Chapter 165 The Petite Woman In The Bathtub


    Mr. Wang finally stood up, design n in his hands. He nodded to Cassandra with a satisfied smile on


    his face, his curious expression now long gone.


    "Ms. Qin, I believe that yourpany''s sess will be beyond expectation. You have the ball at your


    feet! Please ept my congrattions in advance!" he smiled sincerely.


    Cassandra''s sheer confidence dispelled whatever doubt he had before. He looked at her approvingly


    before turning to leave her office.


    Cassandra thanked him eagerly and promised to not let him down.


    Once he was out of earshot, she squealed in delight for sessfully nailing down the business


    transaction.


    Her happiness was short-lived, however, when it finally dawned on her how exhausted she had been.


    Since she was the operator of the group, her mother was unable to help and her sister was too young


    to understand, she had to do most of the work herself. But no matter how frustrated she was,


    Cassandra knew it was all worth it. Her father must have felt the same when he started the group. She


    smiled to herself.


    Although she had won several grand design prizes before, Cassandra promised Lionel that she


    wouldn''t work on designing in the next two years, which somehow restricted her to gather arger


    clientele for herpany.


    Most of the cases they undertook were simr that of Mr. Wang, and many clients came to her for the


    sake of her previous works. She quietly hoped that the group could provide them with some brilliant


    works in order to establish a long term cooperation rtionship. Facts speak louder than words.


    However, if she was just able to design again, she knew she could have gathered argerwork of


    prospective customers.


    A loud p of thunder broke her from her thoughts as she suddenly felt her feet quake beneath her.


    She got dizzy as she noticed the ss windows rumbling.


    Cassandra knew it wasn''t vertigo, but she couldn''t figure out what it was. She closed her eyes until the


    shaking subsided.


    As if on cue, her phone beeped to alert her of the news. She quickly took her phone out to check.


    It said that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck A city. The alerts updated her every other minute. The


    earthquake and the thunder shower triggered severalndslides and there were still unconfirmed


    reports on casualties. The earthquake was strong enough to affect the surrounding cities.


    G City wasn''t very close to A City, but citizens there also felt the strong vibration.


    Taking several deep breaths, Cassandra slowly stood up from her chair despite her dizziness.


    When she opened the door to leave her office, the hallway was in utter chaos. Her employees were all


    scattered outside, discussing the earthquake.


    "It was so scary! I saw the ripples in my mug and thought that I shook the desk by ident!" a female


    employee said.


    Her voice was trembling and shaky.


    "My uncle and his family are in A City. I tried calling them but I still couldn''t reach them! I''m so worried,"


    another employee cried out.


    She was about to burst into tears and some of her colleagues gathered around tofort her.


    "Don''t worry. They must just be busy ensuring they''re safe so they don''t have time to call you. That, or


    the connection might just be too busy because everyone''s doing the same thing. Just try againter!"


    "She''s right! Don''t worry. I''m sure they''ll contact you once they''re safe!"


    Cassandra cleared her throat when she approached the huddled crowd, and all of them quickly grew


    quiet and looked at her.


    "Let''s all call it a day! The weather report says it''s also going to rain soon. Please be careful, and make


    sure that all of you message me as soon as you''re home," she said.


    She knew it was the right thing to do. Primarily, her employees would be safer if they weren''t at work,


    and they wouldn''t even be able to focus since they were all too worried. That, and she also had to go


    home.


    She nced outside to look at the dark clouds forming in the distance, before looking back at her


    employees earnestly.


    They were incredibly surprised by her words. All of them smiled and sighed in relief, thanking her


    eagerly.


    "Thank you so much, Manager Qin!" "You''re seriously the best boss I''ve ever seen!"


    "Thank God! No, thank you, Boss! I was just worrying about the disgruntlingmute home. You''re a


    lifesaver!"


    "I rode my electrical bicycle here today, and it''ll be impossible to ride it home in such a stormy weather.


    I''d better hurry up before the stormes! See you tomorrow, my sweet boss!"


    The employees'' praises kept oning as they piled their things together and left one by one.


    Cassandra looked at her watch and found that if she didn''t hurry herself, she''d be trapped within the


    rush hour. She grabbed her things quickly back in her office and ran to the exit.


    Upon leaving the main entrace, the wind almost blew her away. The gust was so strong and cold, and


    the fog had started to form in the city.


    Cassandra hailed a taxi hurriedly and rushed towards the Garden Vi without much dy. It suddenly


    came to her that she forgot to close the windows this morning. She had to get home as fast as she


    could otherwise it would the house upside down.


    When she arrived, Cassandra dashed to her door and hurriedly closed the windows. Right at this


    moment, the rain drummed on the window pane heavily.


    Cassandra sighed heavily before going to her room to change. Once she was done, she dumped her


    damp clothes in the dryer and walked to the living room to copse on the sofa. She reached for the


    remote and turned on the TV. Just as expected, the news was broadcasting the severity of the


    earthquake and the storm. Her stomach knotted at the horrific scenes caused by the earthquake in the


    news.


    It was getting darker and darker outside. Different from the wind ind, the storm from coastal cities


    was blustering around the house, together with the thunder, the rain and the lightning shing across


    the sky. Fears were raised up in Cassandra''s heart and she buried herself deep in the soft sofa with her


    arms across her chest.


    She was alone in such a huge house, which seemed emptier than usual. The violent thunderstorm was


    roaring louder outside, rattling her windows from the strong gusts of wind. To her, it sort of felt like the


    end of the world.


    She started to think about Rufus. If only he were here, she might not feel as scared.


    If he were here, she could burrow her entire body into his chest and he would''ve caressed her face


    tenderly. She would be safe in his arms and that would have been enough for her.


    She was pretty sure, however, that it was only her fantasy or daydreaming. All she had at the moment


    was herrge house and the noisy TV in this stormy night.


    After a long while, ncing out the window beside her, Cassandra saw the two flower nted in the


    yard. Her heart dropped to her stomach at the sight of them.


    They had just branched out a few days ago, but under the heavy rain, they were bound to die. The poor


    nts were incredibly fragile under the strength of the storm. As they swayed in the wind, Cassandra


    took it as a sign that they were asking for her help.


    Rufus had nted those two flowers for her, and if they were blown away, she would never forgive


    herself for watching it happen.


    Cassandra jumped to her feet, grabbed arge raincoat, and ran to the door without hesitating. She felt


    obligated to protect them. However, once she opened the door, the storm roared against her small


    frame. She pushed forward despite the strong winds and ran outside.


    Cassandra took a deep breath and made her way to the nts. Each step she took, the wind fought


    back, as if it were trying to prevent her from getting to the nts. When she made it, she quickly spread


    her oversize raincoat and secured around the bottom with some heavy rocks, covering the flowers.


    Seeing the nts now safe and sheltered, she finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    The rain was falling down heavily, like tiny stones hitting on her shoulders. Suddenly, a strong gust of


    wind blew up and she choked, coughing and swallowing several times.


    To her horror, just as she was coughing, she suddenly felt someone approach her from behind. And the


    next second she was lifted up into a warm embrace. Cassandra screamed in the rain until she saw


    Rufus''s wrathful face in front of her. A warm current of joy coursing around her body, she bit her lips


    and nestled her head on his shoulder.


    She let him take both of them back inside the house. Rufus kicked the door open, walked in and closed


    the wuthering outside behind them. Then he turned to the woman, his eyes as cold as ice.


    "What the hell were you doing outside? It is raging storm outside, for God''s sake! You''ll get sick


    standing in the middle of the heavy rain!" he scolded her.


    Rufus sounded both furious and concerned. Only Cassandra could trigger both emotions at the same


    time, and she knew it.


    Cassandra was thin and weak. What was she thinking exposing herself to the rain? Rufus looked at


    her, ring as he checked her face for any sign of guilt. Cassandra merely looked back, eyes glistening


    and cheeks puffed.


    Cassandra brought her arms to his waist and hugged him tightly, feeling his strong, speedy heartbeat.


    She didn''t dare say anything else. Despite shivering in damp clothes, she felt incredibly warm inside.


    She knew that Rufus cared for her and that he was just too worried for her.


    "I''m sorry. It won''t happen again," she murmured quietly.


    Her arms rose to his shoulders and hugged him tighter. Rainwater continued to drip between the two of


    them.


    "Again? Of course, not again! The next time you do that again I''ll leave you alone and lock you out!"


    Rufus warned.


    His actions betrayed his cruel voice. He carefully carried her upstairs to the bathroom. Then he put her


    in the bathtub and turned the hot water on.


    "Take off your clothes," he ordered.


    He sounded incredibly irresistible and Cassandra was overwhelmed by his cool voice.


    She took her nightgown off and threw them aside, blushing. The wet clothingnded with a soppy flop


    on the tiled floor.


    Rufus still red at her, but he couldn''t help swallow at the sight of her naked form.


    "Are those two nts really more important than your own body? You''ll pay dearly for it in the future!


    Everything in the world is apart and outside of you but your health, because your health is the only


    thing that belongs to yourself!" he chided once more, trying to not get distracted at her beautiful figure.


    Rufus didn''t n toe to the Vi today, but the thunderstorm changed his mind and he was afraid


    that Cassandra would be terrified alone.


    He drove back as quickly as possible, only to see her standing outside like an idiot.


    With her back to him, she didn''t notice his car and was busy covering the nts against the strong


    storm. Her stubborn figure reminded him of what happened during the typhoonst year—the woman


    also walked into rain determinedly.


    Rufus felt that he couldn''t breathe, and anger started to slowly boil inside him. He ran to pick her up


    harshly and hurried inside without talking to her due to his annoyance.


    On his way to the vi, his mind was too busy worrying if Cassandra would be terrified being alone in


    such a big house. Seeing her standing in the rain only put his back up as he even felt hurt himself when


    the rain hit on his body.


    "I''m sorry... I was just scared that they might be blown away," she exined shyly.


    Cassandra didn''t dare speak loudly when Rufus was mad at her. He only had little patience when he


    was angry, and it wasn''t the right time to anger him even more.


    Cassandra''s shyness immediately softened Rufus''s expression and he sighed irritably. She had


    be his weakness that he couldn''t even get mad at her properly.


    Rufus fixed his eyes at her frame; all his muscles were tensing when he saw her crouching in the


    bathtub. He crouched down next to the tub, right beside her head.


    He held the shower head and began bathing her, hands carefully brushing over her hair and her face.


    Cassandra''s pale skin had started to flush from the hot water. When their eyes met, he could see


    himself in her glistening eyes.


    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    She pouted her lips and looked at him innocently.


    "I just wanted to keep those nts alive so that I could watch them bloom, with you!" she said.