"Jonas, this is our baby." Holley had both hands on her belly in a protective gesture. She backed away
a few steps, wary of the dark expression on Jonas’s face. She could feel the force of his intent across
that small distance.
"I will never acknowledge that child. Get rid of it."
"Jonas, how could you say that? This is your baby!" Holley immediately regretted her sudden outburst.
There was a ruthless glint on Jonas’s eyes, and it frightened her.
"One million," Jonas barked each word succinctly. "Get rid of that child."
Holley felt a momentary elation the moment she heard the amount of money that was coming her way.
She had initially planned on using her baby as leverage to extort some money.
But then Jonas’s continuous denial and his vehement demands to get an abortion were starting to get
to her. It was then that it dawned on her: she wanted both the money and the child.
Besides, if she could get Jonas to accept them, she might even have a shot at becoming his wife. That
was all the motivation she needed. "Jonas, this is a human life you want to eliminate!"
"Do you think I care?" A sardonic smile was on his face. If he wanted a child he could always have one
with his wife, and no one else.
At that point Holley knew resistance was futile, and no amount of her dramatics would make him
change his mind. This was the rumored tyrant, after all, the man whose emotions no one could seem to
stir.
"Jonas. Jonas, please, I really want to keep the baby. Please give us a chance, okay? Please? For old
times’ sake?" She needed the baby alive if she wanted a trump card in the future.
She started to go down on her knees and knelt her way towards Jonas, begging and crying as she
grabbed his hand.
Jonas only slapped her hand away, and shot her a look of utter irritation. It looked like he would
forcefully throw her out at any given moment.
"One million," he repeated. "I will personally take care of the arrangements for the abortion. The doctor
has to be someone I trust." He moved away from where Holley crouched on the ground.
"You had better accept this proposition, Holley, while I’m still being patient and telling you nicely. If you
don’t, I’ll make sure you lose everything you have."
Holley rose and touched her belly, the tears flowing down her face now turning genuine. "Jonas,
please." All she could do was beg. She knew Jonas would do exactly as he said. She’d seen him
trample on other people to get things done the way he wanted.
She was having seconds now. She truly wanted to keep her baby, not just to use it for whatever greedy
plans she might hatch. But at the same time she harbored a great fear at what Jonas might do to her.
To say she was regretting ever coming here today would be a gross understatement. Jonas smoothed
his shirt from when Holley tried to maul him, and adjusted his collar with cold indifference. "I will give
you three days to make a decision. I know you’re not stupid, Holley. I trust you know what choice would
be good for you." With that Jonas turned away and called for Gavin. He ordered for Holley to be
escorted out of the premises, and returned to the villa to pour himself a stiff drink.
Melinda was at the pavilion at that time, and she saw Holley leaving through the gates. Although she
couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly, she got the impression that the model was being sent away.
Melinda remained in the pavilion for a few minutes more, expecting Jonas to come to her. When he
didn’t show up after a while, she went looking for him.
She scoured the main villa, but her husband seemed to have shut himself out somewhere. Deciding
not to dwell on it, Melinda retired to her own villa.
The moment she opened the door to her foyer, she was assaulted by the pungent smell of alcohol and
cigarette smoke. Jonas was sprawled on one of the large chairs in her parlor.
"What do you think you’re doing? If you want to smoke and drink yourself to death, kindly do it
somewhere else."
Melinda rushed to the windows and threw them wide open to air the room. Then she walked over and
stood in front of her husband, hands on her hips.
"What’s your problem? Are you so glad to see your old lover you’re indulging yourself with your vices?"
She was careful to keep her jealousy out of her tone
At that, Jonas finally looked at her. His eyes were hooded and his voice sounded tired. "Do I look glad
to you? You must be blind, wife."
"I’m blind all right, to think I fell in love with you," Melinda muttered to herself as she picked up the
empty bottle rolling on the floor.
If this was all he finished, then Jonas must not be drunk. He certainly looked the part, though, slumped
on the chair with his feet on the coffee table.
"What are you whispering to yourself?" he asked with a frown, his tone a little annoyed.
Melinda rolled her eyes. "Nothing."
He was almost sure it wasn’t "nothing" at all, but he was too tired to press the matter.
He was brooding over how to shut Holley up. He didn’t want anyone to know why she came here today,
especially Melinda. He was admittedly worried what she might do if she found out. He had no doubt
he’d hate it. Thinking about this possibility only soured his mood even further.
He spent the rest of the afternoon in their villa, and Melinda prepared some tea to revive him from all
the alcohol he consumed. They spent their time together in amicable silence, and neither spoke of
Holley from that point onward.
Jonas had assigned men to keep an eye on Holley. Once the three-day mark passed and she made no
move to have an abortion, he would take drastic measures and make her regret it for the rest of her life.
What he did not anticipate, however, was that Holley contacted the press and leaked the "scandal."
She must have been desperate indeed, for her to dare.
The story reached Nelson’s ears through one of his business partners, and it came to him as a shock.
He almost had a heart attack on the spot. People rushed over to calm their master, and when he had
collected himself, he barked out orders and headed straight to the company.
His appearance in the Soaring Group building caused uproar among the employees, and everyone
scurried on his trail as he stormed to the main offices. They knew without asking that something big
was about to go down.
Nelson was greeted by William at the reception to Jonas’s office, and the secretary told him his
grandson was in the middle of a meeting. Without mincing his words, Nelson ordered the poor
secretary to barge into the conference room and halt the meeting.
William scrambled to carry out the task, urgently asking the board members to vacate the room. As
soon as it was just Nelson and Jonas left, William shut the door behind him, and joined the rest of the
company in a worried fret.
Jonas had been dealing with endless meetings since early that morning, and was yet unaware of the
ugly havoc that Holley wreaked in public.
That being the case, he was surprised at his grandfather’s sudden visit, but saw no cause to worry.
"What brings you here, Grandpa?"
"Grandpa, you call me!" Nelson exclaimed, looking up in exasperation. "Are you even really my
grandson?! How could you do this! What face do I have to show Leonard in the future after what you’ve
done?!"
He was heartbroken, he was ashamed. It had only been a few days ago when he made a promise to
Leonard that he would protect Melinda no matter what.
Jonas knew immediately from his grandfather’s tirade that this was about Holley. He didn’t know the
extent of the damage yet, but he knew that woman really had a death wish.
He ran a hand over his face, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Grandpa, I’ll handle this."
"How?!" Nelson shouted in anger and frustration. "Do you even realize just how deep in shit you are?
Now everyone knows what you’ve done. What will Melinda think? Oh God, what will people think of
her?"
Nelson’s greatest sorrow in this entire debacle was apparent failure to raise a good man in his
grandson. To think that he committed infidelity, and even compounded his mistake by making his other
woman pregnant!
His grandfather’s words hollowed Jonas’s mind of every thought except for his wife. The implications of
this situation came crashing down on him all at once.
Nelson kept on with his miserable tirade, and the whole time all Jonas could think of was "no." 'No, no,
no, no, no. This can’t be happening, I never wanted this to happen!'
"For god’s sake!" his grandfather cried at last. He was shaking with emotion, and finally seated himself
on one of the chairs.
Jonas kept his silence the entire time, absorbed in his own dark thoughts. For a brief, whimsical
moment, he remembered his childhood.
Back then, when he angered his grandfather, the old man would beat him. But now his grandfather was
slumped in defeat, and it brought Jonas shame upon shame to have reduced him to this.
At that moment Nelson was internally berating himself, regretting how he always pushed for Jonas and
Melinda’s marriage. She did not deserve Jonas at all.
He could never make someone with such a bright and beautiful soul happy. His grandson was the kind
of man who would only bring misery to a marriage.
A knock startled them from their wretched thoughts. It was William, saying that something urgent had
come up, and they needed Jonas to take care of it.
Nelson walked out of the room without a word. Jonas was quick on his grandfather’s heels, giving out
precise instructions to William as they strode down the offices.
The two men soon found themselves in the car, heading straight to their mansion. Neither spoke, and
heavy tension hung in the small closed space they shared.
Jonas was at the edge of his seat the entire ride home, dreading the inevitable meeting with his wife.
In the past, no amount of problem would have been able to crack his cool composure. He would remain
detached in the face of anything.
But in that car ride that was all too short for his liking. He was going crazy thinking about what Melinda
might do after this whole fiasco. 'What would she say? Will she leave, for good?'
That last line of thought left a sour taste in his mouth, and Jonas decided then and there that
regardless of the countless possibilities, that option alone was unacceptable.
It wasn’t hard for the news to reach Melinda, no matter that she barely left the mansion. After all, there
was someone in residence who relished in giving her a hard time.
After being grounded, Yulia spent most of her days surfing the internet, and today was no exception.
After coming across the scandal, she promptly shared the link to the article across her social media
accounts, certain that Melinda would be able to see at least one of them.
Jonas found Melinda sitting in the garden gazebo—with her laptop. Her screen was screaming the
headline about her husband’s scandal, and she was staring at it with a blank expression, her eyes
devoid of their usual warmth.
Jonas hesitated for a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbing several times as he swallowed and mustered
his courage. He finally took a deep breath and stepped into the gazebo.
"Melinda."
His wife turned lazily and cocked her head at him, looking calm and unaffected. "Oh you’re here
already? I rather thought you might be going to the mother of your child."
She had a gentle little smile on her face, and her voice held no sarcasm whatsoever. Jonas lost his trail
of thought and just stared at her desperately.
She waited for a few moments, but was only met with a suffocating silence. She then turned back to
her laptop and leisurely closed the screen.
"I can explain," Jonas choked out, his voice hoarse.
"Explain what?" Melinda maintained her indifferent demeanor. "Are you going to deny that Holley is
your lover, and say that the child she carries isn’t yours?" She thought back on how sure and arrogant
Holley was when she suddenly showed up a couple of days ago. She remembered how Jonas made
sure to speak with her privately.
It turned out they were going to have a rather serious discussion. Jonas had known since that day, and
chose to say nothing.
And now that the secret was out, he wanted to explain himself, cornering her as if she owed it to him to
listen to whatever reasons he came up with. Melinda wouldn’t put up with it.
"The baby is indeed mine, but it was all just an accident!" The desperate edge was unmistakable on
Jonas's voice, but his words of confirmation only hammered another nail to her already broken and
much-abused heart.
"How could it possibly have been an accident when she's the one you've loved?" Ugly thoughts flooded
Melinda’s mind at that moment. Her husband was having a child with the very woman who had caused
her to lose theirs!
"I was drunk, and wasn’t aware of anything," Jonas said urgently, his tone imploring. "I told Holley to
abort the baby, I made sure she would, I never meant for things to turn out this way!"
Never in his life did Jonas think he would find himself scrambling desperately to explain his actions or
his decisions. Especially not to Melinda, of all people.
He no longer knew what to say. Over the course of their marriage, it seemed like he never knew the
right words to say. Never the right words. To her, his wife.
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