The moment she stepped into the office building, she could clearly feel that Qin Group was no more the
company she had known in the past. There were so many young faces, which created a lively and
vigorous atmosphere all about the office. This was in stark contrast with the old Qin Group—although
the spacious building was filled with loads of people in the past, the environment was always dull and
lethargic.
Here, all the employees were concentrating on their own work. In the common working space, some
people walked pass, while some worked on their desks; some were discussing about the projects,
while some were liaising with the clients; everyone, in short, was fulfilling his or her role.
Completely satisfied with what she had come across, Whitney was glad for transferring those shares to
Cassandra, who had done an excellent job in keeping the company running and transforming it into a
lively place to work at with a prospering new face.
"Mrs. Zheng, I wish I could repay you the money worth your shares. But, Qin Group has just
restarted…" Cassandra let her voice trail off.
She sounded sorry. After all, Qin Group could reach its breaking-point in the market any time. Anyhow,
even at the moment, the profit margin was limited. As much as she wanted to pay Whitney back, she
couldn't.
"Forget about that. If you really want to pay me back, keep up the good work at Qin Group. If you wish,
you can repay me with interests after the company starts to make big profits. I will consider that as the
repayment."
Whitney waved her hand nonchalantly and replied generously.
She wasn't short of money. The only thing she cared for was her daughter, Courtney's health.
Cassandra was someone who had helped Courtney untie the knot in her heart. Now, she had
recovered quite a lot, both physically and mentally. She no longer sulked in her miserable memories
and had finally moved on in life.
This was a fair deal for Whitney—it was as if she had traded her shares in turn of her beloved
daughter's health.
"Surely, I will. I will pack a huge red packet for you!"
Cassandra giggled and glanced at Whitney, appreciatively.
"How is Courtney now?"
Cassandra asked in a soothing, caring tone. It had been a long time since she had any contact with
either of them.
"Much better. I am planning to teach her the basic rules of the business world once she recovers fully.
After all, she is my only child and will be inheriting whatever I possess."
Whitney beamed at Cassandra. She felt elated at the very mention of her daughter.
"That's great! I believe she'll recover very soon!"
Cassandra deeply wished for Courtney to go back to her normal self again. After all, it wasn't worth it to
ruin her own life for a man like Joel.
"Oh also, how is your sister? The other day, I was having dinner with my friends at a classy club. I saw
someone who looked like her.
Is she interning there?
She was also dressed like the employees there. She looked very similar to you, so I paid extra
attention. I heard the manager call her Cloris. Isn't that your sister's name?"
Whitney asked inquisitively. Even though she had never seen Cloris after she had grown up, with
whatever she remembered, she could more or less make out that the girl was indeed a younger version
of Vernon.
"Mrs. Zheng, it seems to me like it's an eerie coincidence. My sister is in an overseas exchange
program. She isn't in G City right now."
Cassandra smiled politely, thinking Whitney was mistaken. How could Cloris be in G City? Definitely
she had seen someone by the same name and gotten confused.
"Well, probably I made a mistake,"
Whitney said, still in doubt, but she didn't ponder upon it much.
After Whitney left, Cassandra thought about what she had said in regard to Cloris. The coincidence
really was uncanny. She started to consider the possibility of it being true. Unable to relax, she finally
called her mother to ask and clear her doubt, for once and for all.
"Mom, has Cloris contacted you recently?"
She tried to make herself sound as natural as possible and hence posed the question in a very casual
manner, lest Edith would get suspicious about this sudden inquiry.
"Yes, she did. We had a video call just a couple of days ago!"
On the other end of the phone, Edith's face turned tender with love and voice turned soft at the mention
of her dear younger daughter.
"Why? Do you want to talk to her about something? Why don't you contact her yourself?"
Edith's tone turned chiding in a single second, which deeply hurt Cassandra.
Her mother's attitude towards herself and Cloris was drastically different. Cloris was always doted on,
and she was scolded. Moreover, she didn't even try to hide the partiality. It hurt Cassandra all the same
every time.
"I did try to contact Cloris. I sent her a message to ask how she was doing at the new school but she
never replied,"
Cassandra said, feeling wronged. Even though Cloris had always been cold and indifferent to her,
Cassandra never blamed her, because she was, after all, her younger sister. However, to Edith, the
only thing that mattered was the fact the Cassandra never cared enough for Cloris, which was a
misunderstanding.
"See Cassandra, I know that you've always been a good daughter, and it has been hard for you to keep
the company running on your own. But truth is, Cloris is your younger sister and you should be more
concerned about her. She is still young and I'm sure you understand how depressed she might be
about what happened to your father..."
Edith spoke in a scalding tone but by now, Cassandra's mind had drifted away.
The only time Cloris ever contacted Cassandra was when she wanted a living allowance. Even then,
she would only send messages with no sense of gratitude or appreciation. Every time, Cassandra
would give more than whatever she asked for, such that she didn't have to suffer in any way due to lack
of money.
Cassandra started to recall the time when she was studying overseas. Except the school fee for the
first year of her study, she paid for all her expenses and the remaining fees through money she had
earned on her own. She had to plan every cent she needed to spend. She did part-time jobs after
school, studying hard at the same time to qualify for the scholarships. Only she knew the sweat and
tears that went into those years for her to survive on her own. As a caring sister, she would never want
Cloris to suffer the way she had.
Now that she thought about it, Cloris had been silent for quite some days now. She had stopped asking
for her allowance as well. Even though Cassandra still transferred money to her account, it felt like
Cloris had disappeared completely from her life.
"Cassandra! Are you even listening to me!"
Failing to hear Cassandra respond, Edith got annoyed and raised her voice.
"Ah, mom. Yes, I'm here. I was just...going through some files..."
Unwilling to make her mother worry for her conjecture, Cassandra just gave her a random excuse to
get away with it.
"Also Cassandra, I really don't want to talk about this, but now the news about you and Rufus is all over
the place, both online and offline. Are you really so blatant? Can't you refrain yourself from being so
shameless out into the world? I understand you are divorced and it is alright for you to marry again, but
it can't be with Rufus! I don't even dare to mention you when I'm with my friends. I'm afraid they'll all
laugh at me!"
The more she spoke, the angrier she became and the higher her voice went. Towards the end, she
almost started sobbing.
"Since your father got arrested, the only thing I've been hoping for is for you and your sister to be free
of troubles. But just take a look at how things are going! Cloris is studying abroad, and you, on the
other hand, are creating such a mess! How can I not be worried? This is the death of me!"
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