Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness novel Chapter 74

"You were drunk?" Melinda asked sarcastically. "What a totally lame excuse." She couldn’t believe this was the best excuse he could come up with. No matter how hard he’d explain it, there was no denying that men tend to think with their dicks. Who was to say that Jonas was any different?

"Melinda, I’m telling you the truth, I swear!" Seeing that nothing he said seemed to come through to his wife, he heaved a defeated sigh. "What more do you want from me?"

"What I want from you?" Melinda scoffed. "I never asked for an explanation to begin with. What, did you maybe expect me to feel grateful that you offered an explanation?

Should I have just forgiven you when you said it was an accident? Should I have consoled you and told you it was Holley’s fault, that she took advantage of you?" Melinda’s temper spiked. Those thoughts had been swirling in her head, but saying them out loud gave them more weight and only served to fuel her fury.

She had the urge to throw things and scream until her voice gave out. But she would do none of that.

For one thing, the only object available for throwing was her laptop, and she had important files stored in it. Besides, she would never behave in such a shameless manner, even if the situation did in fact warrant such a reaction.

"I’m so sorry, I promise, I’ll handle it." Jonas hung his head and closed his eyes, looking utterly defeated. For a split second, Melinda felt a shred of sympathy stir in her heart.

It may have also been due to the fact that Jonas seemed hell bent on rectifying the problem, which was unexpected given his personality.

Then, as if programmed to keep her on course, Melinda’s brain reminded her that at the end of the day, the fact remained that Holley was carrying her husband’s child.

She quickly shrugged off her merciful thoughts, and her walls were back up. This was how it always went in the past; this was why she suffered for the past five years.

Well, no more. She wouldn’t submit herself to further humiliation and abuse in the hands of this man. Without another word, she took her laptop from the table and walked away from Jonas with her head held high.

It hit her husband more than she could ever know. He knew that he was in the wrong, and that everything was his fault. He wished his wife sneered at him and shouted and raged. He wasn’t entirely sure what he would do if Melinda had decided to act that way, but he knew that her cold indifference hurt more.

It was as if she had totally given up on him. It was as if she no longer cared, as if he no longer had any chance with her.

It was quiet in the mansion that night. Even the servants had a somber air about them as they served their masters and mistresses. The Gu family dined separately, and did not speak to each other.

Jonas spent the entire time brooding in his room. He would brood in his couch, sometimes pace the length of his study. He was constantly sighing, and would rub his eyes and temples wearily.

The shrill ringing of his mobile phone broke the heavy silence of his study, and Jonas took a quick glance to see who it might be.

It was Holley. Jonas smashed the receive call icon on his screen and immediately went off like a loose cannon.

"Holley, this is your last chance. Take the money and go to the hospital tomorrow to get rid of that child. If you don’t, not only will you never receive a single cent, I will personally make sure your career is over and your entire life ruined."

"Jonas, I didn’t mean for the rumors to spread. It was an accident, I swear!" The threat in Jonas’s voice was very real, and Holley’s top priority immediately changed into appeasing his wrath. She rambled on with her ridiculous excuses about how someone must have heard her muttering to herself and then tattled to the press.

"That’s enough," Jonas boomed over the phone, his voice firm and unforgiving. "Get an abortion tomorrow, and tell the press they were mistaken. You know what will happen if you fail to do this, Holley."

"Yes! Yes, I’ll do that tomorrow, I promise. Don’t worry, Jonas, I’ll—"

He hung up right then, not even letting Holley finish with her inane prattle. He wasn’t exactly sure if it would do much to remedy the scandal.

Internet trolls were not unlike leeches, feasting and sucking off on whatever salacious piece of meat got thrown into the web. But he had to do whatever he could.

At the other end of the line, Holley stared at her phone screen as the call disconnected. She threw the mobile aside and slumped back on her bed.

"Don’t blame me for this, kid," she murmured as she ran a hand over her belly. "I have no choice; your real father is a pathetic, poor nobody."

She no longer felt whatever little attachment she had developed in recent days. Her circumstances had taken a major 180-degree turn; she had no room to think about anyone else besides herself at this point.

Jonas’s threats kept playing over and over in her head. She couldn’t let that happen. It was indeed best for her to grab the money and make full use of it.

She picked up her phone again and dialed the hospital number Jonas gave when he sent her out of the Gu's mansion and made an appointment. The following day, she donned a coat, a face mask, and large sunglasses, and exited her apartment.

Holley was horrified to find a bunch of paparazzi littered outside her building, obviously scouting the place for a possible scoop on the scandal. She was about to flee back into her apartment when she was grabbed by the arm and pulled aside.

She was about to scream when the stranger put a hand over her mask-covered mouth and quickly explained that he was sent by Jonas. He had anticipated this scenario, and sent men to ensure that Holley went through with the abortion without a hitch. Jonas had thought of everything. He was, without a doubt, a frightening man to cross.

After clearing the matter up, a few other intimidating men came up to them, and escorted Holley to her car. She was carefully hidden from the view of any media present on the scene, and was soon revving her engine and heading to the hospital.

It was rush hour by the time Holley pulled into traffic, and she was tapping on the steering wheel, waiting for the green light, when her phone vibrated from the passenger seat. An unknown number was calling. She hesitated only for a second before plugging in her earphones and tapping the receive call icon.

"Holley." It was a woman’s voice, and it sounded young, but with a hint of menace to it. It also sounded familiar, but Holley couldn’t figure out who it was at the top of her head.

"Who is this?"

"It’s Emily Bai." On the other side of the line, Emily had her eyes glued to her computer screen as she talked. She was looking at tabloid articles about Jonas’s scandal.

"Why are you calling me?" Holley asked. This was a surprising turn of events, to say the least. The two women had never spoken to each other.

They didn’t run in the same circles, after all. Holley was a model, and Emily was a rather well-known actress. They had little business sharing projects, even though they were both in show business.

But wait. A thought occurred to Holley. They did have something in common: Jonas. She remembered a while back when articles would come out alluding to some sort of romance between Emily and Jonas. Was that why the actress was calling? Were she and Jonas about to do something to Holley because of the scandal?

"Why are you calling me?" Holley asked nervously just as the traffic light turned green. She stepped on the gas and found a safe curb to pull over. Driving while having this conversation would probably be a bad idea.