"Why are you drinking here?"
The man noted that there were many empty glasses in front of Jonas, and the bartender was still
making more drinks for him. The level of alcohol content in the glass was higher than what was
normally expected in such a small glass.
"Because this is where I stopped the car."
Jonas drank up all the wine that was remaining in the glass. It was a little strong and it burned his
throat but he immediately felt happy after ingesting it.
"I have made a reservation. Let's move to the VIP section."
The man sensed that there was something bothering Jonas, when he noticed how disheveled he
looked. A strong pungent alcoholic smell emanated from his body, an indication that he had been
drinking for a while. This was always the case when they were in college, Jonas would always silently
drink away his problems, and they would always go to this pub until whatever was bothering him had
been sorted. Now it felt as if they were back to their college days.
Jonas didn't refuse. He was upset and in a state, so he needed someone to listen to him and bounce
off his problems. His friend had come at the perfect time, just like when they were in the college.
They both took their seats and before they could even settle down, they had attracted attentions like
nectar to bees. Jonas had always attracted attention wherever he went, especially from the opposite
sex. He had a fine and perfectly symmetrical bone structure which made him look manly. He looked
more striking and approachable due to the slight alcohol induced flush that made his cheeks appear
rosy. People from the nearby tables were throwing looks at them, most of whom were college students
out for a thrill.
"I see, you haven't lost your charm. You are still as popular as before," the man said jokingly with a
smile.
Then he poured a glass of wine for each of them, and gave a pair of dice to Jonas. The two silently
begun playing just to kill time.
Generally the man wouldn't be a match for Jonas, but today, Jonas was on the losing end.
"Are you intentionally letting me win?"
The man saw that Jonas was drinking the wine like water and deliberately making himself drunk, so he
stopped playing the dice for a while and looked at Jonas seriously.
As he looked at the so many faces of people in pub, the only face that kept haunting Jonas's mind was
Melinda's angry face, his brows furrowed fiercely trying to get that image out of his head.
"Why is this woman so troublesome today? I..."
By that time, Jonas was drunk beyond his normal limit so his tongue was loose. Looking at his old
friend, he could not help but speak out all he had been hiding in his heart.
It was interesting that every time he talked about Melinda, he wore a smile on his face. On the contrary,
when he talked about Emily, it was with obvious disgust and indifference.
"Jonas, it seems that in all these years, your emotional intelligence has still never developed," his friend
said helplessly.
Although Jonas had excelled academically, in different fields and had obviously done well for himself in
the business world, his emotional intelligence was still very low.
Actually, when it came to how to handle other issued, Jonas was good and quite intuitive, but when it
came to relationships, he was not sharp enough.
In many cases, he was not able to distinguish his feeling towards others and understand whether he
loved them or not.
"Maybe you are right."
Jonas was still a little frustrated at the thought of Melinda and didn't know how to deal with it, so he did
not object to his friend's evaluation.
"I really don't know what to do now. I have explained everything to her, and said all the right things but
she always seems to misunderstand me. How can she be so unreasonable?"
Melinda was being very unreasonable, but he had no choice but to keep her company silently. So in the
end, he had felt uncomfortable and went out to drink alone.
If it had been in the past, Jonas would never have thought that at one point he would be so vexed
because of Melinda.
"Well, it's not that hard to deal with this matter. Perhaps it is just that you haven't realized that the
balance in your relationship has been tipped towards your wife and may be you have finally fallen in
love with her."
"Fall In love with her?!"
Jonas thought he must be daydreaming, but his voice became lower and lower as time went by. He
even began to question himself and wonder if he had really fallen in love with Melinda.
"Yes. When you care about a person, you pay attention to that person, and even give up a lot for her,
you must be falling in love with this person."
Jonas had all these feelings for Melinda, but he always explained it as a compromise for his
grandfather. He always made a lot of excuses for his behavior, but he forgot that the answer could be
as simple as the fact that he had fallen in love.
"What about Emily, what do you think?"
Jonas looked at his friend, anxiety reflected in his bright, slightly watery eyes as if he was eager to
know something important. He always looked up to his friend for solid advice, and his friend did not
disappoint him. "You treat her well maybe just because of a promise you made to her from childhood,
which you regard more as a form of responsibility, so you probably misled yourself that you love her,"
his friend quickly explained.
Jonas had been so confused that he felt like he was constantly riding a roller coaster and his feelings
were always being pulled in all directions. However after listening to his friend's analysis, he was
suddenly enlightened. Many things that he could not understand before now made a lot of sense.
They had been drinking a lot, but Jonas was no longer melancholic, he seemed more jovial.
Jonas was feeling drunk, so he ate some fruits and proposed that they left. Now he was eager to go
back and see Melinda and tell her about his new discovery.
The two separated at the entrance of the pub, and Jonas who was very drunk was driving at a fast
speed and swerving unsteadily on the road, basically being a menace to other drivers. He was finally
stopped at the crossroad.
The police, who had been tailing him for a while, took him in and once it was confirmed that he was
driving while intoxicated. He was booked in by the traffic police for driving above the speed limit and
driving under the influence of alcohol.
Jonas was not sober so he didn't seem to realize the severity of the situation. He arrived at the police
station with the police in a daze and only seemed to comprehend what had happened when they read
him his rights.
The policemen took in his details and after cross checking his details, they found out Jonas's real
identity. They were a bit overwhelmed, because this was the heir of the Gu family and things could get
very complicated if they didn't handle the case well.
Now that they had taken him in, they couldn't just send him out and pretend as if nothing had
happened, especially since he was obviously drunk.
"Mr. Gu, please contact your family to bail you out," the policeman on duty said helplessly.
Jonas rubbed his forehead, thinking of who to call, then took out his mobile phone and gave him
Melinda's number. In the past, this kind of thing would have been handled by William.
The policemen quickly dialed Melinda's number, but failed it to get through. They tried a second time,
and finally it went through on the third attempt.
"Are you Mrs. Gu? Your husband is in the police station put in for drunk driving. Please come and bail
him out."
At first, Melinda was angry that Jonas had just disappeared on her, without letting her know where he
was. Then, she was totally shocked when she got a call from the police and heard the drunk driving
accusation.
"Is he okay?"
"Yes, you only need to bail him out," the policeman replied hesitantly.
They dared not to keep this big man for longer than necessary. Melinda was relieved. She was still
wearing the suit which she had worn to the coffee shop, and when she got home, she had no time to
change her clothes because she was still very angry.
It was rare for Melinda to drive a car, but she was very worried and distraught for Jonas's safety, so she
chose to drive by herself. When Nelson saw her through the window going out in a hurry, he asked
Gavin what the issue was. Gavin tracked her car and realized that she was headed towards the police
station. After a short call to the police station, he was up to speed on what had happened.
"Gavin, you'd better send some people to protect Mellie. She is worried about Jonas now," Nelson
ordered.
Seeing that Melinda was still worried about Jonas, Nelson knew that she still cared about Jonas, but he
didn't know how they were going to handle their differences this time around.
In the police station, Jonas was exhausted, so he sat in his seat and closed his eyes trying to rest a
little bit. His messy hair which needed a haircut fell on his forehead making him look younger.
The smell of cigarettes and alcohol emitted from him made the policemen feel nauseous. They didn't
say anything about it because they could not afford to offend him. They were even courteous enough to
give him some water.
Jonas sipped some of the hot water which seemed to soothe his burning throat although he still had a
headache.
When Melinda arrived at the police station, she saw a different scene from what she had expected.
Jonas had thrown his head back on the seat, his eyes closed, relaxing. Thinking of how worried and
flustered she had been, that she hadn't even had time to look at her appearance, she could feel her
anger rising by the minute.
"Jonas!"
Melinda shouted at Jonas. She had always been a gentle woman, and she seldom acted so irritable,
but this was too much for her. Hearing her voice, Jonas straightened up and gave her a silly smile.
The policemen didn't want to witness the embarrassing scene, so they looked away silently.
"My wife... you are here," stuttered Jonas
With a big grin on Jonas's face, he looked at Melinda, stood up and then staggered to her. Melinda was
shocked by the words "my wife".
Her eyes wide open, she stared at Jonas and shook her head wondering if maybe she misheard him.
"Honey, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. Don't be mad at me, okay?"
Jonas walked up to Melinda and hugged her. He placed his head next to her neck. The smell of
cigarettes mixed with alcohol almost choked her, making her go into a coughing fit.
Jonas raised his head, and looked at Melinda in panic. He didn't want her to feel sick, and he didn't
want to let go, either. He was caught in a dilemma.
"Jonas, I'm Melinda, not Emily!"
Melinda roared, ashamed and indignant. She figured that Jonas must have mistaken her for Emily. All
of a sudden, her tough stance weakened like a withering flower and tears came down her cheeks in
torrents. Jonas felt something wet and then noticed that Melinda was crying.
"Mellie, what's wrong with you? Who has bullied you? Did anyone hurt you? I'll help you beat them up."
Jonas pointed at the policemen, which made them shiver all over in fear. They looked at the two in
horror. Hearing what Jonas called her, Melinda was in a daze.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Mellie, you are so stupid. Of course I know who you are. I know it was my fault. Please forgive me. I
will treat you well from now on.
Mellie, I think I have fallen in love with you."
Although Jonas was drunk, his eyes were very serious, looking directly into her eyes. Then he leaned
over and Melinda felt the softness of his lips on her own. Realizing what had happened, she hurriedly
pushed Jonas away in embarrassment.
"Jonas, what's wrong with you?"
Then she turned to the policemen. "Didn't you ask me to bail him out? Now I'm here but there is no one
to handle the bailing process."
Melinda had to admit that she was tempted and felt very flattered by all the attention that Jonas was
showing her, but thinking of all the things that Jonas had done, she did not want to forgive him at all. So
she turned all her anger at the policemen.
The innocent policemen quickly took her to go through the formalities. Jonas followed her every move,
never too far from her. His constant gaze and close proximity made her uncomfortable and she felt as if
her whole body was on heat.
Although she had pushed Jonas away, she had forgiven him in her heart. But Jonas didn't know that,
so he was already making plans on how to coax his wife.
After going through the formalities, Melinda left the police station with Jonas, who leaned against her
pretending that he couldn't walk by himself.
He was like an attention seeking cat, which made Melinda annoyed and helpless.
When they arrived at the Gu's mansion, Nelson had been waiting for them in the hall. Seeing that
Jonas was so drunk, he read his riot act for a while and then allowed him to go and sleep and come
back when he was sober.
It was obvious that Nelson wanted to have a talk with Jonas. With the help of the servant, Melinda took
Jonas back to their villa.
Melinda had mixed feelings. She was worried that these things were just probably jokes or bubbling
from an alcoholic.
After going through the formalities, Melinda left the police station with Jonas, who leaned against her
pretending that he couldn't walk by himself.
He was like an attention seeking cat, which made Melinda annoyed and helpless.
When they arrived at the Gu's mansion, Nelson had been waiting for them in the hall. Seeing that
Jonas was so drunk, he read his riot act for a while and then allowed him to go and sleep and come
back when he was sober.
It was obvious that Nelson wanted to have a talk with Jonas. With the help of the servant, Melinda took
Jonas back to their villa.
Melinda had mixed feelings. She was worried that these things were just probably jokes or bubbling
from an alcoholic.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda