Perry's plan to hook up with Melinda had completely failed. On top of that, he had also wasted a lot of
money.
"Miss Gu, when will you be taking the next step? Just so you know, I'm starting to get a bit low on cash.
I barely have anything left to spend."
Perry was used to do this kind of thing. Although he was a generous person, he was not willing to do
specific tasks, especially when it was difficult to do. Quick and easy rewards were what he preferred
the most.
Every time he cooperated with Yulia, he would get at least ten grand. Perry expected that she would
pay him more since he knew how rich she was. What was more, he was enjoying himself because
Melinda was really quite beautiful.
It was definitely a win for him since he was getting paid to flirt with her.
"Go find something else to do! I don't need you anymore. Just so you know, you've done a terrible job!"
Yulia sneered.
"Miss Gu, no matter how bad I am, I can't possibly be worse than you. And don't think I don't know that
Melinda is your sister-in-law,"
Perry said, his tone low and threatening. When he first agreed to help Yulia, he was not aware of her
relation with Melinda. It just so happened that he got so annoyed that he couldn't help but complain to
his friends. That was when he found out about Melinda's identity. When he found out, his forehead was
beading with cold sweat.
Seducing Jonas's woman? He might as well have been digging his own grave for doing something like
that!
'Shit. How did he know about that?' Yulia thought, feeling cornered all of a sudden.
"I'll give you 200,000. No one must know about this."
"I expect you to transfer the money as soon as possible."
Back then, Perry was the one who was always making calls because Yulia was the one who had the
upper hand. The tables had now turned since she had got caught by him. To make sure that nothing
would go wrong, she decided to pay him a lot of money without a second thought.
In her world, there was nothing money couldn't solve.
As the days went by, Nelson's birthday was getting closer. It was an understatement to say that it was
an important event—absolutely nothing should go wrong.
The Gu family had the highest status in A City. It went without saying that Nelson's birthday celebration
was an incredibly important event. All the powerful businessmen in A City clamored to get invited.
An invitation reflected greatly of their status symbol. Even if they couldn't get a chance to talk with
Nelson personally, being invited was already a big deal.
The banquet was to be held in the Gu family's main house. Nelson gave Melinda free rein and allowed
her to prepare for it. She would do it with Gavin's assistance, and Jonas's help.
For Jonas, the most important thing was to confirm the guest list. Melinda had little idea about these
social relationships. The whole Gu family felt nervous as they prepared for Nelson's birthday banquet.
Melinda held onto her optimism. When people arranged a banquet like this, they would make sure it
was luxurious. But Melinda behaved differently. She wanted to prepare a warm banquet.
Nelson adored her more than anyone else. He always thought that Melinda's choice was definitely the
best one. And Jonas had always felt that his grandfather favored Melinda more.
Besides Nelson's birthday banquet, Melinda was also busy with literature communication meetings.
Now she had a certain amount of fans, and her popularity started to slightly overwhelm her.
Melinda was occupied with all sorts of activities. With Gavin's help, however, the burden she carried
was eased a little.
"Jonas, can you accompany me for my check-up?"
In the middle of the night, Melinda felt restless in her bed. She patted Jonas to try to wake him up. She
acted spoiled, which was unusual for her. Jonas didn't find this pleasing and projected an indifferent
look on his face.
"Haven't you had your check-up several times already? Gavin is there. What are you so worried about?
Why don't you go to bed and have a good rest so you won't be in low spirits tomorrow? People who
don't know you might think that the Gu family has been abusing you."
Melinda tossed and turned in bed, making it really hard for Jonas to fall asleep. He watched her busy
herself and take a place in the literary field. Even though he wasn't saying anything, he was really
happy for her.
"I'm always worried,"
Melinda said as she pursed her lips. Since Yulia didn't make things difficult for her, she felt afraid that
she would do something bad to her during the banquet.
Jonas turned on the light. Suddenly the dark bedroom was lit up. Blinded by the light, Melinda covered
her eyes with her hand. Once her eyes got accustomed to the light, she was greeted by a gloomy face.
"What are you worrying about?" Jonas asked.
But Jonas already had a guess in his heart. In the Gu family, Melinda always had a grudge with several
people. She always lacked a sense of security.
"I don't know."
Melinda lowered her head and decided that she didn't want to speak a word. What could she even do?
Yulia was Jonas's younger sister, while she was just someone who Jonas didn't like.
"Let's go."
Jonas sighed as he heard this. He stood up and put on his coat. Melinda smiled as this felt like a
surprise to her. As he noticed Melinda smiled like this, Jonas's mood lightened up.
The two of them went to the banquet hall so they could check the place again before resting. If Jonas
hadn't dragged her to go back to sleep, Melinda would have wanted to sleep at the banquet the whole
night.
The banquet was held in the evening. In the afternoon, the guests were arriving one after another at
the Gu's mansion. The luxurious cars were parked in rows. It looked like a car show.
Jonas returned to the villa in the afternoon. He was finally alone with Melinda in his own villa. Gavin
was busy tending to the guests outside at the moment.
"Jonas, didn't you think about giving Grandpa a gift?"
"I've already prepared a gift,"
Jonas coldly answered. Nelson had everything he needed. There was nothing else Jonas could give
him. Every year, his birthday banquet was like a business party.
"What's the gift?"
It was easy to tell that William was the one who chose the gift. He didn't take it seriously at all. Melinda
stared at Jonas with an arrogant look.
"What did you get him? Grandpa wants a great grandchild the most. Are you going to tell him you're
pregnant?"
Jonas retorted. Melinda was left speechless after hearing what Jonas had just said. Her eyes grew
bigger and her lips started to pout. But she thought that Jonas was telling the truth.
"I drew a painting for him. You learned calligraphy, didn't you? Write something on it."
Melinda took a deep breath and reminded herself not to be too particular with such a stupid man. It
would do her harm if she fussed about it too much. Nelson had a lot of paintings and calligraphy. But
this painting would feel different if they finished it together.
Melinda had been preparing for this for quite some time now.
This time, Jonas had no objections. When he looked at her painting, he was surprised. It wasn't as
good, but it had good design, even in its tiniest details.
After much thought, Jonas wrote down his grandfather's favorite poem on it. He was graceful and
powerful. His writing seemed to give people a feeling of solemnity and strength.
"Jonas, I recently learned how to bake."
Melinda looked at the painting and calligraphy with great satisfaction. Then she looked at Jonas
expectantly. The expression on Jonas's face changed a little, but he didn't want to disappoint her. At
last, Melinda took Jonas to the cake room and made a small cake for Nelson.
More and more guests arrived. Melinda and Jonas were already dressed up to greet the guests.
In a kind of abstinent beauty, Jonas wore a silver gray suit and a low-key black tie. A tawny silk scarf
was placed on his chest. The cuff link and brooch were luxurious but not too standoffish, emphasizing
his nobleness.
Next to him was Melinda, who was wearing a silver gray fishtail dress that perfectly showed her
curvaceous figure. The jewelry on her body was in the same series with that on Jonas's. Arm in arm,
both of them showed their love in front of the guests.
"My face is getting stiff."
Her face had started to twitch because of the smile she had been wearing the whole time. At that
moment, Melinda envied Jonas so much that no one felt uncomfortable with his usual cold face.
"That smile looks so awkward."
He walked towards a quiet place. Seeing that she had swollen cheeks, Jonas couldn't help but poke
her cheeks.
"I am representing the Gu family today! Are you sure you want to insult me like this?"
She slapped Jonas's hand and looked disgruntled. She never expected Jonas to talk nicely in this life.
"You've lost a lot of face."
Melinda ignored the fact that she was being sneered at and preceded to relax her facial nerves. The
banquet had just begun. She had to maintain a smiling face today.
"Melinda, why are you here? The guests are over there."
Yulia came over while holding a plate full of pastries. She couldn't help but interrupt the two seeing that
they were flirting with each other. Melinda saw the guests and noticed unfamiliar faces.
Jonas was in charge of greeting the guests.
"Why not come and... Ah!"
Yulia screamed before she could finish her words. The pastries she was holding flew to Melinda.
Luckily, she was able to hold a pillar as soon as she stumbled.
Seeing that something flew over, Melinda quickly turned around and hid in front of Jonas's chest.
Melinda's instincts to hold him cheered Jonas up.
The silver gray dress looked conspicuous in the light. When the pastries were pushed down, the scene
behind Melinda looked just like a movie.
"Melinda, are you all right? I stumbled over the carpet. I'm so sorry."
But, Yulia's face didn't look apologetic at all. She obviously did it on purpose. Being the bigger person,
Melinda knew it was inappropriate to fight there.
It was just that she didn't have an extra dress to wear.
"Yulia, you'd better stay in the bedroom if you can't even walk properly. Don't come out and make a fool
of yourself."
Jonas's voice was so cold that Yulia started to look pale. Melinda wasn't in the mood to care about it
until her hand was held by a pair of hands.
"Let me take you to change your dress,"
Jonas said. Melinda, who was still in a trance, followed him. She was shocked when she saw the
gorgeous starry sky dress.
Under the light, the starry sky dress was like a spotlight. As soon as she saw it, Melinda fell in love with
the dress.
"Did you prepare this?"
Melinda asked in surprise. The look on Jonas's face was unnatural. He cleaned his throat and said, "It's
the latest style in the shop."
In truth, this was the dress that Jonas bought when he passed by a shopping mall. He thought that it
suited Melinda well. Now that he found a chance for Melinda to wear it, he didn't hesitate to show
Melinda the dress.
Today was a good opportunity. Melinda, in that dress, didn't disappoint Jonas.
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