SWNOVELS Chapter 15 Taking Photos
"What do you mean? Do you think I can't afford it?" Yulia bellowed.
Melinda sighed with frustration. She had tried hard to coax the people to limit the damage and Yulia had ruined everything by
offending a popular designer like Joey.
"You're important to us and we wanted to give you a discount as a token of our appreciation." The situation was getting out of
hand and the manager walked out and offered an explanation, but Yulia didn't bother to shut up.
"I just wanted to try the clothes on. Why are you making a fuss about it? You will soon go bankrupt if you don't fulfil the needs of
your customers," she said, glaring at the manager.
Yulia was humiliating herself and Melinda knew that it was because she felt that she was looked down upon.
Melinda had tried hard saving her, but Yulia was stupid and was digging her own grave.
"Yulia, behave yourself. Otherwise, Grandpa will ground you and you won't be able to step out of the house." Melinda pulled
Yulia's arms and warned. Yulia immediately became quiet.
"I apologize to you on behalf of her. Everyone loves Joey's work and I'm honored to receive this offer, but I feel his work is worth
the price. You don't have to give us a discount." Melinda smiled sweetly.
Yulia's words were capable of destroying the reputation of the Gu family. Therefore, Melinda had no choice but to stand up for
Yulia. Otherwise, she had no intention of clearing up the mess for her.
Yulia had no interest in shopping and Melinda didn't buy anything either. So, the two of them went home empty-handed. Yulia
was still angry. Melinda had yet again managed to win the hearts of people.
"Mrs. Gu, are you all right?" the butler asked concernedly.
Yulia's scandal and behavior in the shopping mall had been exposed on the internet.
The Gu family was yet again the talk of the town. Joey had a crazy fan following and his fans were offended by Yulia's remarks.
"What's wrong?" Melinda asked when she saw the apprehensive look on the butler's face.
The butler explained everything in detail. Panic flashed across Yulia's face as she picked her phone to check the news.
She had finally become popular this time, but not in a good way. People were trashing and abusing her in the comment section,
while everyone appreciated Melinda for her dignity and grace. Yulia's anger spiked up in an instant.
"Does he know about this?" Melinda asked. The butler understood that she was referring to Jonas. The news about Yulia could
tarnish the reputation of Soaring Group.
The butler nodded.
Although the PR department of Soaring Group handled the matter well, the netizens didn't seem to rest. The comment section
continued to flood with hate comments and Yulia didn't dare to step out of the house.
Melinda had left the house twice. The reporters had followed her and posted her pictures on the internet. Melinda seemed to
have developed a new fan base. People started seeing her as a role model after she handled the situation in the mall with
dignity.
Holley had been following the news and was determined to destroy Melinda. She had managed to find Yulia's number, so she
picked up her phone and called her.
When Yulia answered the phone, Holley didn't bother introducing herself. "Do you hate Melinda?"
Holley's hatred for Melinda was evident in her voice. "Yes," she answered immediately even though she didn't know who had
called her.
The mere mention of Melinda's name made anger rise from the pit of Yulia's stomach. Melinda was her biggest enemy. Everyone
hated Yulia because of her.
Holley cackled loudly.
The sound of her laughter made the hair on the back of Yulia's neck stand up on end. She cleared her throat. "Who are you?"
she asked cautiously.
"I'm your well-wisher and I hate Melinda as much as you do. You will have no place in the Gu family if Melinda continues to live
there."
Holley had touched the right nerve to provoke Yulia. She wanted to use Yulia's hatred for Melinda to her advantage.
"Who on earth are you?"
"I'm Holley Huang. I can help you drive Melinda out of the Gu family. Are you interested in working with me?"
The Gu family had been closely watching Holley, anticipating her next move. So it was impossible for her to penetrate into the
depths of their family to deal with Melinda. But she could execute her plans with Yulia's help.
"Okay," Yulia agreed without hesitation.
She knew who Holley was. Yulia had been fighting against Melinda single-handedly. It would be helpful to have someone with
the same motive to help her defeat Melinda.
"What do we do? My Grandpa adores her. She is under full protection at all times. It's impossible for me to deal with her when
she's at home."
Yulia knew that she would be caught red-handed and Nelson would never forgive her if she tried making a move against
Melinda.
"I will explain it to you when the right time comes, but in the meantime, I want you to annoy her."
Holley felt that Melinda would lose her temper if Yulia constantly pestered her. She would try hurting Yulia out of spite and her
"good-girl" image would crumble in an instant.
Holley and Yulia talked for a long time as if they had known each other for years.
However, Melinda was oblivious to them plotting against her. She was busy writing her book.
Melinda had almost set the framework of the characters and outlined the plot of the story. It had taken her three days to write the
introduction, but the editor was constantly sending it back, asking her to modify it.
Melinda was exhausted and wanted to relax for a bit. She went to the backyard to take a walk. It was her favorite spot in the Gu's
mansion as it was filled with beautiful flowers.
"It's my misfortune to see you here." Melinda heard Yulia's cold voice when she stepped into the yard. She turned around to look
at Yulia who was smirking at her.
Melinda rolled her eyes and ignored her. She wasn't in the mood to talk with her.
"Why do you look aggressive all the time?"
Yulia chucked. Although Yulia tried pushing her buttons, she was still terrified of her. But she concealed her fear and tried to look
confident.
"Yulia, do you realize that you're behaving like a clown who is desperate to attract people's attention?" Melinda mocked.
No one was in the backyard at the moment and Melinda didn't bother being kind to her. Moreover, she needed to leave and didn't
want to waste time talking to Yulia.
There were many people in the Gu's mansion and Melinda was tired of dealing with them.
"Melinda, does Grandpa know that you are like this?" Yulia asked.
Melinda was always sensible and understanding when she was around Nelson, which enraged Yulia all the time.
Yulia thought that Melinda was an incredible actor who had everyone wrapped around her finger.
There were many people who gossiped about Melinda behind her back, but no one dared to confront her because they knew
that Nelson would blindly support her.
"You can fool Grandpa as much as you want, but you can never fool my brother."
Yulia had always enjoyed annoying Melinda. She loved to see her lose her mind every time she mentioned Jonas, but Yulia was
disappointed this time. Melinda didn't seem to care about it.
"Grow up, Yulia!" Melinda rolled her eyes and turned away. She was aware of Yulia's intention and didn't want to give Yulia the
pleasure of seeing her react to comment her.
She had come to relax, not deal with Yulia's stupidity. Fortunately, her phone rang, rescuing her from the torture.
But the phone call annoyed her even more. The editor had called to inform that the editor-in-chief had rejected her novel. She
was a small editor and didn't have the power to help Melinda.
"I love your writing style. I still don't understand why she was looking for reasons to reject your work. But don't worry, you are a
gifted writer and I feel you should continue writing. You could start by publishing your novel on a regular fiction website and build
fan base," the editor said and paused for a moment. "Let me come to the point. Have you offended any powerful people in the
past?" she finally asked.
Melinda's mind wandered to Jonas. 'Is she referring to Jonas?' she wondered. But Melinda knew that he wasn't the only one to
hate her.
"I appreciate your help. Thank you."
Melinda disconnected the call. She was a passionate writer and had put her heart and soul into writing this book. She never
expected that she would have to face a lot of hurdles to publish it.
She felt that it was time for her to leave the Gu's mansion. Melinda was lost in thought when she got a call from Kent who asked
her out for afternoon tea.
"Long time no see. You don't look happy." Kent frowned at Melinda's sad face. He knew Melinda very well and understood that
something was bothering her.
Melinda sat down and nodded. She rubbed her temples when she thought about what had happened.
"Look, it's your favorite black forest cake and macchiato. Eating sweet is proven to make you happy. Have them and forget all
your worries." Kent smiled as he pushed the cake towards her.
Melinda couldn't help but smile at him. Kent was a thoughtful guy and she felt good to be around him.
"Thank you."
Melinda didn't eat well for lunch and was eager to take a bite of the cake. Kent was relieved to see her eat happily.
"Are you having trouble with the novel?" Kent asked as he took out a silk scarf and wiped the corner of Melinda's mouth.
Melinda told Kent about the problems she had encountered in the past few days. She felt much better after sharing her troubles
with him.
"Do you know who's behind this?" Kent asked. It was obvious that someone was creating trouble for her.
"Jonas wouldn't resort to such silly methods. I think it's Yulia, but she is neither smart nor powerful enough to do something like
this." Melinda propped her chin on the palm of her hand and thought.
Kent ruffled her hair to cheer her up.
Holley had followed Melinda to the cafe and was sipping a cup of tea. She quickly pulled the phone out of her pocket and
snapped pictures of Kent touching Melinda's hair happily.
"Do you know her?" Kent asked.
A frown lined on his forehead when he saw Holley. Melinda followed Kent's gaze and saw Holley smirking at them.
"Yeah, she has an eye on my husband. She's been trying to seduce him."
Melinda shrugged casually and turned away. Kent's eyes widened as he finally remembered who Holley was.
"She has been taking pictures of us. Is it okay to stay back or do you want to leave?"
Melinda was popular and Kent had maintained a safe distance from her in public. At that moment, he was regretting what he had
done just now.
He didn't want people to spread rumor about them and destroy her image.
"It doesn't matter."
Melinda wasn't threatened by Holley. She ignored her and continued to talk with Kent.