A tense silence had settled in the room as Charlie stood wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. He
could hardly believe his eyes.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. After a few moments of stunned and confused silence,
he turned around and walked outside before shutting the door behind him.
Amanda's face burned with embarrassment. She turned to Rufus and said, "What do we do now,
Rufus? My father saw us..."
Her voice dropped in a seductive tone and she looked at him through half-lidded eyes. Any man in the
right mind would find her tantalizing.
However, Rufus's mind was in a place very far from the alluring sight in front of him. His face darkened
as he remained silent.
'How was Charlie able to enter the room?' he wondered thoughtfully.
As a matter of fact, what he didn't know was that it was a carefully orchestrated plan by none other
than Amanda. She had secretly left the door unlocked, and after finding the right moment, she sent a
message to her father asking him to come straight inside using Rufus's phone.
At the moment, Rufus's angry face was putting a damper to Amanda's mood. However, she brightened
up when she thought of the success of her plan. Her father had seen her and Rufus. There was no way
he would just let things be as they were. A thrill ran through her as she thought of a wedding that would
not be far off.
Rufus sat up and wrapped the thin quilt around his body. He stood up and walked to the rest room to
get changed without so much as a word.
When he walked out, Amanda had already put her clothes on. She peeked at him coyly, her face still
dusted in red.
She turned her eyes to look outside and then looked back to Rufus, giving off an air of hesitation. She
asked in a low voice, "Should I ask my father to come in?"
Her face turned even redder after she had uttered the words.
Rufus gave her no reply and proceeded to open the door. Charlie was standing outside. The older was
staring blankly at nothing, as if he had not yet fully processed the earlier scene.
He snapped back to himself immediately when he noticed Rufus's presence. Charlie walked over to
him, pausing just as he was beside the young man to meet his eyes and pat him on the shoulder. Then
he walked inside the room.
The incidents from last night were slowly becoming less and less hazy to Rufus, and he began to piece
the images together. However, there were plenty of blind spots that he could not recall no matter how
much he tried.
He remembered that sending Amanda away, so how was it possible that she was with him in the same
room, on the same bed even, when morning came?
Whatever drug he had taken was too strong. It was messing with his head.
Amanda sat down beside Charlie with her head lowered. A smile broke on Charlie's face. At this, Rufus
found it impossible to try explaining.
Everyone was well aware how much Charlie adored his beloved daughter. If Rufus told him the truth
about the scene his saw and that his daughter drugged him, he would surely turn out to be the bad
person. Charlie would never be able to believe that his precious daughter would be capable of doing
such acts. Rufus would be at a disadvantage with the father and daughter's relationship. He would be
painted as a liar.
"When is the wedding, Rufus?"
Charlie didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"Father!" Amanda burst out, taking his father's arm. "We are still only dating! It's still too early to think
about engagements and weddings,"
she reasoned. Amanda was perfectly playing the part of an embarrassed young lady.
"Too early? You have already been dating before. You're just picking up where you left off, right? If I
didn't get in your way back then, the two of you probably would have been married by now," he said as
he reached out a hand to touch his daughter's head. "Don't worry. Leave the wedding arrangements to
me. There would be nothing but the best for the two of you. I can guarantee that you will like it!" he
exclaimed.
Charlie accepted the fact that Amanda and Rufus had shared the same bed rather easily. In fact, he
was happy about the matter. He couldn't stop himself from beaming at this development.
Rufus was no longer just a boy. He had grown into a fine man, and was in charge of two of the most
powerful groups in business: TY Group and Tang Group. Charlie found himself more and more
impressed with him as time went by. In just a short time, he had become an excellent man and made
great achievements.
And now, he and Amanda met and fell in love once again. He had come between them before, with the
best interest of his daughter in mind, but things were different now. As long as his daughter was happy,
there was no reason for him to stop them anymore.
Rufus had not spoken a single word since he had entered the room. Charlie frowned slightly as he
noticed his silence. He could not help feeling that something was amiss.
"What do you think Rufus? I don't believe you have any problems with Amanda, right?"
Charlie asked, his frown deepening.
"No, she's good. But..." Rufus trailed off.
His heart felt heavy in his chest as he swallowed the unspoken words. In truth, Amanda was the last
thing on his mind. All he could think of that moment was Cassandra. However, before he could
continue his explanation, Amanda spoke, "Father! You are embarrassing us! Stop asking, please.
Leave it to us, okay?"
She shook her father's arm and begged coquettishly.
Charlie burst into laughter upon seeing his daughter's embarrassed expression, and then continued,
"You've already gone this far. What are you so shy about? Just pick a date and I'll handle the
preparations. It's going to be a grand celebration. I'm sure you will love it!"
Charlie beamed at his daughter and stroked her hair. To him, Amanda would always be his little girl.
"Okay, okay, I get it. I'll let you know when we decide it. So can you please stop talking about it now?"
she grumbled, pouting.
Amanda looked like a doll as she looked up at her father.
Charlie laughed out once again, and Rufus found no opening. He didn't know what to say now.
His eyes darkened. Amanda's embarrassed demeanor pulled at his nerves. The sight of her, playing
the shy, innocent girl in front of Charlie made him sick to his stomach.
There was no way that Charlie's appearance had been a mere coincidence, and there was only one
person who could have planned everything.
'How ironic!' Rufus chuckled darkly to himself. 'With such an innocent face, she managed to get her
hands on that drug.' Amanda continued the act perfectly, her expressions not missing a beat. Rufus
wanted to scoff out loud. 'She's an excellent actress, I'll give her that, ' he thought sarcastically.
Rufus was pulled away from his thoughts at Charlie's next words. "Amanda, can I have a word with
Rufus? There's something I want to discuss with him alone," he said.
Amanda stood up obediently and smiled to her father as she left the two men in the room.
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