Chapter 69 Rufus’s Capable Assistant


    Cold sweats were running down Cassandra''s forehead. She didn''t know what to do considering that


    she was the center of attraction and everyone was staring at her. She stood awkwardly alone on the


    rostrum with her face as pale as the bare walls. Obviously, there was something wrong with her.


    Arthur knitted his eyebrows in confusion and anxiously leaned back in his chair.


    "What''s going on with her?" he tilted his head to his assistant and asked.


    His assistant, however, just shrugged his shoulder because he had no idea what was happening.


    Judging from their previous experiences in doing businesses with the Tang Group, they had witnessed


    what Cassandra was capable of and they dared not to underestimate her.


    They hade and prepared for whatever Cassandra had in store for them, but now it seemed that it


    was the other way around. Something wrong was happening to her.


    Rufus sensed the oddity in the way Cassandra held the sh disk on her clenched fist. He stood up


    without any hesitation, walked to the organizers and whispered something to them.


    He was nning to ask them to give Cassandra another thirty minutes. That would buy Leo some time


    to go back and fetch a backup copy. He was surprised when Cassandra had braced herself and


    snapped back right away.


    She waved up the sh disk for everyone to see and slowly exined her tight spot.


    "It seemed that my sh disk has decided to leave me hanging alone, and it''s not good timing," she


    spoke in no hurry as she shrugged her shoulders with a helpless expression on her face.


    Everyone present in the room smiled at her frankness.


    "The reason I bought this sh disk was that it got the coolest, most attractive, and had the most


    unique appearance amongst all the products of the same brand, but it turned out that it didn''t serve its


    purpose. It has a nice appearance but of little use," she continued.


    The room was filled withughter.


    Rufus straightened his back and fixed his eyes on Cassandra interestingly.


    He was curious about what she would say next.


    Then, she changed the topic.


    "When I was a little girl, I thought that the most important thing in a certain design was an attractive


    appearance, but the longer I worked in this industry and the more I learned, the better I understand that


    the final purpose of design is practicality. The utility should not be sacrificed on behalf of beauty," she


    narrated emotionally.


    The audience she was speaking to was a group of experts when it came to design and architecture.


    Thus everyone seemed to get the implication of her statement as they nodded their heads in approval.


    They had seen the designs of both Tang Group and Dawn Star Group in the past. The former was


    conservative and practical while thetter focused on the novel appearance. To cover up the


    unexpected emergency brought about by her broken sh disk, Cassandrapared and contrasted


    the two design ns taking the example of her own experience.


    In the next few minutes, she briefly introduced her design and the reasons behind such a proposal.


    Attracted by her vivid introductions and the small incident earlier, all the attendees were absorbed in


    the picture she portrayed.


    About ten minutester, someone from thepany gave Leo another sh disk and he handed it to


    Cassandra immediately. Finally, all the attendees were able to view a concrete example of the design


    n.


    It was a wonderful experience for them to see with their own eyes the things they heard slowly


    unfolding in front of them. They had been impressed by her description, and the pictures gave them


    another visual shock. They praised the design n of Cassandra again and again, and it visibly stood


    out among the rest.


    Rufus had sat back on his chair when he realized that there was no need for him to help her out.


    Cassandra''s wit saved her and perfectly solved the crisis. Her misfortune turned out to be an actual


    blessing. Rufus was surprised to see the awe of impression on the faces of the audience.


    A wicked smiled cracked on his face when he thought about the promise she made to him yesterday.


    He felt ted and the cause of it all was no other than, Cassandra.


    After the demonstration, the organizers usually took their time to discuss things and the results would


    be announced several dayster. However, judging from the way theymended Cassandra, it was


    no doubt that Tang Group would win the bidding this time.


    Cloris ran to Cassandra and gave her a bear hug after she stepped down from the rostrum.


    "Bravo! Great job, Cassandra! You''re the best!" she eximed excitedly.


    Cassandra patted her on the back while casting a quick nce at Rufus.


    She couldn''t help but notice the myriad expressions in his eyes, and it was filled with joy and


    excitement.


    Cassandra admitted that she went nk when she was unable to demonstrate her n, but she was


    hit by a sudden inspiration when her eyes met Rufus''. Then she gathered up all her strength and


    started from her broken sh disk, changed the topic to her design and presented her ideas clearly.


    To her great relief, it all turned out to be perfect. Almost everyone in the room recognized her efforts. All


    went well and ended well.


    Cassandra despised the quality of her sh disk. It was made from a brand known for quality, but she


    wondered how could it failed to work only several days after she had just bought it.


    Rufus slowly averted his eyes away from Cassandra and fixed them on Cloris. He looked at her


    quizzically.


    Victor texted him earlier that Cloris went to thedies'' room before Cassandra''s presentation. She


    looked tense and was gripping something in her hands. Moreover, he heard a weird tinkling of


    something metal colliding with thevatory. Cloris was flushing something away.


    Rufus knew what would happen if Cassandralearned that her much-loved, sweet, little sister stole her


    sh disk from her, she must be brokenhearted.


    Taking his time, Rufus walked towards them. Cassandra let go of her sister and reached out her hand


    to Rufus in an awkward attempt to shake his hand.


    She was afraid that Rufus would give her a hug just like Cloris did in front of so many people. The


    shaking hands were her escape.


    However, Rufus knew her n the moment she reached out her hand, and he just went with the flow


    and looked at her with a cunning smile.


    Cassandra''s face blushed red as Rufus gave her hand a slight but endearing squeeze.


    "Give me your sh disk. I''ll take it to the engineers to see if they can restore the data in it," he asked


    deliberately.


    He asked her in a voice loud enough for Cloris to hear. He did that on purpose so he could gauge her


    reaction.


    Unsurprisingly, Cloris got a word in, and interrupted, "I was the one who rmended the sh disk to


    Cassandra the other day, and I feel so guilty that it almost ruined such a big asion. So to make it up


    with what I have done, a good friend of mine is skilled at data restoring. Please give it to me and I''ll fix


    it!" she exined briskly.


    Rufus''s eyes grew inquisitively dim hearing her words. He was sure that Cloris had stealthily taken


    Cassandra''s disk away and reced it with another disk that was not working. She was scared that


    Rufus would learn the truth and was eager to take the disk with her. However, Cloris didn''t know that


    her voice was quivering as she spoke, totally betraying the fear she felt inside.


    Cassandra turned to Cloris and ced her hand over her shoulders.


    "Cloris! The data inside this disk are important for ourpany and it''s improper for you to just take it


    to some friends of yours!" she scolded her.


    Then she turned to face Rufus.


    "Since I have saved other copies, it doesn''t matter whether it can be restored or not. I''ll just keep the


    disk as a souvenir, and this will serve as an important lesson for me. It''ll remind me not to make the


    same mistakes in the future," she said.


    Honestly, Rufus didn''t care about the data at all, and he had already confirmed what he needed to


    know. It made no difference if Cassandra wanted to keep it.


    He was immersed in his thoughts till he noticed that Cloris took a deep breath of relief after hearing that


    Cassandra wouldn''t give it to him.


    Modesty aside, the smile on Cassandra''s face was as bright as before. She had no idea that a storm


    was on its way to shake her firm ground and the aftershock would be much devastating.


    They were interrupted when Arthur stopped in front of Cassandra with his hand extended to


    congratte her.


    "Miss Qin, your demonstration was thrilling and impressive, and I want to show you my appreciation.


    Congrattions!" he eximed with a smile.


    Arthur was considered one of the outstanding men in the industry because he led the dying Dawn Star


    Group to its prosperity now, and no one could ignore his talent.


    Cassandra shook hands with him, with the respect of a rival.


    "The design of Mr. Zhuang''s building is quite new and bold, and I''m impressed," sheplimented him


    back.


    N?velDrama.Org is the owner.


    Arthur then turned to Rufus and patted him on his shoulder.


    "Congrattions, Mr. Luo! You''re lucky to find such a young and talented manager, and I believe she


    will be of excellent assistance to you in the future. Oh! I envy you!" he didn''t dare to hide the admiration


    in his voice.


    Only a chosen few knew about Cassandra and Lionel''s rtionship even in the Tang Group, not


    mentioning an outsider like Arthur. He had no idea that Cassandra was already married to Lionel.


    There was an implication in his words, and he thought that Rufus and Cassandra were a couple.


    Cassandra''s heart ached a little at the thought that they were mistaken as a couple. She wished it was


    true and was not a mistake at all.


    She was limited to be Rufus assistant and not the ''assistant'' that Arthur was implying.


    On the other side of the city, Lionel received a call from Ivy, and she sounded excited.


    "Honey, the doctor said that it''s a boy!" she rambled on the other side of the phone.


    Lionel suddenly felt exuberantly happy as if the horizons opened up for him. All this time he had wished


    and wanted for the baby to be a boy, and thankfully it had met his expectations. He thanked God for the


    favor, sincerely.


    Being an excited father as he was, he couldn''t help but tell his mother about Ivy''s pregnancy. Jill was


    stricken dumb by the news and it took her a while to weigh things over and ept the fact that she


    would be a grandma.


    Ever since Rufus returned, Lionel was almost invisible and no one paid any attention to him. Jill was so


    annoyed and Horace chose to stand by Rufus every time she and Rufus were in conflicts. She couldn''t


    persuade herself to ept that truth.


    Thus, when Lionel told her his n of overpowering Rufus with Ivy''s pregnancy, she agreed with him


    and thought that it was a good n.


    Despite their bestid n, Jill had her own worries. Cassandra was Lionel''swful wedded wife but he


    was having an affair with Ivy even before their marriage. That would make Lionel the unfaithful


    husband.


    "That sex video of you and that woman was yed at the banquetst time, and it made your father felt


    humiliated. I don''t think that he could ept her," she told Lionel her worries.


    The excitement on Lionel''s face was still blooming, and he was overwhelmed by the delight of kicking


    Rufus out of the Tang Group.


    "Mother, please don''t worry. We''ll do things one step at a time. As long as Ivy can give birth to a boy,


    Father will favor me again. Remember how my grandpa valued him because you had me and all his


    other sons didn''t have a baby boy," heforted his mother.


    Lionel''s idea won over Jill, and they began discussing how to tell Horace. They believed that he would


    cherish Lionel''s baby because this was his first grandchild. Cassandra, however, was their pain in the


    neck.


    If Lionel was single and Ivy was pregnant with his baby, it would be easy for Ivy to marry him, but now


    things wereplicated because Cassandra, Lionel''s wife, was chosen by nobody but Horace himself.


    It would be impossible for Lionel to divorce her by his own will. They needed to think over a perfect n


    for Horace to ept Ivy.