Kent had started his job in the new office and there were many things that he had to deal with. It took
an hour for him to finish all his work before he met Melinda.
"I'm sorry for making you wait. There are so many unfinished tasks. I have to transfer everything from
the old office."
The assistant brought a glass of warm water for Kent. His throat felt instantly better after he took a sip
of it.
Melinda was immersed in a comic book from the periodical office. She didn't put it down until Kent
returned.
"I don't mind reading books all day long. I know that you'll have to work day and night. Call me once
you're done with your work,"
Melinda teased. Kent's assistant took the contract paper out of the file. Kent explained the contract of
the book in detail. Although they were partnering for the first time, there didn't seem to be any conflicts
at all. The decisions were unanimous.
Publishing was a tedious process. Moreover, Kent had been busy lately, so Melinda decided to sort the
papers. They were equally involved in the book and would publish it together.
The company had assigned a small team for Melinda to deal with the trivial tasks, while she planned
the bigger event.
It all sounded simple in their heads but it took solid three hours to execute the plans. "Do you want to
go out for lunch?" Kent asked.
"You've got a lot of work to do. We'll catch up when you're free." Melinda smiled.
Kent nodded. He had a very tight schedule and the mere thought of the work gave him a headache.
"All right, let me at least walk you out," he said, massaging his temples.
All eyes were on Kent and Melinda when they walked out of the reception room. The silent office
erupted into soft murmurs as the employees began to gossip about their new editor-in-chief walking out
with a beautiful woman. Melinda remained calm and ignored their prying eyes.
Melinda had parked her car in the parking lot of the periodical office. Her eyes widened and lungs
constricted when she looked for her car. There was a completely different car on the spot. Melinda
narrowed her eyes and saw the number plate.
"What's going on?"
Kent asked. Melinda's car was covered in paint. Kent protectively stepped in front of her and peered at
the surroundings.
The vivid red paint on the car seemed like a strange warning.
"I don't know," she mumbled.
Her heart was pounding and her lips turned dry. It didn't seem like a silly prank; it was a clear warning.
But Melinda couldn't think of anyone who had a vengeance against her.
The paint was clumsy but when Melinda looked closer, she saw an unruly painting of a series of
characters. Melinda shuddered and stepped back. Kent held her shoulder reassuringly.
"It could be a prank. Call the 4S shop and ask them to come right away."
Kent knew that this was the only possible solution. Melinda called the 4S shop and informed them
about what had happened. A shiver ran through her spine and she couldn't understand what was going
on.
The street looked bleak under the gray winter sky. She looked around to see if she could find any
strange activity. It was a normal day and pedestrians were scurrying on the streets but Melinda's red-
painted car looked eerie.
"Kent, I think someone's after me. But I've been busy. I've neither stepped out of the house nor
offended anyone. It's strange, isn't it?"
Melinda wondered who could have done this during broad daylight. But most importantly, she couldn't
understand the motive behind tampering with her car.
"Could it be someone from the Gu family?"
Kent asked. Melinda had endured a lot of pain in the Gu family and Kent became furious when he
thought about the things she had gone through.
Melinda trailed her fingers across the clean part of the car. "No. It's impossible." She shook her head.
The wind was stronger in the streets and Melinda braced herself. Kent exhaled into his palms and
rubbed them vigorously to warm his body. "Let's go back to the periodical office first. I'll get the car keys
and drop you home. Meanwhile, I'll ask my assistant to hand over your car to the 4S shop."
That was all they could do. Melinda looked at the car and frowned. She hardly drove the car and this
incident scared the life out of her.
Kent was held up with work again. Melinda waited for him at the periodical office for half an hour.
Finally, Kent rushed out of the office.
"Let's go."
"Kent, it looks like you're busy. I don't want to disturb you. I'll better take a taxi home."
Melinda felt guilty for wasting his time. She felt that she could have called home and asked Gavin to
arrange a driver to pick her up.
"It's no big deal. Let's go." Kent smiled. But he was worried about Melinda. He could sense that
someone was after her. Whoever it was, it seemed dangerous as they had gone to the extent of
threatening Melinda by scribbling on her car. He felt that it was unsafe for Melinda to go home on her
own.
Melinda opened her mouth to say something but Kent stopped her. "We will only waste time arguing."
Melinda closed her mouth and nodded. She knew that Kent was right. The two of them could argue all
day long but that wouldn't do them any good.
Kent dropped Melinda at the Gu's mansion and saw Mary standing by the door. She looked nervous.
"Mrs. Gu, you're finally back," she said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Melinda had informed that she would be back for lunch but it was late afternoon. Nelson had tried
calling her but couldn't reach her phone. He started to panic and asked his men to look for Melinda.
"Something unexpected happened." Melinda smiled nervously and looked at the car.
Kent rolled the window down and smiled at her. "I know that you're busy, so I won't ask you to stay
back for lunch. Thank you for dropping me home." She smiled gratefully.
"I've got to go. Bye."
Melinda waved her hand and watched Kent leave. She returned to the main villa with Mary and told
everyone about what had happened. She didn't want to explain in detail about the red painting and how
she had panicked, so she briefly informed them about everything.
"Why did you leave the house if you didn't have anything important to do? The car is destroyed now,"
Jonas grunted.
He was annoyed that Melinda had gone to see Kent and couldn't control his anger.
Nelson glared at Jonas and Queena kicked him under the table to stop him.
"I had work to do,"
Melinda retorted. She wasn't in the mood to entertain Jonas's childish behavior. She had been
disturbed since the incident and Jonas was blaming her for taking the car.
There was an awkward silence as Melinda scowled at Jonas for his insensitive remark. Nelson put
down his chopsticks and said, "I'll ask my men to find out who is behind all this. I won't let anyone even
think of harming my granddaughter-in-law."
"Grandpa, it's okay."
Melinda didn't want to make a big deal of it. Although she tried hard to hide her fear, her shaky voice
revealed that she was scared.
"Where is your car now?"
"Kent asked the 4S shop to take the car. He has sorted everything out."
Melinda was grateful to Kent for saving her. She wouldn't have handled everything on her own. She
would have panicked and done something stupid.
Anger surged in Jonas's veins at the mention of Kent.
He was disappointed that Melinda had sought Kent's help instead of calling him. Kent had been her
savior instead of him.
Kent was a busy man and had gone out of his way to help Melinda. Jonas felt that Kent had helped her
without any complaints only because he had feelings for her.
Jealousy resided in the pit of Jonas's stomach. He felt that Kent was Melinda's hero and that she had
rekindled her relationship with him as soon as he came back.
Just like the way Melinda was bothered by Emily, Kent and Melinda's friendship troubled Jonas.
Jonas looked frustrated and didn't eat properly as he was disturbed.
"I'm going back to the company." Jonas stood up and glanced at Melinda. It was already late because
Jonas had waited for Melinda.
"Jonas..."
Queena called him to say something but Jonas left without looking back.
She was mad at her son's arrogance. Jonas neither comforted Melinda nor tried investigating the
matter, but he left for his office. Queena felt that her son was incredibly stupid at times.
Jonas stomped into the office, looking furious. Everyone in the office was terrified and wondered what
was bothering their boss.
William was usually the first person to receive Jonas's blow, so he walked to his office and sent all the
documents for Jonas to read.
"William, I want you to fix an appointment."
Jonas glanced at the documents but his mind was filled with the thoughts of Melinda and Kent. He
wondered what they were up to.
He felt that things were getting out of hand, so he wanted to solve the problem right away.
"Whom do you want me to fix an appointment with, Mr. Gu?" William asked quizzically, thinking if he
had forgotten Jonas's schedule.
"Kent Jiang," Jonas answered.
The name sounded familiar to William but he couldn't recollect who it was. He was confused as no one
named Kent had any dealings with the company.
"Err... what do you want to talk to him, Mr. Gu?"
William asked, trembling with fear. He could make an appointment only if he knew who Jonas was
referring to.
Jonas glared at William and threw the file on the table. "Why are you asking too many questions? Just
fix an appointment with him."
Jonas was seething with rage and William almost ran out of the CEO office. He didn't dare to question
him further.
William broke into a cold sweat. He closed his eyes and took a moment to calm down. That was when
it dawned on him.
Kent was rumored to be Melinda's boyfriend. He heaved a sigh of relief and immediately called Kent's
office. Kent's assistant picked the call and immediately transferred the call to Kent when he found that it
was from Soaring Group.
"Mr. Jiang, our CEO wants to see you. Could you please come to the office at half-past three this
afternoon?"
William asked politely. When Kent heard that Jonas wanted to see him, he remembered that he needed
to tell him about what had happened to Melinda's car. Therefore, he immediately agreed.
Jonas had planned to meet Kent at the club of Soaring Group. The club had a strict membership
system, so William ushered him inside.
"I didn't expect you to come back so soon."
Jonas gritted his teeth when he saw Kent's familiar face. He felt that history was repeating itself.
"The company has ordered me to come back. I can't disobey them, can I?"
Kent came up with the same old excuse. Jonas looked murderous but Kent wasn't afraid of him.
"Company's orders? Is that what this is?" Jonas scoffed and placed a glass of wine before Kent. "An
honest person wouldn't look for excuses. I suggest you leave Melinda alone."
"What? What do you mean? Where does this come from?" Kent asked, knitting his eyebrows.
He looked at Jonas and saw the insecurity in his eyes.
That was when he understood that Jonas had fallen in love with Melinda. He was possessive of her
and couldn't see his wife get close to another man.
William asked politely. When Kent heard that Jonas wanted to see him, he remembered that he needed
to tell him about what had happened to Melinda's car. Therefore, he immediately agreed.
Jonas had planned to meet Kent at the club of Soaring Group. The club had a strict membership
system, so William ushered him inside.
"| didn't expect you to come back so soon."
Jonas gritted his teeth when he saw Kent's familiar face. He felt that history was repeating itself.
“The company has ordered me to come back. | can't disobey them, can |?"
Kent came up with the same old excuse. Jonas looked murderous but Kent wasn't afraid of him.
"Company's orders? Is that what this is?" Jonas scoffed and placed a glass of wine before Kent. "An
honest person wouldn't look for excuses. | suggest you leave Melinda alone."
"What? What do you mean? Where does this come from?" Kent asked, knitting his eyebrows.
He looked at Jonas and saw the insecurity in his eyes.
That was when he understood that Jonas had fallen in love with Melinda. He was possessive of her
and couldn't see his wife get close to another man.
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