Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness novel Chapter 91

When the next press conference was called for, Melinda put all her chips on the line like a seasoned gambler sure of her victory. Husband and wife appeared together as they took their seats.

"Let me make the introductions," Jonas started. "Everyone, this is my wife, Melinda."

"Hello, everyone." Melinda smiled warmly at the crowd. They laid their linked hands on the table, and the diamond ring on her left finger caught the raging flashes of the camera.

The conference commenced.

"I know there have been various speculations on the internet about my relationship with Miss Emily Bai," Jonas said.

The room quieted. He had decided to take the bull by the horns, and didn’t wait for the press to ask their questions before diving right into the issue.

"I will clarify this for you for the last time. Miss Bai and I were playmates in childhood. The love of my life is right here beside me." He turned to look at Melinda, and the cameras went wild again.

"I will not stand for my wife getting slandered and maligned by strangers who know nothing about our lives and only have too much time on their hands.

If the ugly rumors do not stop after this, I will not hesitate to use legal means to give pursuit to the defamers."

The authority in Jonas's voice sent a chill to everyone who listened. There was no mistaking the man’s serious attitude regarding attacks against his wife.

The members of the press twittered among themselves, and then suddenly a murmur of praises for the couple circled around.

After such a revelation, only fools would still think that the rumors were true, let alone think of spreading it even further. They knew all too well their careers would be over if they crossed the Gu family.

However, nobody knew of the "fake" members of the press that Emily’s team had planted in the conference. Their only purpose for being in attendance was to sow conflict and doubt, and reaffirm the rumors between Emily and Jonas.

And one of them was now raising his hand to pose his question. "Mr. Gu, this is your second press conference. All this time, we’ve only ever heard from you. Miss Bai has yet to tell her side of the story.

Why do you seem so eager to put a stop to the inquiries before she could do so? Are there perhaps secrets that you are anxious might leak into the public?"

Before anyone could even react to that, another of Emily’s cahoots shot a question. "There have also been talks that you and your wife didn’t actually get along well for many years. And this is the first time that you appeared together and acknowledged her in public.

One can’t help but think it’s a little bit staged. Aren’t you just forcing yourselves to display your so-called affections to the media?"

"Forced?" It was Melinda, and her sudden interjection obviously took the press aback. "Do you really think Jonas is the kind of person who would settle down when he is being pressured to do something he doesn’t want?"

Beside her, Jonas was quiet, and his face bore no emotion. But his grip tightened around his wife’s hand.

Melinda gave him a little nudge, and he turned to look at her. When he did, the cold wall melted, and his face took on a gentle and warm expression.

He smiled down at his wife, and when he looked ahead to address the press once more, his tone was much calmer. "I believe Miss Bai will explain it all very clearly very soon."

Meanwhile, at that moment, Emily was cooped up in their agency with her assistant. Her team had come up with a plan to use the rumor mill to take advantage of Jonas.

They had no intentions whatsoever to make a statement to the press, and instead would milk the hype for all that it was worth. Publicity was publicity, no matter the form.

Emily’s assistant was always up to date with all the buzz in the internet. That being the case, it didn’t take long for her to find out that something happened in Jonas's press conference. Something that was going to cause the agency problems. "Some of the fans and netizens are now in favor of Melinda," she told Emily. "Although the online trolls we hired still have a sway on the public opinion, they probably wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long.

We’ll have to make a press release and devise a script that would imply there are some truths to the rumors."

The actress only nodded in assent. She had no qualms in taking such a drastic step. Before she could get excited over the impending publicity, however, she received a call from Jonas.

"Emily." He didn’t bother with pleasantries, and his tone was curt and authoritative. "Deal with the media immediately." She gripped her phone tightly and bit her lower lip. She could feel herself shaking a little, her emotions a mix of anger and humiliation. "I don’t know what you mean."

"Don’t play dumb with me. I know you know exactly what I mean." Emily scrambled for an excuse. Jonas had yet to threaten her, but she could already feel the heavy pressure of his intent.

"No, I’m serious. I’ve been too busy shooting." Her eyes fell on her assistant. "My assistant hasn’t told me anything yet because I’ve been so busy and tired these past few days. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to ask her lat—"

"Is that so?" Jonas's tone had taken deadly calm over the phone. "It seems like you have too many projects in your hands. Perhaps I should take some of it off, so you can take care of this matter like I’m telling you to?"

Emily paled. There was no mistake now; the threat was that he was going to pull out his investments if she continued with the rumors.

He no longer believed anything she said, and Emily doubted that she could still persuade him if she talked about their past.

"I understand," she bit out her words. "I’ll explain to the media."

"Good. A piece of advice, Emily: you’d better make your explanations clear and precise, and soon, too. Otherwise, there’s no telling what other things the media could dig up. They might even find out you’re not as perfect as your public image suggests."

Emily’s breath hitched at his last sentence. She really couldn’t trifle with this man anymore.

He had the power to not only take away her current projects, but keep her out of the entertainment industry altogether.

She closed her eyes in defeat, and took a deep breath. She had to bite the bullet. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Jonas. I never meant for this to happen. I’ll clear this out with the media immediately."

No words were exchanged after that; he had hung up the phone. Emily paced back and forth long after the call ended.