Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness

And so, against their better judgments, Melinda and Jonas moved back to the main villa. Ever since Queena returned, an air of gloom descended upon the mansion, and Melinda made an effort to keep herself scarce in the older woman’s presence.

This did not escape her mother-in-law’s notice, and she made a point of letting her dissatisfaction be known. "You only stay in your room all day long. What could you possibly accomplish living like that? How do you expect to be of help to Jonas?"

She quickly made a habit of calling for Melinda only to lecture her on various things that popped into her head. She also didn’t miss an opportunity to make snide remarks to her daughter-in-law, frequently reiterating her disapproval of her marriage to her son.

Melinda would only take it all in silence. Queena's words often came to mind, and she now realized that it would indeed only bring her a great deal of exhaustion if she cared too much.

Queena’s criticisms soon became repetitive, and still she did not stop. She would call for the younger woman under the pretense of teaching her the ropes on being a madam of the Gu family, but would only give vague explanations without really sharing anything useful.

Her complaints were endless; no matter what Melinda did or said, she always found fault. For her part, Melinda only let her mother-in-law do whatever she wanted, and didn’t pay much heed to the cruel words that were constantly hurled at her.

Other people’s opinions were the least of her concern anyway.

She used to care a lot in the past, but circumstances made sure that she learned to ignore people she didn’t care about. She learned it the hard way, and she would be damned if she didn’t put it to good use.

Besides, her recent collaboration with Kent had much of her attention, in addition to the new book she was preparing. She was quite busy, actually, and even if her body needed to be in the same room with Queena, her mind remained engaged in her own business.

Yulia would always take advantage of the passive aggressive kerfuffle, and would make excuses for Melinda’s behavior.

Her comments, of course, only served to belittle her sister-in-law more, and tarnish her image in Queena’s eyes. "Aunt Queena, you shouldn’t expect too much from Melinda. She can’t help being the way she is."

Not that it did much anyway. Queena expressly looked down at Yulia as well, especially in light of what the girl had done before as well as her mother's identity.

In truth, Yulia had involved herself in a lot of shameless issues unbefitting of the family's name, and Queena had always chalked it up to her being the child of a mistress from a lower background.

Nelson was quite pleased with the young couple’s move, however. The night that they did, the old man was jolly throughout his conversations, going as far as telling Queena that she finally did something right by forcing the two back into the main villa.

Even so, the air between Jonas and Melinda remained awkward and delicate. They would manage to pull off the harmonious act in front of the family patriarch, but it would sometimes slip.

It took a lot of effort, after all. Especially now that they were together day and night, and at such close proximity to Nelson. It wouldn’t take long before the old man started noticing a lot of red flags.

One time after lunch, the women of the Gu family sat around the table to eat some fruit. "Aunt Queena," Yulia began. "I noticed that today you've received quite a lot of invitations to events and parties. You are so popular."

Melinda stiffened at that, but her face remained nonchalant. She smiled a little to hide her surprise.

It was no secret that people were drawn to a person’s name, especially if it was associated with fame, wealth, and power.

As such, establishing connections to prominent people was quite a common scene, even in the upper echelons of the social class. And yet, despite being the wife of the Gu family's heir, and briefly being the madam of the family during Queena’s time away, Melinda received no invitation to such gatherings.

receive a deluge of invitations so shortly after

in the Gu family was never recognized since the

piece of apple. "Most of them are just

the Gu family to tend

shot a pointed look at Melinda as she said that last

Yulia drawled. "Well, you can take Melinda to the parties, then. I know! Why not start with the fashion banquet this week? I think that would be a

Melinda, knowing her sister-in-law couldn’t have missed the malice in her words. She knew Melinda seldom attended parties, and the woman probably knew nothing about style. She would only embarrass herself if she attended a function

still didn’t have a firm grasp on Queena’s thought processes, however, and so did not anticipate that Queena was altogether unwilling to take Melinda to such a

asked Melinda in a manner that made it clear she wanted

was quick to manipulate the conversation

Instead, she sought comfort in the knowledge that most of her favorite designs would be on display at the banquet; perhaps she might find

a considerable amount of time, though, so she wasn’t sure how she

for quite a while before deciding to just choose an outfit that made her comfortable

to buy a lavish dress anyway. But she could certainly afford to rent one. With that in mind, she stole away from the mansion around siesta time, and went

arrived, and the receptionist was more than glad to attend to her. She had been marketing a lot of outfits to Melinda, and rambled for

to rent a dress, please show me the ones that

quickly brought Melinda to

caught Melinda's attention, and she immediately fell in love with it after trying it on. The fabric was a mixed gradient of blue and silver, with a strapless top cinched at the waist and a skirt that

she was wearing a piece of the starry night sky over her body, the hues shining and shimmying along her curves as she

was no exception to the little bouts of vanity all women had. Of course she wanted to look good. And

you are the most beautiful woman to have ever tried on this dress," the receptionist declared as

buy the dress?" She thought it was quite a shame; the client looked ethereal

thank you," Melinda said, sharing the receptionist’s regret. "I’ll need this one for a

quietly as she’d left it. The dress was to be delivered

at the day of the banquet, so no one in the mansion had any idea what Melinda might be wearing

her and didn’t say a word. Yulia, on the other hand, had her jaw drop at

a similar, starry sky palette, only her cut was different. Yulia’s dress was so much shorter,

arrived at the banquet, everyone stared. The women entered together, with Queena

her elegant neck and the delicate features of her face. She looked breathtaking, and

stark difference between her and Melinda. She knew she looked cheap and trashy in her skimpy,

be in the limelight, but was once again reduced to the background. If anyone did notice Yulia, it was only to comment on the

get that dress?' Men

you look absolutely gorgeous," she said in a sickly sweet voice and made sure everyone within hearing

so many guys stealing glances at you and others just flat out staring. If my brother found out about