The Enchanted Night

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Upon hearing Horace's words, Jenks Tong looked towards the woman and smiled.

Then, he said with pleasure, "You're Cassandra Qin. Am I right?"

Cassandra had tried to hide her face by lowering her head and letting her hair cover her face, from the second the old man entered the room. She didn't want him to notice her.

However, her efforts failed, as he easily picked her out of the crowd, calling her by name.

With no place to hide anymore, she raised her head and met his gaze. Everyone in the room was staring at her.

Apparently, he was not surprised to see Cassandra here at all.

She didn't realize that the man had known who she was the day they met.

Anyway, Cassandra put herself together and said, "Nice to meet you, Director Tong."

There was not much to say. The only thing on her mind now was the story she had shared earlier about the canary and the birdcage. She feared that he would let slip the story.

She shouldn't have worried at all, as Jenks gave nothing away concerning their meeting. Instead, he went straight to discussing the construction of a new branch of the hospital with Horace.

At the end of their conversation, Jenks praised, "Rufus is a great man. Two days ago, he came to me and floated an idea for the project and I must say I was impressed. That's why I chose your company."

Hearing the praises heaped on Rufus, Horace smiled with satisfaction. It gave him great joy to hear someone speak so highly of his son.

Jill, however, wasn't happy about the new development. Two years ago at a dinner party, she remembered Mrs. Tong agreeing to Lionel taking up the same project.

She wondered why Rufus was getting a deal to which his brother had already committed. Did Horace find it right to shortchange one son for the other?

If things went on like this, Jill feared Lionel would eventually lose his current position at the Tang Group.

The only consolation she found in the whole arrangement was that Horace still needed Cassandra to undertake most of the major construction projects, like this one. But then again, Cassandra too would lose, if Rufus was to be favored against everyone else.

Out of the blue, Lionel cut in, with an unrelated subject. Listening to Horace, he had noticed how willingly his old man agreed to an arrangement that would unsettle their earlier deal. So Lionel decided to disrupt their scheme. For now, all that he needed was just something downplay the discussion. If he could derail their meeting, that would allow him time to plot a come back. He wasn't going to stand on the fence and watch his brother gain unfair advantage.

"By the way, Father, Cassandra and I are planning to have a child. I wonder if Uncle Jenks could recommend one of his doctors. Maybe we'ill need some help along the line."

The diversion worked like magic. No one in the room had seen that coming.

Horace burst into laughter at once.

As a fact, he knew that Lionel's marriage to Cassandra was the result of pressure from the two families. The parents on both sides had their own interests in forcing the marriage. But now, everyone knew that Cassandra and Lionel did not get along well with each other. Why did Lionel

When her boyfriend betrayed her, all light and joy was gone from Cherry’s life. Deserted, bereft of hope, she married a man that she had barely met, but she had never expected him to be her ex-boyfriend’s uncle.

Cherry thought that she had finally found her happiness, but she had no idea about the dark secrets that were bound to unfold and haunt her forever...

've told him? Have my words touched him that much?' she wondered.

Weighing her options, she really hoped that Lionel wouldn't change his mind. Out of fear, she wrapped herself tightly with the quilt, and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

In earnest, she prayed to God that Lionel wouldn't touch her. Not today, or any other day.

Meanwhile, a Rolls-Royce Phantom roared in the evening wind and rain.

On the back seat was Rufus, being driven back to the Tangs' residence from the hospital.

His tightly bandaged hand would probably not be able to bend for a week.

Beside him was an apparently tired Cloris, who had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder.

Rufus watched rain drops falling on the window and sliding down in slow rivulets.

Suddenly his phone rang. An incoming call from Victor, who in a low voice reported, "Well, at least he didn't force Cassandra to have sex with him.

It seems she's pretty safe at least for now."

Rufus looked at the Cloris who was still asleep, and answered in a low voice as well, "Have someone to keep monitoring them. If something happens, you know what to do."

Rufus then hung up the phone and heaved a sigh of relief.

'That's a good news but… it can be actually a bad news, ' he thought.

'Why didn't Lionel force her to sleep with him after the announcement? Could he be planning something else that we can't guess at the moment?'

But no matter what was in Lionel's mind, Rufus would stop him, if he wanted to hurt Cassandra.

What Lionel didn't know was that he was being watched and there was already someone close by to deter him if he dared touch Cassandra. Right now, on the foliage-covered wall near the window of his bedroom, a man in all black was lurking in the shadows like Spiderman, watching and ready to strike at any moment if Lionel crossed the red line.

Just in case something happened, Rufus was well-prepared as always.

Information was an asset in this battle. And on that score, he was ahead of the game.

On this cold night in the late autumn, a hawk-eyed Rufus squinted, waiting for the real storm ahead.