Forgive My Ex-husband
Chapter 69 Being More Independent

"All in all, I think us women should be more independent," Lina prattled on. "As much as men like the sense reliability that feeds their ego, they're not as open-minded as they would have us think. When womer rely on them too much, they start to treat us as if we were useless. I'm telling you, I have this one colleague...'

"

Melinda listened in silence as Lina kept talking about marriage. Lina had always been a self-reliant person, with a distinctly strong personality, and she had not once let her romantic adventures cloud her sensibilities.

The way she talked about it, it would seem that her marriage was going along swimmingly.

Without expecting it, Melinda managed to gain some insights from her friend's one-sided discourse. She began to compare things from her own marriage, replaceing points here and there on why it all went wrong. She spent all those five long years in a daze, so easily manipulated, as if she had no mind of her own. 'Moving forward, I must start acting independently, relying on no one but myself,' she swore it in her heart. They talked well into the midnight. It wasn't until the Mo family sent for someone to take Melinda home that she finally bade her friend goodbye.

The days they spent on the countryside gave joy to Nelson. He wandered around the little hills and the small gardens with Leonard, with Melinda occasionally in tow.

The quiet peace of this rural place paved the way for the strain of the past few days to disappear. Without them noticing, three days had already passed since they came to the countryside.

On the fourth day, while having lunch, Melinda suggested that they returned to the city. Everyone easily agreed, and Leonard promptly disappeared into the cellar. When he emerged, he had a bottle of wine in hand, which he claimed to have made himself.

He insisted on opening it to celebrate the culmination of their retreat, but Melinda put up a fight to protest. At their age they shouldn't be freely imbibing alcohol anymore.

"You sneaky little girl, you've only been back for a few days yet you never miss the chance to bully me." Although Leonard's tone was whiny and complaining, he had a wide grin on his face.

They settled for tea instead of wine, and the lunch ended in a happy and peaceful note. Melinda and Nelson left soon after that, heading straight back to the Gu's mansion.

In recent days, Jonas's workload had increased, and he barely had time or room for a proper break. But he received word of his wife and grandfather's return, and on that day he left his pending paperwork unfinished on his desk and rushed back home.

The desire to apologize to Melinda had been eating at him since his wife left. It was all he could think about in the few moments he wasn't dealing with his business.

But when they saw each other again for the first time after half a week, Jonas couldn't muster the right words. He couldn't say anything. He never managed to attempt a conversation with his wife, and she made no efforts to talk to him either.

Instead, Melinda spent her days looking after Nelson, making sure he was comfortable and was not pushing himself. She didn't try to hide the fact that she was ignoring her husband, so everyone in the mansion naturally noticed.

Their interaction, or lack thereof, particularly snagged Nelson's attention. It made him resent his grandson for how terribly he was handling the situation, and so also began to act indifferently towards Jonas. The matters at home was increasingly aggravating Jonas. It was at this time that Emily began to frequently visit the offices of Soaring Group. She would often bring lunch or snacks for him, and would give calls at the most random hours.

It was the perfect opportunity to cozy up to him, after all. He was vulnerable, and Emily made sure to make Jonas feel her presence all the time.

One day, Melinda was coming out of Nelson's room after bringing him tea, and she ran into Yulia in the landing by the stairs. They were both aware that Melinda's return to the Gu family had been a constant source of hatred for Yulia.

"You know, I had hoped a little when you went back to that shabby countryside of yours that you would rightfully choose to stay there," Yulia started. "I should have known you would continue to cling to the Gu family, and for what? Taking care of Grandpa is such a lame excuse. There are a lot of people here who can do that, and we can always hire more if needed. Why don't you just give back already and run back to where you came from?"

Melinda only rolled her eyes. 'Here we go again.' She reached up to sweep her hair behind her ear, bracing herself for the inevitable fight. She had her sleeves rolled up from when she was preparing tea in the kitchen, exposing her creamy white arms, and the band of jade that circled one of her wrists.

The jade gleamed a lustrous green and Yulia's greedy eyes immediately zeroed in on it. She could tell at a glance that it was of excellent quality, and that it was probably rare. Which meant it was expensive. It sparked something ugly and angry within her.

"How shameless!" Yulia shrieked. "I see you've been splurging the hard-earned money of the Gu family on your little trinkets!"

Melinda didn't miss a beat. She had an idea this might happen. She crossed her arm over her chest to display her jade-adorned wrist better, all the while smiling tauntingly at the younger woman. "Oh you mean this jade bracelet? This is actually a gift from Grandpa."

She then made a show of stretching her arm this way and that, as though admiring the band, albeit emphatically. "I hear this is quite a rare kind of jade, and only one bracelet was created from it. And, well, it's mine."

"You pretentious bitch! I know you're only acting nice to Grandpa so you can get your hands on the family money. You're disgusting! You don't deserve anything from the Gu family, and you don't deserve that jade bracelet! Give me that!" She was seething with envy, which was what Melinda aimed for when she purposely provoked her. Yulia suddenly lunged at her, making a grab for her wrist. Melinda side-stepped and avoided the screeching woman, but in doing so lost her own footing.

Melinda screamed as she fell down the stairs. Thankfully she managed to clutch the bannisters halfway down, just in time to stop her further tumble downwards, which could have potentially broken her neck. The servants rushed into the foyer upon hearing her scream, and were treated to the sight of Melinda clinging for her life, while the young woman stood at the top of the stairs.

"Mrs. Gu, are you all right?" The maids quickly went up to Melinda to assist her and check her for injuries.

"What the devil is going on?" Nelson stormed out of his room as well. He was about to take a nap when he heard Melinda scream.

At that time Jonas was working in his study located at the side villa. He was so busy that when a servant knocked on the door, he felt startled at his boldness to disturb him.

The servant was shaking as he recounted what just happened, and Jonas was immediately on his feet, sprinting his way to the main villa.

Everyone was gathered in the living room when he arrived, and the servants were shooting Yulia with odd looks. "Explain yourself, Yulia!" Nelson roared, making everyone in the room jump.

Yulia had tears in her eyes, and she turned to look at Melinda, not quite believing what just happened. 'Why did it turn out like this? I didn't even touch her!'

Jonas sat beside Melinda and took her in his arms. She protested at first, and squirmed a little angrily, but he didn't relent on his hold. In the end, husband and wife sat there in an awkward embrace.

Melinda didn't like it at all, but the show had to go on. She had no intention to sacrifice herself just to teach Yulia a lesson, but she wouldn't let go of this opportunity. Luckily, she managed to keep from getting herself seriously hurt.

She let Nelson reprimand Yulia a bit more as he demanded an explanation before speaking up. "Grandpa, it's not her fault. It's just that... well she said she wanted my bracelet, and I couldn't take it off—" "Are you trying to defend her for what she's done to you?" Nelson asked incredulously, interrupting Melinda. "I will have none of it!"

Then he turned to his granddaughter, pointing angrily at her as he berated her. "Listen carefully. I gave that bracelet to Melinda, it belongs to nobody but her. You have no right to take it, especially by force!" Yulia burst into tears. Melinda kept quiet, acting out the role of the bullied victim perfectly. Nelson declared that his granddaughter would be grounded until further notice, and had Gavin take her upstairs. Yulia was still trying to wrap her head around what was happening, and she walked into her room in a daze. What was clear to her, though, was the streak of fear that built up in her, a sudden, unexpected fear of Melinda.

In time, Nelson retired back to his room, and the servants went back to their tasks. It was only Melinda and Jonas left in the room.

"Are you all right?" Jonas asked in a quiet voice. "You didn't hit your head, did you?"

When there was no response he eased his hold and looked down at his wife. Melinda was staring straight ahead, seeming to have not heard him. Jonas repeated his questions this time louder.

"I'm quite all right," she said finally, with an air of cold indifference. She wriggled in her seat in an attempt to break free from his arms, but Jonas only tightened his embrace.

Miffed, she turned and looked up at him with a frown, obviously questioning his actions. To his credit, he quickly understood what she wanted to say.

"You just had a fall, you shouldn't overexert yourself. I'll take you to your room. The doctor should arrive soon."

Without another word he rose, his wife still in his arms. The abrupt motion caught Melinda by surprise, and she instinctively wound her arms around his neck.

The doctor came shortly after. He would press on different areas of Melinda's legs to check her injuries, and every time she would cry out. It greatly alarmed Jonas. Maybe she was seriously hurt after all. "The skin injury itself isn't anything serious," the doctor said as he started to put away his instruments. "But your fall may have caused some trauma to your legs, seeing how you seem to feel pain everywhere. I will prescribe you with a topical medicine for the bruises and some internal ones to help with the pain. You need plenty of rest."

"Don't you need to take an X-ray?" Jonas suddenly demanded. The doctor paused what he was doing with no small amount of fear.

The entire time he was examining the Gu family's madam, he could feel the heat of Jonas's sharp gaze. Every time he pressed on the madam's joints, all three of them winced: she with pain, her husband with alarm, and himself with an irrational fear of Jonas's wrath.

Now, he turned to Jonas to explain that an X-ray would be unnecessary since he had ascertained that the injury didn't go as far as the madam's bones, but one look at Jonas's expression had him instantly nodding in agreement.

An X-ray examination was soon arranged, which revealed the doctor's initial presumptions to be true. The only injuries the young madam got from the fall were bruises and a slight swelling in her ankles, although the doctor was a little baffled at the amount of pain she seemed to be feeling.

Nonetheless, he had satisfied Jonas's demands, and quickly got out of their hair with much relief.

"Jonas," Melinda finally spoke to him when they were alone again. "Is it too much to expect you to look after me throughout my recovery? This was all because of your precious sister, after all." She gave emphasis to the words precious sister in an attempt to rile Jonas.

He didn't say anything to that, and kept his thoughts on the matter to himself. But he did tend to his wife, bringing her meals and regularly seeing to her medicines. His treatment of her gratified Melinda somewhat. He seemed to be expressing his apology for what happened in the past week in this manner, so there was no reason for her to hold back from enjoying all the pampering.

News of the incident reached Emily, and she quickly made attempts to disrupt Jonas's time with his wife. In the days that followed, she would call Jonas and make up excuses to get him to come to her, but she was refused every time.

She was becoming desperate. Melinda's hold on Jonas seemed to have grown stronger. She couldn't let things go on this way.

"Jonas," she crooned over the phone one day, "I'm not feeling well today. Can you please take me to the hospital?"

Melinda was able to walk at this point, although Jonas would still accompany her when she went out to the garden for some fresh air. After turning Emily away several times already, Jonas felt like he should go with her this time.

He was in Melinda's room when Emily called, and after disconnecting he got up to leave. He was halfway to the door when Melinda walked to a bedside table and pulled out their contract.

"Jonas," she called out, holding up the document in front of her. "If you're leaving me so easily to go to another woman, then there's no point to our agreement, is there? I might as well tear up this contract." Her words had their desired effect; Jonas was rooted to the spot. He took a careful look at his wife. She didn't seem to be joking at all. He had no doubts she would break their deal without a second thought if he pushed any further.

"I see" was all he said. He sat back down at a nearby chair and, in front of Melinda, made a call to William and ordered his secretary to take care of the matters regarding Emily.

Melinda calmed down a bit after that, but she was still pissed at Jonas, and sent him out of her room. The truth was that there had never been a deep connection between them throughout their time together. They might be treating each other civilly, and perhaps nicely from time to time, but they were treading on fragile ice. It could break any moment, and wouldn't take much at all to crack.

In order to cleanse her mind of such ugly thoughts, Melinda decided to take a little stroll in the garden. She hadn't seen much of Yulia these days.

Perhaps their recent episode had finally made her realize her mistakes, and she would no longer target Melinda. She found out soon enough that this was not the case at all. She ran into Yulia the moment she stepped back into the main villa after her walk. The younger woman was once again baring her fangs and glaring at her with much hatred. Melinda had already been feeling prickly over Jonas's behavior earlier, and Yulia's bitchiness only added fuel to a barely extinguished fire.

'All right then. If you won't back down, then neither will I. Let's see this through to the end.'

"Yulia," Melinda spoke. Her tone was gentle, but she made sure her voice was loud enough for any servants nearby to hear.

"If you don't like me, all you have to do is tell me. I'd no longer come to the main villa, if it upsets you so much."

Melinda had learned the hard way never to put herself in a vulnerable position where she was wide open to the manipulation and abuse of others.

She had also dealt with Emily enough times to have picked up some lessons in being petty and coy, and how to act pitiful to draw out the sympathy of others. Playing the victim came surprisingly easy to Melinda; she had been a true victim for the past five years after all.

At Melinda's words, it came to Yulia yet again how this woman before had drastically changed from the way she was in the past.

A tinge of fear sprang up once again, but Yulia was not one for fear. As always, her temper took precedence.