A City was a commercial city with buildings tall and vast in every direction you turned your head to.
Located at the center of the busy district was Soaring Group's headquarters. Their enormous building
stood out for every citizen to see, towering over the people as if to demonstrate its symbol of power
that made everyone do whatever it took to be part of the company.
The media currently crowded the entrance of Soaring Group's building. They were all waiting excitedly
as a car entered the driveway with Jonas in it.
The car screeched to a halt just as the security stepped out in front to make a path for Jonas the
moment he got out of the car. His cold eyes surveyed the surroundings carefully.
Straightening out his suit, he strutted his way into the company while cameras flashed from all
directions as his back turned against them. Even if they didn't get particular news about him, being able
to get a decent photo of Jonas was good enough material for the media.
They seemed to be a bit too lively this morning. The security guards soon attempted to clear up the
area while the others dealt with them, forcing the media to delete the photos of Jonas that they had
managed to take.
The reporters who were officially invited eagerly proceeded to enter Soaring Group, receiving envious
looks from those who had been left behind.
Nelson allowed the PR department to fully cooperate with Jonas as he held a press conference with
the condition that he should be able to explain the circulating rumor and defend Melinda.
The PR manager stood curtly next to Jonas while he discreetly reported the current situation to him.
"Boss, here's the script for you to review while you rest in the lounge," he informed Jonas. Jonas took a
quick glance over to the piece of parchment the manager had taken out from his bag. He ignored him
and gave him an unconcerned look. "No need."
The script was too formal.
At exactly nine o'clock, the press conference finally began. Back at home, Melinda did her best to
control herself, but she wasn't able to resist changing the channel of the TV to the live broadcast of the
interview. As soon as she flipped the switch, a familiar handsome face on the screen greeted her.
The camera zoomed into Jonas. Although his solemn expression looked like an old official, his
appearance looked flawless.
Melinda stared dreamily at the screen as she murmured to herself, "He looks much more handsome in
person."
The reporters began to ask the routine questions. When the subject regarding Emily finally came, the
room was met with dead silence.
"The purpose for this press conference today is to inform everyone that I am now married and my
wife's name is Melinda Mo."
Jonas did not need to move close to the microphone since his voice was loud and clear enough for
everyone to hear. Instead, he simply crossed his hands and rested them on the table.
Jonas's voice was deep and powerful, and Melinda even saw him smiling.
A lot of comments soon erupted from Emily's fans. Everyone wanted to know who this person named
Melinda was.
Even though some of the reporters tried to extract information about her identity, Jonas was not willing
to reveal anything.
After the press conference ended, the internet was in an uproar. Emily's staff were completely caught
off guard over Jonas's stunt. The PR department held an urgent meeting and decided to hire someone
to take control over the public's opinion.
"Who is this person named Melinda? Mr. Gu and our Emily were childhood sweethearts. How did this
woman manage to steal his heart while Emily was abroad?"
"Melinda is a scheming bitch. She even tricked Emily into going abroad and deceived Mr. Gu. Shit, how
could this woman be so disgusting?"
"This has been happening for a while and Melinda hasn't come forward yet. I guess she might be
scheming from behind the scenes."
"..."
The people who were paid to spread malicious gossip posted a lot of comments that were completely
getting out of hand. Everyone rallied to Emily's side, thinking that Melinda was a bitch who sabotaged
her relationship with Jonas.
One should not underestimate the ability of the internet and the people in it. The moment Melinda's
information was published, a bunch of people commented a lot of harsh words to defame her.
"If this is the case, let us take down the novel first," Melinda said over the phone.
"Okay, let's wait till the storm passes. Maybe you should take a break for a while," the editor responded
from the other end.
The editor started to work frantically on removing both of Melinda's novels. To say that she was
surprised was an understatement. She did not expect that the writer she was working with turned out to
be the wife of the CEO of Soaring Group.
This was indeed a real life version of a romance novel.
As soon as Melinda hung up, the phone started ringing again. She stared at the screen with a confused
expression as it showed a local number. The moment she answered the call, a woman angrily shouted
at her.
She groaned as she hastily ended the call. Now they were even able to get a hold of her phone
number.
She turned off her phone and threw it aside as she sat there on the sofa, motionless. Since Melinda's
number was now unable to reach, the furious netizens resorted to sending her messages instead.
She blinked her eyes after a couple of minutes and finally stood up from her seat. Turning on the
computer and acting as if nothing had happened, she decided to look for a comedy movie in an attempt
to lighten up her mood to no avail.
As soon as Jonas returned home from the press conference, he received some scolding from Nelson.
"Can't you even handle this properly? Suspending you seemed to be the right decision after all," the old
man said.
Nelson took it upon himself to hire someone to take care of the mess on the internet. However, even
though they had managed to shut down the accounts of the people who were spreading malicious
comments, they were unsuccessful with stopping the current rage entirely.
"Grandpa, how is Melinda doing?"
Jonas shifted all of his attention to Melinda the moment he heard that her contact information had been
exposed online. He had a dark aura surrounding him that it almost frightened the old man.
"Oh, finally remembering to care for your wife?" Nelson nodded his head towards the direction of the
room. "She is in the study.
I'm very disappointed on how you handled this matter," the old man reprimanded.
Nelson let out a deep sigh. Even though he knew that Jonas was resourceful enough and could find
ways to get out of this mess, the damage was too big for him to handle this time.
It was obvious that Emily's company was using Jonas for publicity and anyone rational enough could
see that clearly.
Feeling guilty, Jonas hurried to see Melinda as soon as possible.
He somewhat felt secretly relieved when he heard the noises from the movie playing in the
background, but when he quietly pushed the door open, he was greeted by Melinda staring blankly at
the screen with a vacant expression.
He felt like a lump had just formed in his throat.
"Mellie," he faltered.
Jonas approached her very carefully. He was afraid that he might be disturbing her.
"Mellie, are you okay?"
His expression was filled with concern. He kept his eyes on Melinda, not missing even the slight
changes in her demeanor.
"Don't bother reading the comments on the internet. All of them are not true."
Jonas didn't know what to say. He was very eloquent when it came to business matters, yet he seemed
at a loss for words in front of Melinda. He badly wanted to comfort her, yet he had no idea how to do it.
"What they said was true. You and Emily were childhood sweethearts. I just came into the picture
because of Grandpa and ruined your relationship."
She slowly turned her head towards his direction. "Don't worry, though. Once you get your inheritance,
we'll finally be able to get a divorce and I'll be quietly leaving by then."
"You know that's not what I meant, Mellie. It was an accident," he reassured her.
"You don't have to explain anything, Jonas. I understand. I'm not in the mood to hear about it and it's
not my business anyway," she snapped.
The two started to raise their voices. Melinda refused to believe that this was all an accident. She knew
that this was carefully planned for a while.
How was Jonas not able to see it? It was an obvious trap.
"Mellie, I have nothing to do with her," Jonas said.
"Do you think I'm a child?" She clenched her jaw, trying to control herself. "It doesn't matter. You could
leave me in Japan and return to China to help her. Just give up the inheritance you've always wanted
for her."
Melinda's eyes were filled with resentment. She didn't utter a single word during this time, yet it didn't
mean that she had nothing to say.
She originally planned to leave after everything was over, but she underestimated her feelings for
Jonas and hadn't expected to care for him so much.
"Mellie, please let me explain. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault," Jonas
murmured.
She could see the guilt in his eyes as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. His touch wasn't
heavy, but it was enough to push Melinda pass her limits.
"When we were little, I accidentally fell into the water. It was Emily who saved me. To return the favor, I
gave her a token for her to use when she needed my help. She chose to use the token this time and I
couldn't turn back on my promise. We have never been in touch after this matter, though," he
explained.
Jonas decided to tell Melinda the truth of their past as soon as he saw her calm down. Her heart ached
for him as she thought of a young Jonas drowning.
Her dislike for Emily was suddenly gone.
"Mr. Gu," she teased shyly, "you are such a romantic man, even going as far as using a token."
Melinda felt nervous, yet she couldn't help but made fun of him. Jonas tried to change the topic
because he knew he was at fault.
"Back in Japan, I left without saying goodbye. That was my fault. It was already late that time and I
knew you were tired, so I had no choice but to return alone. I'm sorry," he revealed.
Melinda stared back at him. "Why didn't you ask about my opinion, then?"
Realization dawned upon him. Now he understood why they kept on fighting all the time.
He never once thought of asking Melinda's opinion whenever he made decisions.
"I'll make it up to you. I'll change myself and try to ask for your opinion more often."
"How do you plan to deal with this matter?" Melinda asked.
She hastily changed the topic, indicating that she had accepted Jonas's apology.
Jonas realized that Melinda wasn't just annoyed with all the comments about her on the internet. She
was actually scared.
In Melinda's eyes, she had always thought that she stole Jonas away from Emily. Now that her
relationship with Jonas was out in public, she started to fear for her safety.
"I'll be needing your help. We are going to attend the press conference together," Jonas answered.
Her eyes widened a little while she slowly nodded. As long as Jonas was with her, they would be able
to get through this ordeal.
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