Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness novel Chapter 145

Nelson was so angry that he no longer used his usual grandfatherly tone; instead his language was peppered with all kinds of swear words that no one expected he actually knew as he continued to beat his grandson. It seemed like he had gained herculean strength and despite having been at it for a while now, he was showing no signs of fatigue or stopping anytime soon. At the sound of each crutch falling on Jonas's body, Melinda felt a bust of pain as if she was the one receiving a beating.

She wanted to stop Nelson, but couldn't come up with a viable strategy since his beatings were very arbitrary so there was no way she could step in without getting hurt.

Yulia's face was a clear reflection of Melinda's pain because she was also pale with fright. In the end, it was Queena who mastered up enough courage to stop Nelson.

Otherwise, Melinda had no doubt that Nelson would have sent Jonas to the hospital with the excessive beating if his mother had not come to his rescue.

Despite having stopped hitting Jonas, Nelson was still angry and he was gasping for air like a bull ready to attack its opponent. He threw a disgusted look at Jonas who was looking contrite and embarrassed, and then looked away in disappointment.

'What have I done to deserve such a scoundrel for a grandson?'

He was too ashamed to see Leonard in the future.

Melinda took the medicine from Gavin and gave some to Nelson. After a few minutes of taking the medicine, Nelson calmed down significantly and went back to breathing normally. Queena hurriedly went to find an ointment for pain relief and open wounds and applied some of the medicine all over Jonas's body.

Everyone's temper in the family was all over the place. Melinda rubbed her temples as she felt a distant persistent throbbing headache. As soon as Jonas's wounds were treated, he left the mansion despite Queena's loud protests and drove off.

Jonas drove around for a while without a specific destination in mind and finally decided to park his car outside a bar near his former university.

The bar had changed a lot compared to when he had last visited. Jonas took a seat at the counter since he didn't feel like interacting with the other revelers. The bartender that he knew had left a long time ago and was replaced by a young university student doing part-time work.

Jonas checked the menu and ordered two kinds of random wine and drank them within a short while, he didn't really care what he was ingesting as long as it was alcohol. One glass after another he downed the throat burning drinks before slowing down after a while. He recalled that he had decided to reduce his alcohol intake for Melinda's sake some time back. He felt ridiculous.

Yes, ridiculous was the right word. Their relationship had always been ridiculous from the beginning to the end. It was always like a roller coaster ride—one time they were okay but the next they were not.

"Why are you here getting drunk again?"

Jonas was so engrossed in drowning his sorrows that he didn't realize someone was talking to him. He continued drinking, until the man took one of the glasses full of alcohol that he had subconsciously lined up on the counter.

"Oh great! It's you again. What do you want?"

Jonas spat as he downed another glass of potent wine. The man clicked his tongue and said something to the bartender. Then he put his hand on Jonas's shoulder and nudged him to move before guiding him upstairs to the private room he had just booked.

"You seem to be in a bad mood?" Compared to the open space downstairs, the private rooms on the second floor were relatively quiet and more private, hidden from the prying eyes of curious bystanders. Although it was daytime, the place was still packed with enthusiastic university students trying to have a good time.

"Yes I am. How about you, what's your excuse for being here? Why are you always here?"

There was no wine on the table, so Jonas lit a cigarette to keep his hands and mind busy. The ball of smoke particles covered his face reflecting his dark and depressed mood. From his words it could be deduced that he was unhappy.

"I'm a shareholder of this place so I have to keep a regular eye on my business," the man answered.

Jonas smiled. It was no wonder that he had met the man twice at the same venue.

"Tell me. What's bothering you this time? Let me guess. It must be something about love. So what happened? Did you quarrel with your wife again?"

the man teased him mercilessly, deriving immense enjoyment from Jonas's discomfort. While they were still talking, the door to the private room was pushed open. The bartender pushed the cart full of wine towards where the two were sitting and also set up two sets of dice. The two gentlemen walked towards the cart and picked the dice without calling out any specific number.

Since there was someone accompanying him, although Jonas had promised himself that he wouldn't drink too much, with his friend keeping him company, he drank a lot. After a while his tongue became loose and he started talking, telling his friend everything that had happened.

When he narrated how Melinda decided to give him the divorce papers, his demeanor became even more gloomy like death.

"That's a complicated situation. There is nothing much I can say to make you feel better."

The man frowned in deep thought while rolling his dice although not concentrating much on what he was doing. He had ordered a few light drinks and was about to take one of them. But Jonas didn't even pay attention to what was happening around him, and he simply picked the beer that was in front of him and blew on the foam ready to down it in one gulp.

"Well, I can't let you do that," the man stated. Jonas was obviously upset and prepared to get more drinks in order to drown his sorrows.

"I think your wife must be totally disappointed in you for her to act the way she did. You'd better give up now, so that everyone can move on with their lives and may be this action will leave a soft spot for you in her heart."

The man drank a glass of wine while trying to keep his friend company and expressed his opinion after he took another sip of his drink. Listening to his suggestion, Jonas glanced at him sharply.

Jonas blamed himself and thought that he was the one responsible for the broken relationship between him and Melinda, and he was the one that had torn them apart. His sins were unforgivable.

"Don't look at me like that. It's creepy. I'm just telling the truth as it is." The man looked at him in an exaggerated way. Then he flipped a cigarette towards Jonas and directed the lighter towards him, lighting their cigarettes together at a go.

He looked like a playboy and a master of love.

"I can't do it."

Jonas took a big drag of his cigarette. He used the tobacco smell to numb himself. Once he was convinced that he was right, it would be difficult to convince him otherwise and besides he was a sucker for self-punishment.

Especially when it came to Melinda, he couldn't follow the false advice that everyone seemed so eager to dish out. As long as he loved a woman, he wouldn't give up and would always keep her by his side.

The man looked at Jonas and shook his head. "If that's the case, you will lose both sides and both of you will get hurt."

"So what?"

Jonas said arrogantly as it was common for him when he was challenged. Hearing Jonas's tone, the man realized that Jonas had already made up his mind and was clear about what he needed to do, so he just raised his glass and said, "Well, let's stop talking nonsense. Let's drink."

He was prepared to drink with Jonas, but he soon realized he could not keep up. Bottles of strong drinks littered the table one after the other, but Jonas consumed most of it, the engrossing dice game forgotten at that moment.

Jonas had a high tolerance for alcohol, which at that moment was not working to his advantage. It was a painful affair because he had to drink so much to reach a point where he could drown his sorrows in the drink, almost setting his liver in flames in the processes.