Chapter 99 A Traffic Jam


    Jonas pursed his lips. He knew why Melinda insisted to know. After hesitating for a while, he finally


    opened his mouth in attempt to say something.


    Melinda''s eyebrows furrowed and her lips instantly formed into a line the moment she heard Emily''s


    name. She did not even bother waiting for Jonas to continue. Instead, she hung up the phone abruptly


    while she felt a tightness form in her chest.


    Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org.


    How many more times did she have to feel hurt for her to see that she did not mean anything at all to


    Jonas?


    As long as Emily was in the picture, all her illusions were shattered.


    Jonas stared at his phone in shock after hearing the sound of the beep on the other end. He tried


    calling her again, but the line was busy. Melinda was definitely mad at him.


    Melinda took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down before heading towards the


    direction of Kent who was currently talking to another editor. As soon as they saw her approaching,


    they immediately stopped whatever it was they were discussing about.


    "Miss Mo, I hope I get to have the chance to work with you next time. You are very good with words,"


    the editor praised.


    His face showed regret over just meeting Melinda after she had already found apany to work for.


    A lot of people thought at first that Melinda''s writing was too dark, but strangely it was clean. If one


    were to look into it carefully, they would realize that the persistence of a stubborn person in the


    darkness was not something any ordinary writer could easily possess.


    Because of the strong contrast, her writing became even more distracting.


    "I''m d you appreciate it. I suppose that the opportunity will present itself soon." She smiled politely


    and shook the editor''s hand.


    "I won''t be disturbing you any further, then. Let''s have another chat soon when you have some free


    time."


    The editor then turned to face Kent, smiling as he held out his hand. "I''m looking forward to our


    coboration."


    "It would be my honor," he replied.


    The editor left not long after both of them shook hands. Melinda figured that the coboration they were


    just talking about meant Kent would work with this magazine.


    Kent nced over to Melinda. "You look pale. Today must have been exhausting for you."


    He was actually aware that the phone call Melinda had a moment ago was the reason behind her


    miserable expression. After all, Kent was a clever man.


    Melinda let out a soft sigh. "Yeah. It has been bothering me for days."


    She was always actively participating in the whole process even though the studio mainly handled


    majority of it. Naturally, she would be exhausted.


    "We have an appointmentter. Why don''t you take a break for a while?" Kent gave her a sympathized


    look.


    Although it was obvious that he did not approve of Jonas not showing up today, he would not say it out


    loud. The current situation between him and Melinda was a sensitive topic.


    All the questions and answers for the interview were already prepared in advance so Melinda did not


    have to worry about how to answer properly. As soon as Kent had left, Melinda crashed herself into the


    lounge''s sofa.


    "Okay, theunch event was a sess. You don''t have to worry about the rest. I''ll handle it. I''ve


    already arranged for a driver, so you don''t have to drive, and could leave now."


    The editor couldn''t help but find Melinda''s appearance kind of funny. She had always acted like a


    gentle and elegantdy in front of others.


    Melinda forced a smile. "Thank you, dear editor."


    She did not really want to return to the Gu''s mansion at the time, yet she didn''t want to say it out loud


    either.


    The staff continued to take photos of the venue. As soon as Melinda came out, they hurriedly rushed


    over, eager to take a few shots of her before they proceeded to clear out the props that scattered


    around.


    The driver that her editor had arranged for her had difficulties returning to the downtown area from the


    Gu''s mansion since the ce was isted enough to even get a taxi. Eventually, Melinda asked Gavin


    to send the driver back to the city, feeling once again the inconvenience of being able to travel to and


    from the mansion.


    Jonas had been waiting for Melinda in the living room as soon as he returned home. The sight of him


    quietly carrying Momo in his arms was a rare urrence, seeing that he looked so arrogant most of the


    time.


    Momo meowed at the sight of Melinda. It sounded as if it wasining to her about something.


    "Mellie, are you angry?" Jonas asked quickly.


    He knew it was a stupid question. It was clearly obvious from her cold expression, even to Gavin, that


    she was angry.


    Generally speaking, now that the bookunch was over, she should have a bright smile stered on


    her face instead of the sad frown she currently had.


    Since Jonas and Melinda hadn''t returned home together, Gavin felt that something was wrong.


    Wasn''t Jonas supposed to attend Melinda''s event today about her new book?


    Melindapletely ignored Jonas while he stared at her expectantly. Instead, she reached out towards


    Momo and silently hugged it without so much as a nce back towards the man.


    The cat purred and obediently approached Melinda. She patted the cat''s head as it continued to purr


    contentedly.


    "Ah, here. I have brought you a gift," Jonas said.


    He knew that he was purposefully ignored and wanted to catch her attention, so he took out an


    expensive looking box from the sofa. Inside it revealed to be a corbone ne.


    When Jonas saw the ne at the mall today, it instantly reminded him of Melinda. He had always


    thought that her corbone was beautiful.


    "I don''t want it," she told him.


    Melinda took a nce at the beautiful ne in front of her. It was adorned with uniquely designed


    diamonds that were sure to perfectly highlight the beauty of one''s corbone. It looked very delicate


    and expensive.


    If she weren''t angry at Jonas that moment, she would have epted the gift. However, seeing that it


    was supposed to be a means ofpensation from Jonas, she found herself subconsciously rejecting


    it.


    "I chose this especially for you. Please try it on," he urged.


    Jonas wasn''t sure on what he was doing, but he quickly gathered the courage to fasten the ne


    around Melinda.


    "It''s very beautiful," he told her as he observed the chain dangling from her neck.


    The corner of his mouth lifted up to form a small smirk as he thought to himself that he had good taste


    in buying jewelry. Melinda showed discontent and wanted to remove it but Jonas stopped her.


    "This is my own way of apologizing to you for what happened today. Please don''t refuse it, okay?"


    Even though Jonas had sincere intentions when he admitted his mistake, his expression showed the


    complete opposite.


    Their conversation somehow came to a halt when Nelson entered the vi with Yulia. Yulia seemed to


    be enjoying the fact that Jonas and Melinda had been fighting.


    "How did your bookunch go, Mellie? Did everything go well?" the old man inquired.


    After hearing from Gavin that Melinda had returned home, he immediately went to find her without


    bothering to wait for Melinda to greet him at the door.


    Melinda could not help but smile at the old man. "The event went well. Thank you for your concern,


    Grandpa."


    Although she appreciated Nelson''s concern, she did not want him to find out that she was upset with


    Jonas.


    Nelson loved her so much that if he knew that she was upset he would get angry at Jonas himself.


    Melinda only wished for the elders to experience only happiness every day.


    She could not however sessfully hide her anger towards Jonas. It was pretty obvious from her


    expression. Nelson was also very perceptive, looking back and forth between the two of them.


    "Is there something wrong, Melinda? You do not look quite well," Yulia inquired in a worried voice.


    It didn''t take long for the old man to figure out what was wrong with Melinda. Noticing this, Melinda


    reluctantly smiled and finally gave up.


    She couldn''t hide her displeasure any longer.


    "I''m fine. I''m just exhausted from today''s events, that''s all." Melinda shrugged.


    Nelson raised an eyebrow at her and turned to Jonas. "I thought you were with Melinda at theunch


    event. Did you not help her?"


    Jonas felt even more embarrassed with himself as the old man used him.


    "Jonas, were you not able to make it on time? I''m sorry I made youte. I was spoiled too much. I didn''t


    expect..." Yulia stammered. "I didn''t think..."


    Yulia''s face turned red. Her eyes cast downward, unable to speak any further.


    Melinda felt weird all of a sudden. Why was Yulia being involved? Wasn''t his absence because of


    Emily?


    "What''s going on here?" Nelson asked.


    The old man was confused. What had Yulia got to do with this? The girl suddenly looked terrified as her


    eyes darted towards Jonas before attempting to exin.


    "It''s my fault, Grandpa. I made a mistake." Her lips trembled.


    Melinda suddenly recalled hearing a faint cry of pain beside Jonas when she was on the phone with


    him earlier. She did not expect that it belonged to Yulia.


    However, it didn''t matter. Yulia was not the reason Jonas wasn''t able to make an appearance. It was


    Emily.


    "Melinda, I''m so sorry. I had no idea that Jonas had an important schedule today." Yulia''s voice


    croaked.


    Melinda''s attention was on her. Yulia''s eyes were welled up with tears. She looked back at Melinda with


    sincerity.


    "It''s not your fault. You do not need to apologize." Melinda tried to reassure her.


    "All right, hold on. All of this is confusing me." Nelson turned towards Jonas. "What''s going on? Why


    didn''t you show up at Mellie''s bookunch event?"


    Nelson was still trying to figure out what was going on, but what he understood clearly was that Jonas


    did not attend Melinda''sunch event.


    "Mellie, didn''t you tell me that Jonas would be the mysterious guest at your bookunch? Did it cause


    you any problem when he did not show up? Do you want me to make some calls?" Nelson looked over


    to her with concern.


    Nelson acted quickly.


    Jonas felt even more ashamed. It was supposed to be a publicity stunt after all.


    "I''m fine, Kent assisted me," she told the old man.


    Even though his face went pale at the mention of Kent''s name, Jonas knew he deserved it. He wasn''t


    able to do anything but to keep his mouth shut.


    He had to give a reason as to why he wasn''t able to attend Melinda''s press conference. If he told them


    what really happened, Nelson would be furious at him and he would definitely upset Melinda even more


    than she already was.


    "I was caught in a traffic jam. When I finally arrived, it was already toote," he reasoned.


    The real reason why he got stuck in traffic was because Emily''s car had broken down. He could not just


    leave her there so he tried to help.


    Melinda scoffed upon hearing his exnation. She found that Jonas was really good at lying.


    Even though she had no idea what exactly took ce, she was absolutely sure with one thing. Emily


    was definitely involved.