Chapter 123 A Knot

Melinda tried to stifle a laugh as she observed the scene in front of her. Now she saw a new side of
Leo. Even though he looked friendly, he would ignore those he didn't like.

To people like Yulia, he acted formal and a bit arrogant.

Melinda couldn't help but recall what her teacher had said, "People who engage in artistic creation are
full of arrogance."

However, for this arrogance, if one was qualified then it was admirable. Otherwise, it would turn out as
a big joke.

Obviously, Leo was qualified to do that.

Yulia was still unwilling to give up. The party had been packed with guests who were animatedly
conversing with one another. After a while, Emily returned to her seat which was reserved next to
Queena as soon as she was done entertaining a group of people.

"Everything's going well today," Queena said.

Emily smiled at the woman before seating down. She felt grateful that Queena had reserved her a seat.

"As long as it benefits the poor children," Emily replied. She acted modestly and thanked Queena for
saving her a seat.

"I didn't expect that you would auction one of my paintings today."

Despite showing a stoic demeanor, Queena was delighted. She scanned the hall and noticed the
envious looks her friends had been giving.



Emily nodded in understanding. "These people know how to identify the value of these things. Your
work was able to accumulate a winning bid of ten million for today."

The truth was that Queena's paintings were worth nothing at all. The reason that she had managed to
catch a hefty price for it was because Emily had purposely invited several rich men at today's banquet,
who had been longing to have sex with her.

If Nelson were here, he would thought that the painting wouldn't be worth a single penny.

"I'll have to give you the credit. Will the proceeds be donated to the needs of the poor children?"

Queena figured that a lot were obviously cheated from tonight's auction. She knew that the total
amount raised was huge.

"I've found a foundation and asked my people to deal and follow up with it to make sure that the money
won't be used for personal greed," Emily answered.

Upon hearing this, the ladies around the hall started to praise her thoughtfulness on the matter.

Queena had a proud look on her face while Emily was being praised. It almost looked like Emily was
her daughter.

Melinda felt left out while the two ladies continued to chat. Yulia didn't notice this as all of her attention
had been focused on Leo.

"Mom, the auction is almost over. I'd like to go home and rest."

Melinda's expression remained stoic despite her feeling embarrassed after she noticed that some of
the women had been staring at her from time to time. As soon as she had spoken, Leo gave her a
concerned look.



Actually, he had already sensed that something was wrong when Emily had arrived. He remained silent
about it since Melinda didn't really voiced out her feelings.

"The event isn't over yet. Besides, we arrived here together. It's only proper that you should wait for me
until we leave together as well," Queena ordered.

Judging from her actions, Queena would probably be staying until the end of the party.

Because of this, Melinda had no choice but to remain there with her.

"Melinda, do you have time right now?" Leo asked. "There is something that I'd like to discuss with
you."

He winked at Melinda when no one was looking to which she gave him a grateful look.

Queena's eyes darted back and forth between the two. The young man's face didn't ring a bell with her
and now that Melinda seemed to act too close to the man, she started to form some unpleasant ideas.

"Mom, I'll just go with Leo for a bit to discuss something. We'll return together when we're done," she
told Queena.

Queena was in no position to stop them since they said that they had something important to discuss,
but the people around them were giving them curious looks while they whispered among one another.

They had obviously misunderstood the situation.

"Melinda, please help me this time. You have no idea how difficult my final thesis is. I'll lose all my hair
at an early age if I don't pass this," Leo exclaimed.

He said this out loud so that those who were thinking of unpleasant thoughts between the two of them
would stop letting their imagination run wild.



"Go ahead," Queena replied with a wave of her hand.

She resumed talking to Emily and didn't bother to look back at Melinda. This made a lot of people
whisper even more about how the relationship between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law of
the Gu family wasn't good.

As soon as Queena and Emily started having a great conversation, the attention had been shifted.
Thinking of the news some time ago, everyone felt the chaos once again in this circle.

Yulia desperately stared at the direction Melinda and Leo had gone to. She really wanted to follow them
but she didn't have a reason good enough to do so.

The two settled by a quiet corner of the hall where a sofa and a small table with wine and drinks were
placed.

Melinda plopped herself down and let out a sigh as she turned to Leo. "Thank you so much for
rescuing me back there."

Leo smiled and also sat down, maintaining a safe distance from Melinda. He was aware that a lot of
people were still watching them so he had to keep his guard up.

"Did you really think that I was just trying to find an excuse to help you out? My professor really placed
me in a difficult position right now."

He poured Melinda and himself a drink. Melinda was given a glass of juice while he had a cocktail for
himself which he downed in one shot.

"Really?"

After taking a light sip from her drink, Melinda set it aside and told Leo which areas she was good at
with a gleaming smile on her face.



She suddenly had confidence in herself.

Leo sighed and continued to explain how difficult the subject his professor had given him was this time
around. He told her that his paper had been asked to be revised several times already.

"The professor's rate of passing the class is well-known on our school list. I didn't dare to choose,"
Melinda said.

She couldn't help but smile upon hearing his complaints. Her eyes slightly curved like the shape of a
crescent moon which Leo found actually charming.

Trying to cover his reaction, he took a sip of water.

"Weren't you the one who had chosen?"

Leo was familiar with the name of the professor. In fact, he had heard it several times already around
the campus before he chose his course. Despite this, he was confident in himself so he had decided to
take the chance.

"I was."

Melinda wouldn't have also chosen the same professor if she hadn't gone back home to her hometown
to see her grandfather. Instead, she had handed the task of course selection over to her roommate.

Actually, Melinda's roommate was irresponsible and had forgotten about Melinda's reminder because
she was so busy playing games at the time. This resulted to her not being able to choose the subject
they liked and ended up with no choice but to take the said professor's course.

Hearing the news, Leo was happy.



"Are you taking pleasure in my misfortune?" Melinda huffed. "Don't forget that I have already over with
all of that and you are still the one who needs to struggle."

There was no sign of anger on her face. She only began to reminisce about her days from school.

"No, I wouldn't dare! Melinda, please tell me what to do."

Leo hastily waved his hand. He was now asking for a favor.

From afar, Yulia had been watching the two of them talking. Seeing Melinda chatting and laughing with
Leo made her grip the handle of her bag so tight that it surprised Queena who happened to
accidentally turn around.

"What's the matter with you?"

Queena raised her eyebrows at Yulia's display of anger. Her eyes were filled with so much hate that it
also made Emily curious and follow her line of sight to see Melinda and Leo together.

She thought that Melinda was such a flirt.

"Aunt Queena, don't you see that Melinda doesn't know how to restrain herself in public? Isn't she an
embarrassment for Jonas?"

Yulia pointed to where Melinda was, and the smile on Melinda's face was the opposite of her lifeless
expression earlier.

Queena remained silent but squinted her eyes at the sight. Although she disliked Melinda, she didn't
show her displeasure.

It seemed that the Gu family made things difficult for Melinda. Leo and Melinda were only talking and
weren't even engaging in a lot of physical contact.



If some of the foolish reporters started to make up some news about this, it would be difficult to explain
to Nelson.

"Wives of other people usually talk among one another and make themselves properly acquainted with
each other. It's only her who talked to men alone, pretending to behave like they were talking about
topics related to academics. I didn't know that she was this disgusting."

Yulia became more depressed as she said those harsh words. Leo had been indifferent to her, but now
he looked comfortable with Melinda.

Melinda had taught Leo some methods on how to write articles. She had spent a lot of time listening to
the professor.

"I'm not familiar with this project, but you can ask Kent for help. He's really good at it and I'm sure that
he will be very happy to help you."

Literature had a wide range and had different professional skills involved. This time, what Leo referred
to was exactly the domain that Kent was good at.

"I also wanted to ask Kent for help, but first I need to be friends with him. Can you please help me with
that?" Leo asked with a big smile on his face.

He then brought a piece of cake to Melinda.

"I will send you Kent's WeChat ID when I return."

Leo thanked her once again. His shoulders relaxed for a bit as he knew that his problem was solved.
All of a sudden, his thoughts drifted back to Melinda's situation. He hesitated for a moment but ended
up asking anyway, "Are you also like this within the Gu family?"

Melinda raised an eyebrow and looked at him confusingly. "What?"



Leo only shrugged it off and didn't push the topic any further.

However, Melinda had already realized what he had just meant. An unwelcome blush crept into her
cheeks as she looked away from him. Compared to her, the relationship Emily had with Queena was
more intimate.

Every time Melinda had thought that Emily was finally leaving Jonas, she ended up returning all the
time. Melinda thought that the relationship that Jonas and Emily had shared was like a knot that was
hard to undo.

Melinda wanted to destroy what was left of their relationship, but she found it impossible the moment
she had realized that it wasn't an ordinary knot. Instead, it was like a chain, firmly linked with each
other and impossible to break.

Leo only shrugged it off and didn't push the topic any further.

However, Melinda had already realized what he had just meant. An unwelcome blush crept into her
cheeks as she looked away from him. Compared to her, the relationship Emily had with Queena was
more intimate.

Every time Melinda had thought that Emily was finally leaving Jonas, she ended up returning all the
time. Melinda thought that the relationship that Jonas and Emily had shared was like a knot that was
hard to undo.

Melinda wanted to destroy what was left of their relationship, but she found it impossible the moment
she had realized that it wasn't an ordinary knot. Instead, it was like a chain, firmly linked with each
other and impossible to break.



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