Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness

At the entrance of the operating room, the smell of disinfectant permeated the whole hallway, a constant reminder that they were in a hospital. Jonas stood in front of the door, straight as a rod as if he was the designated guard, his face as white as a sheet while his eyes reflected an endless hole of anguish. Melinda stood against the wall with her eyes closed, embarrassed at the scene that they had caused and praying hard and hoping that the old man made it through. She wouldn't live with herself if anything happened to him.

'I hope that everything will be fine,' she thought in a somber mood.

As she looked at the motionless Jonas, all kinds of emotions welled up in her heart. She wanted to say something, but in the end she held back, figuring this was probably not the right place to have such a conversation.

Yulia and Queena soon arrived at the hospital, looking serious as if they were expecting the worst. Queena took a look at the operating room and couldn't see much except for the doctors working like a well-oiled machine, so she opted to sit at the side and wait. Yulia, who generally had no control over her emotions, angrily rushed towards Melinda, and raised her hand going straight for Melinda's cheek.

"Yulia, what are you doing?"

cried a shocked Melinda as she used her quick reflexes to stop her. Her hold was stronger than Yulia had expected, and she couldn't extricate her arm from Melinda's iron grip, looking miserable. She struggled hard, and it took a while before Melinda let go of her, not wanting to create another scene.

Yulia covered her wrist with her own hand, rubbing gently at her sore wrist. She looked at Melinda with a somewhat guilty expression, but her mouth bravely contradicted her face. "You are such a wicked woman. You are the reason my Grandpa has had a heart attack."

The title "wicked woman" almost made Melinda choke with anger. She felt as if she had been hit by a brick wall and inhaled loudly trying to desperately get air into her lungs. It was true that her grandfather was ill because of their actions, but it was unfair to also put the blame squarely on her shoulders.

"Yulia, if you and Emily had not worked together to harm me, none of this would have happened, so you are just as much to blame as I am."

Since the day Melinda made the decision of becoming stronger, and watching out for herself, she was no longer a pushover and had started to fight back anytime Yulia attacked her. Listening to the two, Jonas felt his head buzzing.

"Both of you, shut up! If you two want to have a fight, get away from me!"

Jonas's words stopped Yulia in her tracks like water poured over a burning flame. She went mute. Melinda stood beside him quietly as if she wanted the door to swallow her. The door to the operating room was suddenly opened diffusing the tension that had built up outside the room, while everyone tensed up anew. A doctor walked out of the operating room, still in scrubs. Everyone looked at him expectantly praying that he had good news. The doctor told them that Nelson was all right and all he needed was to have some rest, so they would hospitalize him for a few days to monitor his recovery.

When Melinda heard the doctor's pronouncement, she was relieved. She noticed that Yulia was still looking at her with resentment, and decided to quietly sneak out of the hospital since she didn't think her presence would be appreciated in the ward. Besides no one really considered her as family.

She knew that in the Gu family, no one liked her except Nelson, who was probably dosed with a lot of drugs, and wouldn't even notice that she was missing.

The fact that Yulia and Emily were monitoring her every move made her very uncomfortable, since they were invading her privacy. All of a sudden, she made a decision. It really didn't matter whether Jonas believed her or not, and she would be fine as long as she knew that she hadn't done those things.

The morning sunlight beat down on Melinda's skin as she returned home. She felt like a vampire encountering the sun for the first time because she had not slept all night. She was exhausted both physically and mentally, but she forced herself to pack up a few of her things and left the Gu's mansion, hoping to never come back again.

Since she no longer felt very secure in their mansion, she had rented an apartment of her own and had it cleaned regularly waiting for an emergency just like today.

Melinda quickly tidied the room, took a bath, and fell asleep soon after lying on the bed.

When Melinda woke up, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Touching her stomach, she heard it growled as if on cue. She got up and put on the closest clothes she could get her hands on before going out to look for something to fill her rumbling stomach. Once she was well fed, she bought some fruits and went to the hospital.

Nelson was in the VIP ward. Jonas had hired a professional caregiver who was on call 24 hours a day.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry for what happened."

pair of reading glasses which he only used when reading documents or the newspaper. He put down the newspaper he was reading as soon

to apologize. It's not your

his complexion had improved. Melinda walked to him and adjusted the pillows on his back, trying to put into a

If it wasn't for

of her actions. Nelson sighed. Although he had spoken up for Melinda, he also had ulterior motives

right. Forget about that issue for now. I heard from Gavin that you moved out of the

put his glasses aside, since he only needed them when reading, and focused all his attention on Melinda. She served

am making up tales, but I assure you that it's not a lie. I would never intentionally lie to you. Yulia was monitoring my movements

reported to a stranger, sent a shiver down her spine. When Nelson noted how scared and distraught she looked, his face turned beetroot red, trying

think we should live separately

patted her on the shoulder, sighing in defeat, "You have suffered a lot. I won't force you

He also knew a little about the relationship between her and

today? Do you

enough not to mention the same issues that had put Nelson in the hospital, so she instead focused on his

the doctor had given him a clean bill of health. The roller coaster of emotions was very dangerous for a person battling heart disease. He wouldn't have

your grandfather and I joined the army, we were very healthy

a distant look

sure that when the enemies you were fighting then saw you, they would run away in

regale her with stories of his army days with

may have been more interesting for the older generation since

told you all about our

that after a long while, he realized that he had been the only one talking and chattering, and although it was about old people things, Melinda still listened. He was gratified by Melinda's attitude

he recounted stories about his past. He always said that

how bad the situation was, they would never give

lasted a life-time, and Melinda

might have spent the

served in the army, Nelson became very emotional.

can you tell me more about your past? I want to write them into my

Melinda's mind, so she quickly captured it—she

Whatever Nelson talked of, she would jot in her notebook and when she forgot to take the notebook, she would keep in her mind and quickly write it down as soon as

which, your grandfather and I haven't seen each

Melinda realize that she had not contacted her family for a long time. The last time she talked to them was

my family

suffered a lot after she married with his grandson. He

thought it was time to leave. She went back home and included the story she had heard today, trying to connect it to what she had been writing. Then she sat on the bed,

to do at the Gu's mansion, but she felt that she was always busy every day so she got used to it as if trying to numb herself from her