'Tastes good? Must've been Amanda who said it.
Amanda bought this bread for him, but he turned around and gave it to me? It's ridiculous how he
thinks I know nothing about this.
Rufus, you must be wallowing in satisfaction right now as two women pine for you at the same time.
What exactly am I to you?' she thought to herself.
Her trust in him was already at the brink of collapse, but because of this, it had fallen rock bottom. 'Is
there any good reason, any reason at all to stay in a relationship with a man who uses what his other
lover gave him to flatter me?' she wondered, apparently in a daze.
"Rufus, we're bearking up!"
Cassandra wrestled with herself before blurting it out, hear tears like torrents streaming down her
cheeks.
"What's wrong with you, again?"
Rufus's smile was gone like the wind and was replaced with a look of concern when he saw her tears.
A wave of panic engulfed him.
'Why is she crying? Is it because of my tardy return?
But no matter how upset she is, she has no right to break up with me because of that small slight, ' he
thought and got kind of crossed.
"I remember saying that to you before, are you just using that to get back at me?"
Rufus asked, knitting his eyebrows and studying her expression, grasping for some sort of clue that
would give away her true intentions.
Cassandra only shook her head, unable to say anything.
"Tell me what happened, Cassandra. Please, please talk to me,"
Rufus pleaded. He took Cassandra's arm and held it tightly. She was wracked with sobs.
His stomach did a one-eighty. He was so physically close to her, yet their hearts and feelings were so
far away from each other.
He silently wished that she would stop being so stubborn and be gentle like other women. He just
couldn't bear seeing her in tears.
"I don't love you anymore. We're done,"
Cassandra cried out desperately and in one swift motion, pulled her arm out of Rufus's grip.
Once upon a time she had always imagined that she would live a happy and peaceful family life with
Rufus.
But the recent events had only reminded her that she was never good enough for him. They weren't
fated to be with each other.
"No!"
Rufus hissed with a snarl. He refused to believe what he had just heard. What he believed were her
bitter tears, which betrayed her true feelings—she was still deeply in love with him.
"I'll be here for you as soon as I get off work tomorrow onwards, okay?" Don't say things like that!"
Rufus tried comforting Cassandra, to no avail.
"No..." Cassandra shook her head slowly as she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks,
"it's impossible for us to be together. I mean it, Rufus. I really don't love you anymore. I can't continue
to love you. I can't afford it anymore, so I give up."
Cassandra took a step back and turned around, some of her tears glistened as they fell of her eyes.
She then returned to her apartment.
She slammed the door shut, full of bitterness, and left Rufus standing outside. She refused to open it
no matter how hard he banged on the door.
Leaning against the door, Cassandra slowly sunk to the ground. She bit her hand to keep her sobs
from escaping. She didn't want Rufus to hear.
"Cassandra! Open the damn door! Please!"
Rufus kicked and banged the door desperately, not giving a damn about his priceless Italian tailormade
shoes.
"Cassandra, I'm begging you, please talk to me! I'll do whatever you want!"
The image of her weeping filled Rufus with dread. He ached to hold her in his arms, to reassure her
that everything would be okay.
Yet what he just said only added more water to her tears.
'Could he really do that? Give me whatever I want?' she thought to herself, full of doubt. What she
wanted was quite simple, but it was a simple thing that he could never give her.
She wanted nothing more than a simple life, a man devoted and faithful to her, with whom she could
celebrate life and love until their death.
'But can you really do that, Rufus?' she cried silently.
'Your life is full of excitement. Ever since I met you, my life began to take a different direction into
unknown lands. I can only feel my way into my world since it was so dark, ' her thoughts recalled all the
past events since they met.
Before she married Lionel, she was absolutely enthralled by him, drawn by his magnetism and looks.
He was so perfect, aside from his identity.
His identity had clearly foreshadowed the tragedy that was their romance. How could she have been so
blind? Nonetheless, his constant profession of his love for her never failed to disarm her and
eventually, succumb to it.
She had thought that he was completely devoted to her and only her, but it was just wishful thinking
and naive of her to believe that. She had been so confident, but now it had all disappeared in the face
of Amanda.
She was never bothered by her unfavorable circumstances of birth, nor by what others thought of her.
But in Rufus's heart, Amanda had been gradually tipping the scales in her favor.
Over and over again, by simple calls and messages, Amanda would take Rufus away from her.
Countless lonely nights, Cassandra would stare up at the empty white ceiling and sometimes looked at
the distant night sky, sparsely populated by stars. She twisted and turned, haunted by nightmares.
And time after time, Rufus behaved like it was nothing.
She waited and waited. She waited for his explanation, but now she was tired of it.
With him gone, she thought she would suffer less and shed fewer tears for the rest of her life.
Cassandra shut her eyes, fighting back the tears.
Rufus was talking sweetly to her, trying to soothe her weary heart. One neighbor popped his head out
of the window and eyed the handsome man suspiciously.
"Cassandra, what in the world is it that you want?"
Rufus had never experienced such desparation.
No other woman could bring such chaos into his heart. He felt his blood boiling; his heart could beat out
of his chest.
He punched the door with all his might, again to no avail. He only bruised his hands.
"Believe me or not, I don't care. I'll bring it down if you don't open this damn door now!"
Rufus barely finished his words when Cassandra felt the door shake. He apparently charged at it.
In the next few seconds, the hinge sounded to be in too much stress. Cassandra started to get
flustered.
"I am so tired...I am so, so tired. I want to sleep..."
Her eyes had been worn out by the constant crying. She felt spent; her tears had run out.
Cassandra's response relieved him a little.
His heart flipped by the little woman's weary tone.
"Okay. I'll let you rest. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Rufus rested his head on the door with his eyes shut. He stroked the door gently, pretending it was
Cassandra.
"Don't bother. I won't be here tomorrow night!"
Cassandra added in a trembling voice. It took her a lot of guts to say what she said about breaking up.
She feared that the visit tomorrow would make her determination waver.
She was scared that she would be unable to contain herself anymore and jumped at him for a hug. She
had to do this, if she didn't want to taste the bitter pain again.
"You're not allowed to be anywhere but here! I'll try to come early tomorrow,"
Rufus rebuffed in an indifferent tone. He thought she was being too petty.
With that said, he turned around and quickly left, his face a mask of sorrow.
Cassandra slowly got to her feet and looked at the peephole. She made sure that Rufus had left before
she weakly opened the door.
There was a paper bag at the foot of the door, containing the bread Rufus tried to give her.
She took the content out of the bag. It was her favorite kind, with the dried pork floss. Ironically, their
tastes really matched.
Her lips curled into a wry smile. She took the bag, went to the kitchen and tossed it into the trash. She
wouldn't eat a gift another woman had given Rufus.
Meanwhile, Rufus arrived at the Tang Family home. He was about to head upstairs when the light went
on in the living room. He saw Horace approaching in his nightgown.
"Where have you been? Look at the time!"
Horace said with a frown. It had been days since Rufus had dinner with the family.
"I have been busy,"
Rufus uttered briefly and continued to the stairs.
"I will never consent to you two being together!"
Horace blurted out. Unsatisfaction seethed in his voice.
"I am an adult. It is my right to choose anyone I like,"
Rufus said as he paused without turning around.
'What? How come he's saying the same words he has said to Lionel? Does he really believe I'll follow
his commands to the letter?' Rufus sneered inwardly.
Horace had never felt the weight of responsbility that a father shouldered. For Rufus, he wasn't worthy
of it. All that Rufus did for him was no more than what he needed to accomplish his revenge.
He could destroy the Tangs at any moment of his choosing.
"I am your father, your elder! How dare you disrespect me at my own house?"
Horace roared, outraged by Rufus's unexpected defiance.
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