Every time she thought Emily was out of the picture, the woman always popped up again, like some
persistent weed that wouldn’t die in spite of the elements. And the actress never seemed to run out of
schemes, too; each one was always different from the last.
"Melinda?" Leo snapped his fingers in front of her face. "What’s wrong? Where have you drifted off to?"
"Oh everything’s fine," she quickly replied. "I just remembered something." She was never one to voice
out her struggles and her burdens. And in light of everything that happened to her in the past five
years, it wasn’t easy for her to share her secrets.
Lucky for her, Leo was not the type who pried. He kindly accepted her vague reason and left it at that,
then took the reins of the conversation and began a new topic. Soon they were in avid discussion
again.
The party was dwindling, and a lot of the other guests had already left. At this point, Melinda and Leo
were talking about stories of the ancient scholars, and what was meant to be a little chat turned into an
animated intellectual discourse. Both of them were intelligent, after all, and matters regarding history
had a special place in the hearts of such people.
Meanwhile, from the other side of the room, Yulia could only stare and seethe with envy. She didn’t
know what to do. Since she couldn’t catch the gorgeous man’s attention, the least she wanted was to
wrench him away from Melinda’s clutches.
She had been keeping a close eye on the two, looking for the perfect opportunity, the perfect timing,
when they might slip and act as though they were secret lovers. She would pounce on them then, and
publicly accuse them of adultery. 'Let’s see what that bitch is going to do then!'
"Yulia, won’t you come with me to meet some new friends?" So rapt was her attention at her sister-in-
law and Leo that Emily’s sudden appearance at her side startled her.
When Yulia turned, she saw that Emily and Queena had both risen from their seats. The auction was
now over, and the host was saying the closing remarks on the podium.
Since Emily organized the event, she would no doubt be up there later as well. And since she had
especially invited Queena as an esteemed guest, and indicated so in the program, the older woman
would be saying a few words, too.
The actress was looking at her expectantly, and Yulia pulled herself together. "Sure. Why not?" Emily
was sure to have a wide social circle, and it wouldn’t hurt to establish new connections.
As they moved from the tables to approach Emily’s acquaintances, Yulia turned to cast a last glance at
Leo and Melinda. The man was patting her sister-in-law gently on the head, smiling down at her
sweetly.
The scene made Yulia’s blood boil, and she wasn’t able to stop her expression from morphing into that
of absolute fury.
Her gaze remained glued to the couple across the room, and in her distraction she bumped into
Queena rather forcefully as the older woman tried to walk past her.
"Yulia, what the hell are you doing?" the madam hissed, and Yulia snapped back from her daze. Just
her luck to incur the woman’s wrath as well in the same night.
She knew that if Queena was provoked, she could make her life utterly miserable. She paled as she
tried to think of a way out. Her eyes darted back to where Melinda was.
"I’m so sorry, Aunt Queena. It’s just that I was shocked to see Melinda being so intimate with that
gentleman over there..." She drifted off on purpose, and turned her head to the object of her statement.
Naturally, the other women turned towards the same direction.
"I’m to blame as well, Aunt Queena," Emily interjected. "I think Yulia tripped on some of the cable wires
on the floor. I should have made sure nothing was in the way of the guests."
Yulia shot the actress a grateful look, but Queena’s eyes were still trained on her daughter-in-law.
Melinda had had to adapt dramatically in order to survive in the Gu household, and so she developed a
keen sixth sense when it came to threats against her.
At the moment, she could sense a stare that was shooting daggers at her nape.
She turned to find the three women glaring at her. 'What now?' she thought. But since she knew she
had done nothing in particular to antagonize them, she resumed her conversation without dwelling on
the matter.
Those women were always mad at her for something or other anyway.
"Don’t cover up for her, Emily," Queena was saying at that moment.
"I'm all seeing the same thing right now. Aunt Queena, that Melinda has gone too far. You can’t just
stand by and watch her flirt with another man. She is going to make a cuckold of your son! What will
people think of our family? It will be a huge scandal!" Yulia stated in an angry voice.
She was not above playing dirty, after all. She was determined to bring Melinda down, and she would
enlist all the help she could get from anyone she could convince.
As much as Queena disliked her daughter-in-law, though, she wasn’t particularly fond of her husband’s
bastard either.
Seeing the older woman take time to contemplate, Yulia gave Emily a pointed look. The women’s
minds were in sync again, as the case usually was when it came to plotting against Melinda.
"Aunt Queena, shall we go over there and take a look at the situation?" Emily suggested, lacing her
voice with some hesitation to hide her bubbling anticipation at the trouble that was unfolding. Her acting
skills were really very useful.
"Aunt Queena, please go and look into it," Yulia prodded. She was running out of patience. She wanted
Melinda to be put to her place, which was anywhere but the spotlight.
This seemed to persuade Queena at last, and the three women strode over as one.
The spirited discussion stopped as the women loomed over Melinda and Leo’s table. They weren’t
stupid; they both immediately recognized the cruel intent in those three pairs of eyes.
Leo rose from his seat and greeted them politely, "Hello, Madam Gu, Miss Bai, Miss Gu."
Melinda rose as well, but only greeted one person. "Mom."
Queena sneered at them. "We are at a public event. We should be careful with our rendezvous, don’t
you agree?"
People were starting to throw curious glances at them, and despite her words, it was the women’s
approach that caused the scene, not Melinda and Leo’s animated conversation.
It didn’t occur to her, of course, blinded as she was by her prejudices. All she could think of at that
moment was how easily her hard-earned reputation was crumbling because of some lowborn woman
who married into the family. Her fury grew.
Before anyone else could say anything, Leo had stepped forward towards the women. "I’m very sorry
for my carelessness. It’s all my fault. I will bear the responsibility."
It was an olive branch of some sort. Queena and Leo both knew that if she acknowledged his apology,
they could leave the matter be and not stir the issue any further.
It was then that Emily spoke. "Mr. Liu, I can see that you and Miss Mo are very close with each other.
I’m a little envious that she managed to maintain very good relationships with quite a lot of outstanding
schoolmates. Like you and Kent."
While short-lived, there had in fact been rumors of a romance between Melinda and Kent, and Emily
made sure to squeeze that little reference into the scene. Queena peered at her daughter-in-law.
"That’s very true," Yulia smirked, shooting Melinda an arrogant glance. "Melinda does get along very
well with her schoolmates."
It was quite clear what they were implying. Not only was Melinda being adulterous, but she was
involved with multiple men as well. All five of them could hear the words that weren’t being said.
Leo’s expression suddenly changed then. He always looked dashing, and boyishly debonair, but now
he took on a cold and intimidating facade, something that certainly made many a man back down from
a fight with him.
"Melinda is highly intelligent and very well-spoken even when we were younger. She is one of the most
popular students in the campus; naturally, she has many friends."
Seeing his vehement and somewhat immediate reaction, Emily smiled to herself in satisfaction. "You
must calm down, Mr. Liu, or onlookers might automatically assume that I bullied Miss Mo judging by
how anxiously you defend her."
Leo’s gaze narrowed at the actress, and a corner of his mouth lifted in a sardonic smile. 'So this is how
you want to play it. How foolish, for a mere girl to play words with two eloquent professionals.'
"I meant no such thing, of course, Miss Bai. I just somehow felt that I needed to remind you of lessons
taught at school. 'A fool’s voice is known by a multitude of words'—surely you’ve heard of the saying?"
Emily flushed with embarrassment at the reprimand, but she quickly recovered herself.
"Well, people lead different lifestyles, so it isn’t surprising to find that we all hold different ideological
lessons. No one can force anyone to do something against their will. But I find that I need to give some
reminders of my own. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that Melinda is married to Mr. Gu; you should call her
Mrs. Gu, otherwise anyone within earshot might get the wrong idea when they hear you call her Miss
Mo.
Ah, but seeing as how keenly aware you are of the fact, I can’t help but wonder why you yourself do not
address her as Mrs. Gu and call her Miss Mo instead."
Leo’s tone was oozing with sarcasm, and Emily’s mask slipped from her face. She glared at the man,
earning herself a smug grin.
Melinda had remained silent the entire time, and she now stared in shock at the back of Leo’s head.
She hadn’t expected him to defend her to such extent, even provoking her own enemies.
He went as far as publicly declaring her identity as Jonas's wife, and in her periphery she could see the
eavesdropping bystanders whispering among themselves. That was the end to the speculation of who
she was then.
"I apologize," Emily finally said, even as she gritted her teeth. She had never been so cleverly insulted
in her life.
"I was just trying to comment on what good friends you are. My mouth seemed to have run off on its
own accord. I’m so sorry that Mr. Liu misunderstood what I was trying to say.
It’s my fault. I’m such a clumsy talker." Her hand clutched her purse tightly, and in her mind she was
fantasizing it was either of Melinda’s or Leo’s neck she was wringing.
"Ah well," Leo said casually. "I share the blame, then, since I tend to take words at face value.
Especially when they are spoken with the intent to badmouth me." He had a cheerful tone as he
brushed off the confrontation, but the look he gave Emily was cutting.
Emily could only bite her lip. There was nothing more she could say, at the risk of digging a deeper
grave for herself.
Beside her, Yulia glanced at Emily with wide eyes, counting herself lucky for not saying anything
offensive to Leo. If she did, she might have been in a far worse predicament than the actress.
Even so, her admiration for him only grew. He looked so hot when he was mad, too.
Melinda couldn’t hide her amusement, and chuckled softly to herself, which only drew Queena’s
attention. She glared at the younger woman.
Emily, whom she greatly favored, had been mocked in her presence, and it was all because of this
Melinda. "Melinda, apologize to Emily in behalf of Mr. Liu, this instant!"
Everyone stared at her in stunned silence. She practically yelled her order, and in such an imperative
tone.
The other women glanced sideways at Melinda, anticipating her reaction. Leo looked at his friend, too.
"I don’t believe I’ve said anything wrong at all. Even if I did, and if I wanted to, I can apologize to Miss
Bai without dragging Melinda into it."
Queena ignored him; she wasn’t going to throw herself to a battle of wits with this man. She would only
find herself skewered and roasted like Emily. Instead, she screamed, "Melinda!"
The glare she shot Melinda was full of menacing threat. If it had been her past self, Melinda would have
immediately given in to their demands, no matter how demeaning.
But times had changed, and so had she.
Not to mention, Queena was essentially demanding something of Leo. If Melinda relented, she would
humiliate not only herself, she would also be slapping Leo’s earlier arguments to his face.
But more importantly, she admitted to herself that she didn’t want to compromise with any of the Gu
family right now.
Melinda stepped forward and looked at Emily with cold disdain. There was no point in playing nice,
after all, all things considered.
"Miss Bai," she said, and despite herself Emily felt a chill crawl over her body. Melinda’s tone was not
unlike the one Jonas would use when he was trying to get rid of her. "In the future, please keep in mind
that disaster springs from careless talk."
Then Melinda reached back to her chair and grabbed her purse. "I’m a little tired. I’ll be leaving first."
With that, she turned and left, not bothering with further pleasantries. Leo chuckled at her exit, then
picked up his coat and followed suit, not bothering with a goodbye either.
The three women stared at her back as she walked away. Queena’s fingers were trembling with fury.
Her daughter-in-law had just publicly humiliated her! And even worse, Melinda had caused her to act
so shamelessly in public.
But times had changed, and so had she.
Not to mention, Queena was essentially demanding something of Leo. If Melinda relented, she would
humiliate not only herself, she would also be slapping Leo’s earlier arguments to his face.
But more importantly, she admitted to herself that she didn’t want to compromise with any of the Gu
family right now.
Melinda stepped forward and looked at Emily with cold disdain. There was no point in playing nice,
after all, all things considered.
"Miss Bai," she said, and despite herself Emily felt a chill crawl over her body. Melinda’s tone was not
unlike the one Jonas would use when he was trying to get rid of her. "In the future, please keep in mind
that disaster springs from careless talk."
Then Melinda reached back to her chair and grabbed her purse. "I’m a little tired. I'll be leaving first."
With that, she turned and left, not bothering with further pleasantries. Leo chuckled at her exit, then
picked up his coat and followed suit, not bothering with a goodbye either.
The three women stared at her back as she walked away. Queena’s fingers were trembling with fury.
Her daughter-in-law had just publicly humiliated her! And even worse, Melinda had caused her to act
so shamelessly in public.
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