"You’ve gone through a pretty good fight, Mr. Gu." William beamed with pride at Jonas. "Now people scurry to their seats when they see even your shadow approaching."

Jonas gave him a brief but grateful smile. He had been so busy with the affairs of the company especially the acquisition case, and he had never taken a proper rest. He was exhausted, and it showed on his face.

"Thank you for your hard work this time around as well," he said to William. "It’s my treat tonight; go ahead and choose whatever restaurant you like." His voice had grown hoarse, and he rubbed his throat uncomfortably before taking large gulps of water.

"Understood, Mr. Gu. We’ll make sure to find an excellent place to express your gratitude. By the way, Mr. Gu, may we bring any family member with us?" It was not an unprecedented request; William had always been thoughtful of the employees that were assigned to the CEO office.

Besides, after working for Jonas for so many years, he knew that despite the strict and rigid demeanor of his boss, Jonas was always generous to the employees.

"That’s all right. Just add it to the overall tab, I’ll take care of the total expense."

That made the secretary pause. "Won’t you be joining us, Mr. Gu?"

As it was supposed to be celebratory dinner, he had, of course, assumed, that the boss was coming.

Jonas shook his head. He had been living in the company for a long time. He missed Melinda very much.

It was only one of the myriad emotions he had been finding himself caught up in recently. Only one of the new feelings that he had never encountered before in his life.

"Very well, Mr. Gu." William took care of the rest of the minor paperwork as Jonas rushed back home to his wife.

Meanwhile, Yulia’s sanctions still weren’t lifted, and she remained grounded at home. Although, thankfully, she was no longer confined to her own room, and could now freely walk around the mansion.

This was one such occasion when the young woman decided to take a stroll around the grounds, her cat in her arms. It was autumn now, and there was a biting chill in the air.

Yulia wore an expensive looking vest over a light dress, looking every bit as upper-level socialite. She headed towards Melinda’s villa.

Due to her miscarriage in the past, Melinda had grown overly sensitive to the cold, and would usually fall ill in colder weather. These days she kept inside and wore thick layers of clothing, her regular walks in the yard abandoned.

It was just as well, because she had also been busy recently. Her new book had been completed, and she had been absorbed in the last phase of editing. She also had to make negotiations with the publishers and the periodical office.

She had already received a tiny bout of fame with her first book, but the recent controversy with Emily made people pay more attention to her. Needless to say, she had gained more fans, especially from within the city. Hence, her editor was quick to draw up plans to hold a book launch event for her. And they wanted to brand her as a well-known author.

"Melinda, are you busy?" Yulia barged into her sister-in-law’s villa with her cat.

Melinda was on a video call with her editor, discussing the book launch event. She quickly said her goodbye and ended the call.

"What’s up?" She gave the younger woman a tight smile. Lately, Yulia would drop in by her villa at the most random times for the most random reasons.

Melinda couldn’t tell if she actually cared for her in particular, maybe her husband’s sister was only bored of her confinement. But the fact that Yulia kept on showing up brought her much discomfort and always sent Melinda on edge.

"I don’t understand why you stay cooped up in your villa," Yulia drawled as she glanced around the room, her right hand stroking the cat in her arms. "The weather is rather nice today. Why don’t we go take a little walk outside?"

Already she had lost track of the days, unsure about how long she

grant her even just a brief escape, it was Melinda. If she were to

of things to do. Why don’t you just go

said a little sharply. She struggled to soften her tone. "Melinda, you must know I’m still grounded." Melinda paused at that. Perhaps the younger woman only meant outside at the yard? It had completely

insensitive words. She smiled again, this time a little more warmly. "Well, we have everything we could possibly want in this mansion. If there’s anything else you wanted, I’m sure you can order someone and it would be brought to

her own words. Well, there was nothing to be done about it, anyway; she didn’t know what else

so did not notice the resentment that flashed in her

didn’t expect that she would be rebuffed so easily, even after lowering her pride and coming here

bother you any longer." In her frustration, Yulia’s fingers dug a little

in the air towards Melinda, and its claws were visibly out. The cat landed on her with a hiss, leaving long scratch marks on

the way as the cat whipped a hurricane among her files, throwing

and it opened its eyes. It stalked the other cat, hissing and growling at it

Melinda called warily. Her fat cat turned to her, and Yulia's black

the paper-strewn floor, Yulia was also eyeing Momo with caution. It was then that Jonas came into

and floor, his gaze quickly flew to his wife. Upon seeing her torn sweater, he rushed over to her, thinking she

her arm and made a whole show of inspecting her body where the claw marks were, asking repeatedly if she was in pain. It took him a while, under much of his wife’s protest for him,

job of keeping watch over you," Jonas grumbled, and the cat in

Yulia spoke up, her face growing pale at the prospect of incurring

quite playful.

mind all that. Did

haggard face that he had been pushing his limits. For a moment she thought of reprimanding him for handling his

her warmly, and Melinda found herself thinking she was feeling a little hot

hair and curling it around his

be a witness to such a scene left a sour taste

Their display was making her nauseous,

his surprise evident on his face. "Why are you still here? Don’t go walking around everywhere

word. It was true that in recent days she had been

more so than his own granddaughter. It was only logical for her to cozy up with Melinda in order to gain

trudged back into her villa furiously as the events from moments ago

herself enough to come to Melinda and even act nicely,

Yulia was also dismissed a second time, by her own brother no less! How could

began surfing the internet. She was never above playing dirty to begin with, and now she

weeks, and her

of whom were now popular names in show

she was probably fuming ever since Jonas cut her off. Melinda was at the bottom of the mess

was no other perfect candidate

for the

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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