The Enchanted Night

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After Edith left, Cassandra pulled the quilt over her head. She had no desire to get off the bed.

With her face facing the wall, tears slowly started to slide down her cheeks. Now that it had begun, there was no way of stopping it. Her tears seemed to be endless.

In her parents' eyes, she wasn't gentle or sweet. In fact she was a cold lady when compared to Cloris. Therefore, she never received the attention from her father which she had always craved.

This world now seemed like a bleak and hopeless place. People often preached about doing good deeds anonymously. However, after one had done a good deed in secrecy, they wouldn't regard you as a good person. People had a way of taking advantage of those who were kind.

Life wasn't fair and people who didn't deserve the love often ended up getting it.

While Cassandra was drowning in her misery, she felt someone lie beside her. He slowly stretched his arms and closed them tightly against her body. His hug was quite strong and Cassandra could feel her body temperature notch up.

Without even turning she knew it was Rufus.

In the past few days, every time he came to visit her, he would silently watch her for a while before leaving the bedroom. But this hug came as a surprise. She was shocked to see that he had come to bed to be with her tonight.

Anxiety started to rise in her body and she wanted to move free from his hug. Rufus, however, assumed that she intended to run away. In order to stop her, he held her even tighter.

"You know what will happen if you continue to move!"

he whispered into her ears. This was a warning and his lips curved into an evil smile. Now Cassandra held her breath out of fear. She didn't dare to move or make any sort of noise.

She didn't know how long it had been since his warning. But Cassandra didn't relax until she heard Rufus's slow and steady breath. 'He has fallen asleep!' she thought with relief washing over her.

Carefully, Cassandra turned and now they were face to face.

'He is handsome. But keeps furrowing his brows even when he is sleeping. This is such a bad habit, ' Cassandra thought to herself.

In spite of his frown, there was something very peaceful about watching him sleep. It made Cassandra feel secure and protected.

Rufus had an outstanding facial features. Watching his gorgeous face, Cassandra really hoped that she could spend the rest of her life with him.

As she watched him, she drifted off to sleep. Tonight she didn't have any nightmare. It was a peaceful night.

The day before she moved to the Tang mansion, Ivy was extremely excited. Her excitement reached a level where sleeping became impossible to her.

Her thoughts revolved completely around Cassandra. She was planning and plotting what she would do when she could finally confront with Cassandra. Her dream was to challenge her status in the Tang family. But when she moved in, Cassandra wasn't at home. Ivy felt a surge of disappointment. That was when she learned that Cassandra had a fever hence she was staying in the hospital.

Horace thought that Cassandra was finding an excuse to escape. But his disappointment was gone once he realized that it would be very difficult for Cassandra to accept the fact that Ivy would be around.

In a sarcastic tone, Jill said, "Well, she is aware that she can't give birth to a child. I guess she is too ashamed to face us."

However, Lionel didn't find Jill's words funny. Instead he found it extremely harsh. He never had sex with Cassandra so he knew why she wasn't pregnant yet. Therefore, when Jill accused Cassandra of being infertile, he had an urge to defend her.

But a

When her sister ran away from the wedding, Autumn was forced to marry Charles.

His name had been linked to innumerable ladies.

He had different girlfriends for every day of a year.

Autumn had never thought that she would fall in love with him.

omething to hurt her baby, she would lose everything.

Ivy didn't know what Rufus thought of the baby. Hence she wasn't in a state to task risk.

The worst was yet to come. Cassandra knew that sooner or later she would have to go back and face Ivy. She had stayed in the hospital for more than a week. There was no reason for her to stay there any longer. If she did, it would certainly raise suspicion.

Rufus helped her complete the discharging formalities. Once he was done, he went and picked her up. Cassandra was nervous and he could tell it from her expression.

As Rufus drove to the Tang mansion, Cassandra found herself fidgeting and sweating.

'I am Tang family's daughter-in-law. Ivy is no one! I am the one who is married to Lionel, not Ivy. Why should I be nervous? If anyone must feel nervous then it should be Ivy, ' she told herself inside her mind.

Glancing at her, Rufus stretched out his hand and patted on her shoulder. Although he didn't utter a word, his action somehow calmed her.

'You got this, Cassandra. There is nothing to be afraid of, ' Cassandra told to herself internally, trying to cheer up.

When she walked into the living room, Horace wasn't there. She was brought face to face with Jill who was sitting on the sofa.

When she saw Cassandra, she passed her a quick look and then brought her attention back to the TV which she was watching.

Taking a deep breath, Cassandra began to greet her, "Mother, I'm back."

Jill sneered at her and continued to watch her drama. She didn't think Cassandra deserved a reply.

Watching this rejection, Cassandra felt a little humiliated. With no intention of trying again, she started walking towards her room. When she was about to walk in, she heard someone walking behind her.

She turned around and saw that it was Lionel and Ivy.

Cassandra couldn't help but notice Ivy's growing abdomen. Ivy was wearing a tight dress like she wanted everyone to notice her tummy.

It was a common knowledge that pregnant women would prefer loose clothes because their figure would be out of shape during pregnancy. Ivy, however, took pride in it.

This baby was her ploy to gain respect and replace Cassandra in the Tang family, therefore she couldn't wait to flaunt it.

While walking past Cassandra, Ivy put one hand on her belly and looked coldly at Cassandra.

"It is better to be pregnant than to be married," Ivy said with a smug smile.