Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness

"How about next time? I’ll take you to your favorite restaurant then." Despite his words, Jonas's tone sounded noncommittal, and it irked Emily.

She pasted a smile on her face and tried to temper her simmering anger. "I’m sorry. I realize I must have taken too much of your time lately. Please go ahead and deal with whatever you need to deal with. I can handle myself."

Jonas could see that her smile was a little forced, and he felt a small pang of guilt. It soon disappeared in a flash, however, and he hurried out of the room.

Emily walked to the window and watched as his car zoomed out of the garage and disappeared in the hot sun.

"Miss Bai, are we continuing with your practice?" It was the coach, who had been in the room for a few moments now. When he first entered, he had found Miss Bai all by herself. He had looked around, confused and unsure what to do, and finally broke the silence when it seemed like his client had no plans to play any more billiards that day.

"No, I’m feeling rather unwell. Maybe next time." Emily had a hard, cold expression on her face, and she didn’t bother to look at the coach as she addressed him.

The poor man briefly wondered at the stark contrast between the image of this actress onscreen and the way she was acting in person. Oh well, she did say she wasn’t feeling well; perhaps that was all there was to it.

"Understood, Miss Bai. Next time you come here, please look for me." With that, the coach left the room, and thought nothing more of his encounter with Emily.

Jonas drove home at full speed, and his tires screeched on the mansion’s driveway as he stepped on the brakes. He got out of the car in a hurry and stalked into his wife’s villa.

Melinda was lounging on the couch watching a show, and she glanced at him only briefly as he entered the living room. He paused in the act of taking off his coat. ‘That’s it? Not even a greeting?’

He rushed back home eager to see his wife; it never occurred to him that she might not share his excitement at finally being together. A heavy lump of disappointment lodged at his throat, but he swallowed it down.

"What are you watching?" he asked casually as he plopped beside her on the couch. The moment he came close, though, Melinda’s face wrinkled into a frown.

She turned to give him a look, sniffed once, and then pushed him away with force. "Get away from me."

He could only gape at her in confusion. He could see the anger flashing in her eyes, but could find no explanation to it. He had done nothing but sit next to her, and he was sure there was nothing wrong with that.

Seeing his puzzled face, Melinda correctly assumed that her husband thought himself without fault whatsoever. It only served to fuel her anger even further.

She knew that scent. It was so overpowering that it made a mark in her memory. Besides, it was associated with one of the top candidates as the bane of her existence, so of course she would know that scent anywhere.

It was Emily’s perfume.

Even after pushing her husband away, with several feet separating them, the cloying scent of the other woman permeated the space.

"You were with Emily today," Melinda stated with conviction. She wasn’t asking him anything; she was citing facts out loud. "And you have been with her these past few days."

A flicker of surprise rose in Jonas's eyes, but he didn’t seem much bothered by what she said. In his mind, he remained innocent—he had done nothing wrong with Emily after all.

He felt a ridiculous tingle of excitement at the prospect. He would consider this a victory of sorts,

he replied to her in a calm manner. "Yes, I have been talking to Emily a lot lately. Don’t

in his voice did not escape Melinda, and she immediately assumed it was because he was talking

at Jonas, she was very tired. These

object of all her attention. But then her face changed,

things you promised?" She rose from the sofa as she asked him, and in spite of her soft, homey clothes, she looked every bit

Jonas could not muster a word. After a beat of silence, she flashed him a

to declare such professions and make promises that he would easily

could he forget anything when he obviously remembered much from his

just chat, nothing more. I’m not doing her any favors either." He sounded a little helpless and unsure, but Melinda was beyond angry now, and she was done excusing him for all the pain he

was at a loss. He always found himself caught between countless contradicting opinions when it came to Emily. He could see

She might only be chatting merrily with you now, but are you sure she’s going to stop at that? Besides, you said you would cut all ties between you, and yet you still keep seeing her. You made a promise, Jonas! Or maybe it’s just

pause, not caring if she was saying too much or speaking too loudly. Her mouth

table and poured her a glass of water. He handed it to her and she accepted it

she looked at her empty glass, she realized she accepted

mind to recall her rage full force, but she really was tired of it all. She said nothing, and kept staring at the glass in her hands. Mary had noticed the raised voices, and immediately approached the living room to stop the couple from fighting. When she arrived at the doorway, however, it didn’t seem like Jonas and Melinda were at each other’s throats

finally said after taking a deep breath. "I think what you’re

but in recent days, as he met with Emily, he found her to be simple and positive. There were no signs at all of her being the cunning

of him that refused to accept that his childhood playmate had a calculating and manipulative

husband’s question, Melinda felt utterly defeated. That was the last straw. She felt her hands growing cold as the

hopes that he might wake

moment is clarity. And one thing has become very starkly clear to me: you trust Emily, your childhood friend,

but the past few days proved to him that

the other hand, when Emily was brought

that the scales in his heart were tipped against his wife.

as you think. It’s true that she had done you wrong before, but she’s

at his every word. If they

you saying that it’s my fault I wasn’t there to help you with your business problems? Am I being a

of her last question, and her rage was bubbling on

what I meant. I’m just saying that she’s been of help to me. If I just cast her aside in

big picture. But it was true that Emily somehow saved him from a pinch,

of other people. Right now, I must be the one acting in extremely bad form. It must have always been me acting irrationally,

another beat of silence after that, with Melinda glaring at him and breathing heavily. Jonas, on the other hand,

sighed and walked over to the side table to put down the glass she

closed her eyes shut and let all the fight in her go. She was so, so tired of this. She turned

one question was loaded with heavy and complex emotions. Emotions he