitude now was not as firm and determined as before. When did his interest for Cassandra
spark off? Having stayed with Lionel all this while, why didn't she even notice that?
Ivy didn't care what happened between Cassandra and Rufus. But now, the bitch was even clinging to
Lionel! How shameless she was!
A trace of cruelty and coldness flashed across Ivy's face. 'Cassandra, if you just keep quiet and be a
puppet wife, I can still be kind to you and refrain myself from taking any action. However, if you are to
become my threat…' she thought to herself. 'I will definitely kill you before you can ruin my life!'
Gathering her thoughts, she now had concealed the intense hatred inside and put on an innocent look.
With obedience written all over her face and tears welled up her eyes, she hugged Lionel tightly. She
made herself tremble intentionally and made sure he would feel it.
"Lionel, my heart is restless. I'm worried all this time that you will leave me after the baby is born. The
doctor said that I should keep a light mood for the sake of the baby. Let's stop quarrelling, okay?" she
pleaded with innocent eyes.
Seeing the tender look on Ivy's face, Lionel softened and cuddled her back.
"Don't worry. You know how much I love you, right? Rest assured. I'll love the baby with all my heart. I
won't follow the path of my father, who has an illegitimate child!" Lionel reassured her.
The reassurance Lionel gave cheered her up, but still couldn't expel all her worries away.
Cassandra wasn't like any other woman. She was Lionel's legal wife, and even the architectural design
manager of Tang Group, an important position for the company.
But… What if she was no longer the design manager? Then what would happen?
When she would turn out to be a worthless woman for the Tang Group, and a worthless wife for Lionel,
would the Tang family still keep her?
Meanwhile, in the Tang family mansion, the messy lobby was cleared by the servants in a short
moment. As the night grew darker, at last, there was peace.
Cassandra heaved a deep sigh of relief. Today she was lucky to escape from Lionel, but how about
next time? She was left without a clue of what to do.
When she was finally able to enjoy a brief moment of peace, a knocking sound came from the window,
which frightened Cassandra. She peeked through the window and was surprised to find a dark figure
clinging onto the window frame. It was Rufus!
'Oh my goodness! This is the second floor of the mansion! Is he the Spiderman?' Cassandra exclaimed
inside.
In a haste, she opened the window to allow the trespasser to come in. Rufus jumped in and made sure
his action was swift and light, after which, he turned to close the window with caution.
The coldness of the winter night was all over him, which diffused into the air and was sensed by
Cassandra, who quickly pulled the man further in.
Her room was equipped with a heater, making the temperature inside vastly different from the freezing
conditions outside. She couldn't imagine how long this man had stayed outside, as she felt the piercing
coldness penetrate from his clothes to her blood. Her heart couldn't help quivering, and she worried
that the man might catch a cold.
Concern brimmed her eyes and anxiety was written all over her face.
"Why are you hanging outside? Are you out of your mind? What if you fall!" the woman grumbled.
Yet the man gave her no response. The muscles on his face were still tense. The eagle-like eyes
flashed across a slice of pain and sorrow before he scooped the little woman into his arms.
The abrupt hug from the man was not at all warm, which made the little woman with only her pajamas
on, shiver. However, she wasn't letting him go, instead, she extended her arms over his body.
Memories of Lionel pressing her to the point that she had no room to retreat, flashed across her mind.
Every time she was caught in such a situation, she would attempt to tell Lionel how she had been
cheating on him.
And now, she was with Rufus. Cassandra thought of his identity as an illegitimate son, and how Jill
always taunted him. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.
Though Rufus had never talked to her about this, when Cassandra tried to put herself into his shoes, all
she could do was to sympathize with his sorrow.
Even though he couldn't choose where he was born, he could choose who he wished to become, and
he had indeed become a powerful and outstanding young man to his wish. However, his achievements
were not enough to shut the mouths of some people who disdained his shameful identity.
If she unveiled to the family about the relationship she had with him, it would surely ruin all his efforts.
Lionel would be going to make a huge mess out of it. And what would Horace think about Rufus?
Horace had appointed Rufus as the CEO of Tang Group because of his ability and talent. If such a
huge barrier existed between Rufus and his dear son Lionel, would he still trust Rufus as he was
trusting him now?
For reasons known to her, Cassandra kept her tongue pulled to keep the secret and was ready to
accept her fate. Luckily, tonight there was a turn of events and Lionel left. She was saved.
Cassandra tightened her embrace and tears began to well up in her eyes. She wished time would stop
ticking and the moment with Rufus would last forever.
She didn't know why she ended up in such a situation. Her body and her spirits were confined in this
cold castle which was surrounded by thorns. As much as she wanted to break out, she couldn't.
What she didn't know was that the near miss she had with Lionel wasn't a stroke of sheer luck at all.
Rufus had kept an eye on her throughout the night. Having seen Lionel entering her room late that
night, he climbed over the wall and knocked on the window of Ivy's room to wake her up. And then the
story continued from there.
As for Spiderman… When he was living abroad, Rufus was an extreme sports lover. Rock climbing
was one of his favorite outdoor activities. Compared to the steep cliffs he had climbed, the wall of the
Tang family mansion was way too easy. It wasn't a challenge for him at all.
Lowering his head slightly to kiss Cassandra's smooth forehead, Rufus whispered in a determined
voice, "Don't be afraid. I'm here. I will clear everything out of your way."
Cassandra's eyes widened as she lovingly gazed at Rufus's resolute face. Her soul seemed to start
drifting away.
Those words were the sincerest words she had heard for her entire life. Those were lovely words—
words of love, words of comfort, words of protection, and words from the man she loved. Cassandra
was contented and exuberantly happy.
She couldn't feel the cold from Rufus's clothes anymore. The warmth they shared melted all her
worries away.
Cassandra felt that as long as she was in Rufus's arms, nothing could bother her.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda