SWNOVELS Chapter 99 A Traffic Jam
Jonas pursed his lips. He knew why Melinda insisted to know. After hesitating for a while, he finally opened his mouth in attempt
to say something.
Melinda's eyebrows furrowed and her lips instantly formed into a line the moment she heard Emily's name. She did not even
bother waiting for Jonas to continue. Instead, she hung up the phone abruptly while she felt a tightness form in her chest.
How many more times did she have to feel hurt for her to see that she did not mean anything at all to Jonas?
As long as Emily was in the picture, all her illusions were shattered.
Jonas stared at his phone in shock after hearing the sound of the beep on the other end. He tried calling her again, but the line
was busy. Melinda was definitely mad at him.
Melinda took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down before heading towards the direction of Kent who was
currently talking to another editor. As soon as they saw her approaching, they immediately stopped whatever it was they were
discussing about.
"Miss Mo, I hope I get to have the chance to work with you next time. You are very good with words," the editor praised.
His face showed regret over just meeting Melinda after she had already found a company to work for.
A lot of people thought at first that Melinda's writing was too dark, but strangely it was clean. If one were to look into it carefully,
they would realize that the persistence of a stubborn person in the darkness was not something any ordinary writer could easily
possess.
Because of the strong contrast, her writing became even more distracting.
"I'm glad you appreciate it. I suppose that the opportunity will present itself soon." She smiled politely and shook the editor's
hand.
"I won't be disturbing you any further, then. Let's have another chat soon when you have some free time."
The editor then turned to face Kent, smiling as he held out his hand. "I'm looking forward to our collaboration."
"It would be my honor," he replied.
The editor left not long after both of them shook hands. Melinda figured that the collaboration they were just talking about meant
Kent would work with this magazine.
Kent glanced over to Melinda. "You look pale. Today must have been exhausting for you."
He was actually aware that the phone call Melinda had a moment ago was the reason behind her miserable expression. After all,
Kent was a clever man.
Melinda let out a soft sigh. "Yeah. It has been bothering me for days."
She was always actively participating in the whole process even though the studio mainly handled majority of it. Naturally, she
would be exhausted.
"We have an appointment later. Why don't you take a break for a while?" Kent gave her a sympathized look.
Although it was obvious that he did not approve of Jonas not showing up today, he would not say it out loud. The current
situation between him and Melinda was a sensitive topic.
All the questions and answers for the interview were already prepared in advance so Melinda did not have to worry about how to
answer properly. As soon as Kent had left, Melinda crashed herself into the lounge's sofa.
"Okay, the launch event was a success. You don't have to worry about the rest. I'll handle it. I've already arranged for a driver, so
you don't have to drive, and could leave now."
The editor couldn't help but find Melinda's appearance kind of funny. She had always acted like a gentle and elegant lady in front
of others.
Melinda forced a smile. "Thank you, dear editor."
She did not really want to return to the Gu's mansion at the time, yet she didn't want to say it out loud either.
The staff continued to take photos of the venue. As soon as Melinda came out, they hurriedly rushed over, eager to take a few
shots of her before they proceeded to clear out the props that scattered around.
The driver that her editor had arranged for her had difficulties returning to the downtown area from the Gu's mansion since the
place was isolated enough to even get a taxi. Eventually, Melinda asked Gavin to send the driver back to the city, feeling once
again the inconvenience of being able to travel to and from the mansion.
Jonas had been waiting for Melinda in the living room as soon as he returned home. The sight of him quietly carrying Momo in
his arms was a rare occurrence, seeing that he looked so arrogant most of the time.
Momo meowed at the sight of Melinda. It sounded as if it was complaining to her about something.
"Mellie, are you angry?" Jonas asked quickly.
He knew it was a stupid question. It was clearly obvious from her cold expression, even to Gavin, that she was angry.
Generally speaking, now that the book launch was over, she should have a bright smile plastered on her face instead of the sad
frown she currently had.
Since Jonas and Melinda hadn't returned home together, Gavin felt that something was wrong.
Wasn't Jonas supposed to attend Melinda's event today about her new book?
Melinda completely ignored Jonas while he stared at her expectantly. Instead, she reached out towards Momo and silently
hugged it without so much as a glance back towards the man.
The cat purred and obediently approached Melinda. She patted the cat's head as it continued to purr contentedly.
"Ah, here. I have brought you a gift," Jonas said.
He knew that he was purposefully ignored and wanted to catch her attention, so he took out an expensive looking box from the
sofa. Inside it revealed to be a collarbone necklace.
When Jonas saw the necklace at the mall today, it instantly reminded him of Melinda. He had always thought that her collarbone
was beautiful.
"I don't want it," she told him.
Melinda took a glance at the beautiful necklace in front of her. It was adorned with uniquely designed diamonds that were sure to
perfectly highlight the beauty of one's collarbone. It looked very delicate and expensive.
If she weren't angry at Jonas that moment, she would have accepted the gift. However, seeing that it was supposed to be a
means of compensation from Jonas, she found herself subconsciously rejecting it.
"I chose this especially for you. Please try it on," he urged.
Jonas wasn't sure on what he was doing, but he quickly gathered the courage to fasten the necklace around Melinda.
"It's very beautiful," he told her as he observed the chain dangling from her neck.
The corner of his mouth lifted up to form a small smirk as he thought to himself that he had good taste in buying jewelry. Melinda
showed discontent and wanted to remove it but Jonas stopped her.
"This is my own way of apologizing to you for what happened today. Please don't refuse it, okay?"
Even though Jonas had sincere intentions when he admitted his mistake, his expression showed the complete opposite.
Their conversation somehow came to a halt when Nelson entered the villa with Yulia. Yulia seemed to be enjoying the fact that
Jonas and Melinda had been fighting.
"How did your book launch go, Mellie? Did everything go well?" the old man inquired.
After hearing from Gavin that Melinda had returned home, he immediately went to find her without bothering to wait for Melinda
to greet him at the door.
Melinda could not help but smile at the old man. "The event went well. Thank you for your concern, Grandpa."
Although she appreciated Nelson's concern, she did not want him to find out that she was upset with Jonas.
Nelson loved her so much that if he knew that she was upset he would get angry at Jonas himself.
Melinda only wished for the elders to experience only happiness every day.
She could not however successfully hide her anger towards Jonas. It was pretty obvious from her expression. Nelson was also
very perceptive, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Is there something wrong, Melinda? You do not look quite well," Yulia inquired in a worried voice.
It didn't take long for the old man to figure out what was wrong with Melinda. Noticing this, Melinda reluctantly smiled and finally
gave up.
She couldn't hide her displeasure any longer.
"I'm fine. I'm just exhausted from today's events, that's all." Melinda shrugged.
Nelson raised an eyebrow at her and turned to Jonas. "I thought you were with Melinda at the launch event. Did you not help
her?"
Jonas felt even more embarrassed with himself as the old man accused him.
"Jonas, were you not able to make it on time? I'm sorry I made you late. I was spoiled too much. I didn't expect..." Yulia
stammered. "I didn't think..."
Yulia's face turned red. Her eyes cast downward, unable to speak any further.
Melinda felt weird all of a sudden. Why was Yulia being involved? Wasn't his absence because of Emily?
"What's going on here?" Nelson asked.
The old man was confused. What had Yulia got to do with this? The girl suddenly looked terrified as her eyes darted towards
Jonas before attempting to explain.
"It's my fault, Grandpa. I made a mistake." Her lips trembled.
Melinda suddenly recalled hearing a faint cry of pain beside Jonas when she was on the phone with him earlier. She did not
expect that it belonged to Yulia.
However, it didn't matter. Yulia was not the reason Jonas wasn't able to make an appearance. It was Emily.
"Melinda, I'm so sorry. I had no idea that Jonas had an important schedule today." Yulia's voice croaked.
Melinda's attention was on her. Yulia's eyes were welled up with tears. She looked back at Melinda with sincerity.
"It's not your fault. You do not need to apologize." Melinda tried to reassure her.
"All right, hold on. All of this is confusing me." Nelson turned towards Jonas. "What's going on? Why didn't you show up at
Mellie's book launch event?"
Nelson was still trying to figure out what was going on, but what he understood clearly was that Jonas did not attend Melinda's
launch event.
"Mellie, didn't you tell me that Jonas would be the mysterious guest at your book launch? Did it cause you any problem when he
did not show up? Do you want me to make some calls?" Nelson looked over to her with concern.
Nelson acted quickly.
Jonas felt even more ashamed. It was supposed to be a publicity stunt after all.
"I'm fine, Kent assisted me," she told the old man.
Even though his face went pale at the mention of Kent's name, Jonas knew he deserved it. He wasn't able to do anything but to
keep his mouth shut.
He had to give a reason as to why he wasn't able to attend Melinda's press conference. If he told them what really happened,
Nelson would be furious at him and he would definitely upset Melinda even more than she already was.
"I was caught in a traffic jam. When I finally arrived, it was already too late," he reasoned.
The real reason why he got stuck in traffic was because Emily's car had broken down. He could not just leave her there so he
tried to help.
Melinda scoffed upon hearing his explanation. She found that Jonas was really good at lying.
Even though she had no idea what exactly took place, she was absolutely sure with one thing. Emily was definitely
involved.