For a while, he just stood there, shaking his head, contemplatively.
"Oh, by the way, do you remember the wife of Mr. Gary Zheng? Whitney?"
Jasper asked after a pause, suddenly remembering.
"Of course. She's one of our VIPs, and has put most of her assets under our management.
Why do you ask?"
Rufus raised an eyebrow, wondering why Jasper had mentioned her out of the blue.
He also thought about how Cassandra wouldn't be able to take control of the Qin Group if Whitney
didn't offer her equity shares.
"I heard she's coming back to develop her career here, and has transferred large amount of funds to
her domestic capital account recently. I think she's preparing for a big move soon,"
explained Jasper, looking down at the floor, lost in thought.
"Isn't it normal for our customers to transfer funds from one account to another? What's so strange
about it?"
Rufus asked, doubtfully, bringing a pen to his lips. He couldn't place exactly why Jasper was worried or
would even bring it up.
"Well...the thing is, she once mentioned to her subordinates she might bring her daughter here to G
City as a permanent resident,"
Jasper said, shaking his head in bewilderment, getting to the point.
"And alternately, I remember her saying she had no intention of coming back here and that her
daughter liked living abroad. Don't you think there's a catch here? Why would she suddenly change her
mind?
Something doesn't feel right to me."
Jasper went on. He was totally intrigued by this news, and didn't realize that he sounded very gossipy
now. However, Rufus found it unnecessary. He stood up, walked to him and patted him on the
shoulder.
"You know what? It's a pity you didn't choose to become some kind of entertainment-reporter,"
Rufus joked, feeling torn between laughing and weeping. To tell the truth, he had somehow guessed
what was on Whitney's mind.
Originally, she'd chosen to settle in Norway for the sake of her daughter's illness, such that they would
have a positive change in their lives.
After Cassandra had helped her figure out what was troubling her daughter, the girl must have started
doing a lot better, which would explain why Whitney wanted to come back to G City now.
It was only natural for her to want to return to her hometown now that she finally had the chance.
"Anyway, I will leave after going through those files again. Keep a close watch on how things develop.
And most importantly, don't worry, stay cool. It's no big deal,"
Rufus comforted Jasper before getting back to his office.
He sat behind his desk, looking through the files Jasper had given him. But in a few seconds, his
attention was somehow caught by a photo on the desk. It was a photo of his mother and himself.
He reached out to take it up, and gently stroke the photo frame while staring at the picture, from where
his mother smiled back at him. She was still in her prime when the picture was taken. Her little boy
stood by her side, palpable and inexperienced. In a way, it was a family picture, complete in itself.
The little, fatherless Rufus often got into fights with others his age and even elder when he was
laughed at in school. At times, he would lose his temper and blame his poor mother for not having his
father around. She endured all of it, his complaints, anger, frustrations, along with her own pains.
On the other hand, the person who had brought misery upon them was still leading a good and lavish
life in G City, unpunished.
The Tang Group was very alarmed right now, given that Dawn Star Group was getting bigger and
stronger day by day.
"The time has come," he murmured, looking at his mother in the picture.
"You will see, mother, the person who abandoned us won't just get away with it," he spoke in a manner
of vowing, clenching his teeth.
In G City, Cassandra had gotten her new apartment all shipshape. It got truly completed only after she
placed her little unicorn toy by her bedside, just like before.
It was placed such that she could look at it every night before going to bed, and every morning, as soon
as she opened her eyes. She appreciated its undemanding, non-perturbing company. Every time she
looked at it she was filled with warmth and happiness.
Every so often now, she found herself sitting at the edge of her bed, gently stroking it. It felt soft and
looked pure and cute, like always. The very act of moving her fingers on its fur relaxed her. And yet,
when she thought of herself like a third person, she only saw a lonely girl, craving for human company
and real love.
She hadn't heard from Rufus for two days; this time, there was an aching void in her heart telling her
this wasn't usual, wasn't something not to worry about.
Before, she had accepted they might not get enough time to talk or meet for days in their busy work
lives, and because of which she was able to bear the solitude, no matter how much she missed him,
how hard she ached for his touch. She had always believed Rufus loved her and that she had a
permanent place in his heart. All this time, she felt as long as they loved each other, even his absence
contained a kind of abstract presence of his being.
But now, everything had changed. The faith she had in him was turning into helplessness and sorrow.
She wanted to call him, text him, somehow listen to the sound of his voice or just to find out how his
day was, what was he up to, how things were going. But she restrained herself, thinking of how bluntly
he had said 'Let's break up, ' right to her face.
She kept asking herself, 'Is it true that I've been dumped by Rufus?'
It was a reality she found too hard to accept.
The unicorn still seemed to stare at her with tender eyes, just as Rufus once did.
Her brain flooded with memories every now and then, no matter how hard she tried to distract herself.
His face, his laughter, the time they had spent together—everything flashed through her mind in an
instant.
She thought of how wicked he could be sometimes, his anger in between the long stretches of
calmness, his tenderness for her. Everything had become a thing of the past.
Ever since she had encountered him in her life, part of him had attached itself to her, a part that
eventually became love, admiration and respect, which was something she found extremely hard to get
over now.
Everything felt so...strange and uncomfortable without him.
Here she was sitting at the edge of the bed again, looking blankly at her unicorn toy, thinking of the
good old days when her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ringing doorbell.
Snapping to her senses, Cassandra walked out to the living area.
"Who is it?" she asked, involuntarily.
"It's me,"
a very familiar male voice answered from behind the door.
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