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 had come 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 flash disk on her clenched fist. He stood up
without any hesitation, walked to the organizers and whispered something to them.

He was planning 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 flash disk for everyone to see and slowly explained her tight spot.

"It seemed that my flash 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 flash 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 with laughter.

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 the latter focused on the novel appearance. To cover up the
unexpected emergency brought about by her broken flash disk, Cassandra compared and contrasted
the two design plans 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 minutes later, someone from the company gave Leo another flash disk and he handed it to
Cassandra immediately. Finally, all the attendees were able to view a concrete example of the design
plan.

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 plan 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 elated 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 days later. However, judging from the way they commended 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 exclaimed excitedly.

Cassandra patted her on the back while casting a quick glance 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 blank when she was unable to demonstrate her plan, 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 flash 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 flash 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 the ladies' 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 the lavatory. Cloris was flushing something away.

Rufus knew what would happen if Cassandralearned that her much-loved, sweet, little sister stole her
flash 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 plan 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 flash 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 recommended the flash disk to
Cassandra the other day, and I feel so guilty that it almost ruined such a big occasion. 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 explained briskly.

Rufus's eyes grew inquisitively dim hearing her words. He was sure that Cloris had stealthily taken
Cassandra's disk away and replaced 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 placed her hand over her shoulders.

"Cloris! The data inside this disk are important for our company 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
congratulate her.

"Miss Qin, your demonstration was thrilling and impressive, and I want to show you my appreciation.
Congratulations!" he exclaimed 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," she complimented him
back.

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

"Congratulations, 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 relationship 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 accept 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 accept that truth.

Thus, when Lionel told her his plan of overpowering Rufus with Ivy's pregnancy, she agreed with him
and thought that it was a good plan.

Despite their best-laid plan, Jill had her own worries. Cassandra was Lionel's lawful 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 played at the banquet last time, and it made your father felt
humiliated. I don't think that he could accept 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," he comforted 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 were complicated 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 plan
for Horace to accept Ivy.


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