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."
Quickly, she recovered from the initial shock, walking toward him, ignoring Cassandra, to wrap her
arms around him. And as she did that, she rolled her eyes at Cassandra who stood a few steps away
from him.
"Oh hon, quick! Come in. It's so cold outside. You must be very tired."
Lionel also threw a glance at Cassandra. The anger and desire that she had just provoked hadn't
dissipated yet. He was still annoyed at the act she had pulled off. In contrast, he talked gently and
softly with Ivy.
Scoffing at the scene, Cassandra strode straight upstairs, not giving a penny's worth of damn.
Already, she was tired and did not want to waste time with people she didn't care about.
Ivy tightened her grip on Lionel's arm as she watched Cassandra leave. Her smiling eyes suddenly
turned sinister, a sense of crisis rising inside her like a wave.
She couldn't go on like this. She had to find a way to get Cassandra out of the Tang Family.
Cassandra was so done with having to see the faces of these unpleasant people around her, the next
morning she decided to leave before everyone else got up. She reached the office very early and was
met with a beautiful surprise. On her desk lay a purple-coloured, elegant invitation with golden lettering
on it.
She opened it hastily, and found out that Michelle Ling had invited her to participate in a charity auction.
She immediately thought of the torn dress, but in the end, she knew it was her own fault.
She failed to carry Michelle Ling's beautifully designed gown the way it was supposed to be carried.
After everything, Michelle had even helped her repair and return it for which Cassandra was very
grateful. She had not expected Michelle to invite her to the auction after all that.
Even though Cassandra rarely participated in these events, she knew Michelle Ling's fame guaranteed
a presence of top-shot, rich socialites and celebrities. It almost felt like an honour to be invited.
After a while, Nic, from the design department pushed the door open and came in, panicking. His voice
trembled as he spoke, "Manager... Manager Qin, something happened. Mr. Luo has asked you to go to
the meeting room on the top floor!"
Seeing him in such a rush, Cassandra figured it couldn't be a trivial matter. Quickly, she put away the
invitation and headed straight for the meeting room.
A group of shareholders from the board of directors were sitting at the conference table, waiting. Rufus
was there too, seated with his hands together against his chin, his dark eyes looking down, deep in
thoughts.
"Mr. Luo, I was told the board asked for me?"
Rufus looked at Cassandra and nodded at her, asking her to take a seat.
But before she could even reach the chair, one of the shareholders lost his patience. With a thud at the
table, he stood up, looking angry.
"You know what, don't even bother sitting! Get her a dismissal! Then we'll go to court against her!"
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?
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