"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?"

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

if there was anyone whose influence could grant her even just a brief escape, it was Melinda. If she were to run out of there with her sister-in-law, her grandfather

don’t you just go ahead and have some fun

at that. Perhaps

have everything we could possibly want in this mansion. If there’s anything else

own words. Well, there was nothing to be done about it, anyway;

to her desk, feeling embarrassed for herself, and so did not notice the resentment that

pissed. She didn’t expect that she would be rebuffed so easily, even after lowering her pride

won’t bother you any longer." In her frustration, Yulia’s fingers dug a little deeper as she stroked her cat, and the poor animal screamed in protest

its claws were visibly out. The cat landed on her with a hiss, leaving long scratch marks on her sweater before scrambling onto her

the cat whipped a hurricane among her files, throwing her

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

fat cat turned to her, and Yulia's black kitten took that opportunity to

with caution.

his wife. Upon seeing her torn sweater, he rushed

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

like Momo does a poor job of keeping watch over you," Jonas grumbled, and the cat in question gave

spoke up, her face growing pale

quite playful. I apologize." Her

husband. "Never mind all that. Did you finally finish the business matters that

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

Jonas said softly, taking a strand of her hair and curling it around his finger. "I have time

having been ignored, but to be a witness to such a scene left a sour taste

background. Their display was making her nauseous,

you still here? Don’t go

true that in recent days she had been actively seeking out

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

events from moments ago played

that she’d humbled herself enough to come to Melinda and even

a second time, by her own brother no less! How could she just accept

she was in her room again she began surfing the internet. She was never above playing dirty to begin with, and now she was looking

woman seemed to have lain low in recent weeks, and her media appearances seemed to have dwindled as

find that Emily had recently been linked to a handful of young men, all of whom were now popular names in show

at the bottom of the mess she had to face, and Yulia knew she just needed

perfect candidate for a partner in crime besides Emily. The enemy of an enemy

the

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

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