Jonas was unhappy with the behavior Melinda had shown at the banquet. His lips formed into a thin line as he stared at the photo. Her beauty was for his eyes only. A lot of people had seen her like that and he didn't like it.
Melinda was still in the middle of a conversation with Leo when he approached her. Apparently, their topic had already shifted to their alma mater.
A smile was plastered on her face from the nostalgia brought on by Leo's stories. She was recalling the good old days when a voice suddenly interrupted her from behind.
"Who are you talking to?"
Jonas's cold voice made Melinda shiver. She involuntarily pulled the blanket up closer to her body as he had spoken.
He clenched his jaw, quite displeased with the fact that Melinda was smiling because of another person who was probably a man. There was a look of bitterness that swept across his face.
"It's none of your business," she answered.
Melinda pointed the remote control towards the TV to switch it off and quickly made her way to the bed. She didn't like to use a hair dryer so her hair was still a little wet, but she lay herself down anyway.
Her mood suddenly turned sour when Jonas had returned, which was why she suddenly informed Leo that she needed to rest and ended their conversation.
She then grabbed a towel and started drying her hair while randomly looking for a TV show and started watching again. This made Jonas sense that Melinda was hiding something from him.
No matter how much he wanted to pry into it, he found himself unable to. The atmosphere around them remained tense since Melinda was still mad at him because of the incident with Emily.
Jonas had gone to the bathroom before returning only to find that Melinda had already fallen asleep. The room was silent except for the noise coming from the TV and her slow breathing.
Her head was almost over the edge of the bed and she was still holding the towel that wrapped some part of her hair. He quietly stared at her for a moment with an expression that looked like he was in deep thought.
It took a while before he finally sighed and carefully took the towel out of her grasp to continue wiping her hair. Since his mother had returned, a party like the one held this evening was necessary.
It was only the first day and Melinda couldn't stand it anymore. What was the next thing to be done?
The following morning, Melinda went downstairs to find the dining room lively. Even Yulia, who rarely showed up for breakfast, was also present.
After saying her greetings, she discovered that there were no seats left. She felt embarrassed because of this, but her face remained passive so as not to reveal her true feelings.
Yulia was silently enjoying the moment. Although she was having breakfast, she secretly stole glances at Melinda.
The idea of Melinda feeling embarrassed thrilled her.
"Nanny," Melinda called.
She took a glance at the servants around her, who all had their heads lowered. Melinda knew that they were also waiting for this moment. Once again, she suddenly missed the small villa.
Back over there, they did not have much servants. It was only Mary who took care of them most of the time.
"Mrs. Gu," one of the servants answered.
The nanny looked at her without any ounce of respect. Melinda had no place in this family no matter how long she had been part of it. It was because of Jonas who once ordered the servants to respect her, but both of them weren't even in good terms at present.
These people acted based on the current situation. This time around, they would not have been kind to Melinda.
"Have you forgotten that mother has returned? Why haven't you prepared enough seats for her?"
The servant flinched and gave her a frightened look before subconsciously glancing over to Queena. Melinda had always been gentle, but this time around her temper was bad as she yelled at the nanny.
Melinda noticed the look the servant gave Queena, and suddenly it all dawned upon her that this had all been a set up. Come to think of it, the servants wouldn't dare to do such a thing no matter how much they disliked her.
"Mrs. Gu, I am going to arrange a seat right away."
Queena did not utter a word as Melinda ferociously stood there while the servant hurriedly left to have the situation fixed, terrified that Melinda's displeasure would get her fired.
After all, it wasn't that easy to acquire such a high paying job at another household.
"Mother, I apologize for not teaching the servants well. I'll make sure to do so in the future."
Melinda turned around to face Queena with a smile, but the truth was that this was her way of silently telling her mother-in-law that she was aware of who was behind this.
The reason why Melinda had gotten angry was because it would have given Queena an opportunity to treat her cruelly if she showed some kindness at the moment.
The servant finally returned with a chair and some breakfast, but the food she prepared was less than the usual. Melinda gave her a look that she could not fathom, resulting for the servant to tremble from where she stood. Melinda hesitated for a while, but then decided to punish her as a form of warning to the others.
"Gavin, can you hire a new nanny right away? If you can't, just send Mary over here. I don't want to have such a careless person with me."
Melinda knew that she would have ended up getting bullied by these people if she hadn't gotten angry at them.
The servant had almost knelt down in shock upon hearing Melinda's words. She attempted to open her mouth, eyes widened in horror as she glanced over to Queena wanting to say something. However, she was stopped by her stern look.
"Come on, don't get mad at her," Queena finally said. "This is all my fault. It has been a long time since I had last been home."
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