Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness novel Chapter 108

"How about next time? I’ll take you to your favorite restaurant then." Despite his words, Jonas's tone sounded noncommittal, and it irked Emily.

She pasted a smile on her face and tried to temper her simmering anger. "I’m sorry. I realize I must have taken too much of your time lately. Please go ahead and deal with whatever you need to deal with. I can handle myself."

Jonas could see that her smile was a little forced, and he felt a small pang of guilt. It soon disappeared in a flash, however, and he hurried out of the room.

Emily walked to the window and watched as his car zoomed out of the garage and disappeared in the hot sun.

"Miss Bai, are we continuing with your practice?" It was the coach, who had been in the room for a few moments now. When he first entered, he had found Miss Bai all by herself. He had looked around, confused and unsure what to do, and finally broke the silence when it seemed like his client had no plans to play any more billiards that day.

"No, I’m feeling rather unwell. Maybe next time." Emily had a hard, cold expression on her face, and she didn’t bother to look at the coach as she addressed him.

The poor man briefly wondered at the stark contrast between the image of this actress onscreen and the way she was acting in person. Oh well, she did say she wasn’t feeling well; perhaps that was all there was to it.

"Understood, Miss Bai. Next time you come here, please look for me." With that, the coach left the room, and thought nothing more of his encounter with Emily.

Jonas drove home at full speed, and his tires screeched on the mansion’s driveway as he stepped on the brakes. He got out of the car in a hurry and stalked into his wife’s villa.

Melinda was lounging on the couch watching a show, and she glanced at him only briefly as he entered the living room. He paused in the act of taking off his coat. ‘That’s it? Not even a greeting?’

He rushed back home eager to see his wife; it never occurred to him that she might not share his excitement at finally being together. A heavy lump of disappointment lodged at his throat, but he swallowed it down.

"What are you watching?" he asked casually as he plopped beside her on the couch. The moment he came close, though, Melinda’s face wrinkled into a frown.

She turned to give him a look, sniffed once, and then pushed him away with force. "Get away from me."

He could only gape at her in confusion. He could see the anger flashing in her eyes, but could find no explanation to it. He had done nothing but sit next to her, and he was sure there was nothing wrong with that.

Seeing his puzzled face, Melinda correctly assumed that her husband thought himself without fault whatsoever. It only served to fuel her anger even further.

She knew that scent. It was so overpowering that it made a mark in her memory. Besides, it was associated with one of the top candidates as the bane of her existence, so of course she would know that scent anywhere.

It was Emily’s perfume.

Even after pushing her husband away, with several feet separating them, the cloying scent of the other woman permeated the space.

"You were with Emily today," Melinda stated with conviction. She wasn’t asking him anything; she was citing facts out loud. "And you have been with her these past few days."

A flicker of surprise rose in Jonas's eyes, but he didn’t seem much bothered by what she said. In his mind, he remained innocent—he had done nothing wrong with Emily after all.

And if anything, his wife’s words only showed that she cared enough about him to know such things. He felt a ridiculous tingle of excitement at the prospect. He would consider this a victory of sorts, no matter how little it seemed.

He hoped his face wouldn’t break out in a sudden, smug smile as he replied to her in a calm manner. "Yes, I have been talking to Emily a lot lately. Don’t think too much about it."

'Don’t think too much?!' The warmth in his voice did not escape Melinda, and she immediately assumed it was because he was talking about his childhood friend. 'This idiot must think the people around him are either blind or stupid.'

She took a deep breath. As much as she wanted to lash out at Jonas, she was very tired. These scenarios were becoming frequent, and they were taking a toll on her.

Her dilemma, however, all flew over Jonas's head. He was enjoying being the sudden object of all her attention. But then her face changed, and while he could not tell for certain what her expression meant, he was sure it wasn’t out of pleasure.

"Did you—once again—forget the things you promised?" She rose from the sofa as she asked him, and in spite of her soft, homey clothes, she looked every bit as ruthless as a goddess of war. She crossed her arms across her chest and sneered at her husband.

This was a Melinda that was foreign to him, and Jonas could not muster a word. After a beat of silence, she flashed him a mocking smirk. "Well it seems that you really have forgotten, Mr. Jonas Gu."

She was seething with rage now. She couldn’t believe the gall of this man, to declare such professions and make promises that he would easily throw out the window without any regard.

She knew he didn’t forget of course. How could he forget anything when he obviously remembered much from his sweet, joyful childhood with Emily?

"Emily and I would just chat, nothing more. I’m not doing her any favors either." He sounded a little helpless and unsure, but Melinda was beyond angry now, and she was done excusing him for all the pain he continued to cause her.

Jonas was at a loss. He always found himself caught between countless contradicting opinions when it came to Emily. He could see that his wife was visibly mad now, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it, he thought.

"Emily is a scheming woman, Jonas. You know that! She might only be chatting merrily with you now, but are you sure she’s going to stop at that? Besides, you said you would cut all ties between you, and yet you still keep seeing her. You made a promise, Jonas! Or maybe it’s just me misunderstanding what 'cutting off all ties' means?"

Melinda spat out her words without pause, not caring if she was saying too much or speaking too loudly. Her mouth felt dry after her tirade, and she swallowed a couple of times to ease the rough feeling in her throat.

Seeing this, Jonas walked over to a small side table and poured her a glass of water. He handed it to her and she accepted it without a word, downing the whole drink in three gulps.

She felt a little better after that, but as she looked at her empty glass, she realized she accepted something her husband offered even though she was still angry at him.

She had a mind to recall her rage full force, but she really was tired of it all. She said nothing, and kept staring at the glass in her hands. Mary had noticed the raised voices, and immediately approached the living room to stop the couple from fighting. When she arrived at the doorway, however, it didn’t seem like Jonas and Melinda were at each other’s throats like before. Instead, a heavy, pregnant silence hung in the room. She felt like she shouldn’t intrude, and hurried back to her bedroom.

"Mellie," Jonas finally said after taking a deep breath. "I think what you’re misunderstanding is how you perceive Emily."

He was hesitant to breach this talk with his wife, but in recent days, as he met with Emily, he found her to be simple and positive. There were no signs at all of her being the cunning woman that Melinda claimed her to be.

Although if he were being truthful, he would have admitted that there was a part of him that refused to accept that his childhood playmate had a calculating and manipulative side to her.

And she left the room without another word, nor a backward glance. The silence that followed was suffocating, and Jonas slumped back on the sofa and brought his hands to his face.

Melinda went straight to her bedroom. As soon as the door shut behind her, she started heaving. She found it difficult to breathe, and her chest ached. She went over to the bed and tried to calm herself.

Her thoughts drifted back to how faithfully her husband defended Emily. Her hand unconsciously clutched at her chest. Tears started to fall.

She couldn’t understand why it still hurt so bad even after everything she had gone through. It angered her that she only kept on hurting. The tears came faster; it seemed that the weeping wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

The weekend was supposed to be a time for relaxation. But it had barely begun and already one of them had locked herself in the bedroom, while the other brooded in the living room. They had exchanged angry words they could never take back, and now neither one made a move to approach the other.

At lunch time, Mary prepared the couple’s favorite dishes. Even so, Melinda did not emerge from her room, and Jonas ate by himself.

When evening came, Jonas found himself alone yet again at the dining table. His wife still hadn’t gone down for a meal that day, and it made him anxious.

Just as he was about to go upstairs and break her door down, Melinda walked into the room. There was an air of nonchalance about her, as if the arguments from the morning did not happen. She also acted like he did not exist.

Mary came up to her as soon as she seated herself, and Melinda gave the maid a bright smile. "Mary, I’m a little hungry. Can you prepare some noodles for me?"

Mary shot a careful glance at Jonas. "How about I heat the food I prepared earlier? I made your favorite dishes, you and Mr. Gu can have some of those."

She made sure to imply that Jonas had not eaten yet, for which he was thankful, but his wife paid no mind to what the maid said. "No, thank you. I want to have noodles for dinner."

The poor maid had no choice but to do as she was asked. Nevertheless, she prepared more than one helping. The young couple may have had a quarrel, but she wouldn’t stand for it if they neglected their own health over their differences. Dinner was eaten in silence that night.

In the days that followed, Melinda remained quiet and reserved. She would speak to the servants occasionally, and smile at them, but would always be cold towards Jonas.

Only Mary, being the one in charge of Melinda’s villa, knew the truth of the situation: the young madam had neither laughed nor smiled genuinely since she fought with her husband.

In the few times that Jonas attempted to talk to her, all he got was either unrelenting silence, or short replies. A couple of times they came into argument, which led to raised voices, and then confrontations that were more volatile than last weekend.

Yulia took note of it all, pleased with the results of her connivance with Emily. She knew the actress was at the bottom of the couple’s conflict, and although she sometimes got the chills when she happened to be around the quarreling couple, she couldn’t help her excitement and anticipation.

It wouldn’t take long for her brother’s marriage to completely crumble. 'Emily must have done really good driving a wedge between these two. They’re fighting almost every day.’

She wasn’t fooled by Melinda’s tough act. She could see that her brother’s wife was distressed by the whole situation, and it brought Yulia a great amount of satisfaction.

Perhaps it was because of her satisfaction that something slipped her mind—their grandfather was still unaware of the state of his grandson’s marriage. If Nelson found out, there would surely be uproar in the Gu's mansion, one that would rival all the fights between Jonas and Melinda combined.