A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 434 Holding A Wedding

James glanced at his watch—it was already midnight. In a calm, methodical fashion, he explained, "I called you at around eight o'clock, and then I left at about twenty past eight to go to Leopard Club. I got stuck in a traffic jam for ten minutes, and it was around nine in the evening when I arrived at the club. I drank more than four bottles of alcohol at a rate of about fifteen minutes to a bottle, which took a little more than an hour, and then Ethan came into the private room. Do you really think I had the chance to play with another woman?"

Upon hearing his explanation, Maria began to doubt whether he really was drunk. 'How could he remember down to the last detail?' Unconvinced, she asked, "There's a lipstick mark on your shirt, and you were alone in that private room for an hour. That's plenty of time for something to happen."

"You can check with the club's surveillance footage about the lipstick mark. While inside, I talked with Cooper on the phone for half an hour. You can check my call records if you want. Technically, I stayed unaccompanied in the room for only half an hour. Don't you know me by now? Half an hour is not nearly enough time for me."

Maria rolled her eyes. Of course she knew that half an hour for this man was just for foreplay. She cleared her throat. "Maybe you did something in the car..."

James answered patiently, "Gary drove me to the club. When I came back, Ethan was with me, as well. Do you still think the car rides were enough time, or that I would attempt to do something with another woman with my subordinate and my good friend

around?"

Maria couldn't fault his logic.

The man rolled over and pinned her under his body. "Now, it's my turn to prove that you are the only woman in my arms and in my heart."

After saying that, he swooped down his head to capture her lush red lips with his.

He wanted to prove himself by doing more.

Ethan was so rudely awakened in the middle of the night by a slap. He opened his sleepy eyes and dazedly looked at the little boy sitting next to him. He muttered in a hoarse voice, "Bob, you should be asleep!"

Bob said in a plaintive voice, "Mom!" Obviously, the kid wanted to be with his mother.

Ethan pulled him into his arms and murmured soothingly, "Your mom and your dad are making a brother for you, so we can't disturb them, okay? Good boy."

Bob quieted down and said after some thought, "Sister."

"Okay, okay. Your parents are making a sister for you. Let's go to sleep!" Ethan reassured him. Anyway, he wasn't the one making a baby, and it was all up to the kid's parents. James could make whatever Bob wanted. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

The sleepy man didn't know whether the little guy understood him or not, but Bob had finally stopped fussing. After a while, Ethan closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

Early morning on the next day, someone knocked on the bedroom door while Maria was still sleeping.

James, who had just gotten up to go to the bathroom, opened the door.

A diaper-clad little boy stood just outside the door. He raised his head to look at James and flashed him a gap-toothed smile. "Daddy, hungry!"

James helplessly squatted down in front of the child. "Where is your uncle Ethan?"

Bob closed his eyes and tilted his head.

His imitation of Ethan's sleeping face was so uncanny that James couldn't help laughing.

Just then, an anxious voice called out, "Bob, Bob, where are you?"

James scooped up his son into his arms, stepped out of the bedroom, and closed the door.

Catching a glimpse of father and son, the wide-eyed, messy-haired Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. "I was scared to death! How could this kid open the door and run away by himself?"

James nodded. Bob already knew how to open the door by moving a chair and stepping on it to reach the knob.

"It's just six o'clock. Why did he get up so early?" Ethan yawned. "My work here is done, right? I'm going back to sleep." "Okay."

With Bob in his arms, James noiselessly went back into the bedroom. After changing the child's diaper, he plopped him on the bed beside his sleeping mother and went to prepare his formula milk.

Bob crawled toward Maria and pressed kisses on her face, giggling all the while.

The kisses woke Maria up. Seeing her son's face up close, she smiled and cuddled him in her arms, closing her eyes and continuing to sleep.

After around ten minutes, Bob had finished the bottle of formula milk, and James pulled him out of the circle of Maria's arms to change his clothes. Then, he carried him out of the room and declared, "Bob, let's go to the gym!"

Bob clapped his hands, appearing to be perfectly delighted by his father's invitation.

When Maria woke up, James, Bob, and Ethan all had left. She ate breakfast alone in the dining room.

Her phone started ringing, and she slid the answer key. "Ms. Song, I have something to report to you."

"Go ahead."

"Someone had paid off several killers to assassinate you, but we managed to intercept them."

Maria asked, "Was it Rosa or Colby?" At present, the two of them were the first people to come to mind. After all, they had the most motive to do away with her.

"Rosa."

Sure enough, her guess was right. A sneer curled her lips. After some thought, Maria instructed, "Give the killers double the price and..."

By the time she ended the call, her appetite was completely gone. She tidied up the dining table and went to the company.

In her office, Maria picked up a large bouquet of red roses, among which a brocade box lay nestled. Upon opening the box, she saw a key to a sports car-a Harkim.

One car from this series cost upwards of eight million dollars. Maria dialed James' number. "Didn't you want me to stop driving? Why are you giving me a sports car, then?"

Did he buy it for her only to have it relegated to the garage?

"Whenever you want to go for a drive, just call me and I'll be with you." He intended to sit in the passenger seat and keep watch over her as she drove.

Maria pretended to sneer. "Admit it—you want to buy the sports car for yourself, right?"

"That's exactly why I bought you the car,"

he answered. There seemed to be nothing wrong with his answer.

"Did you like the flowers?"

"The flowers are gorgeous, but the bouquet is ridiculously large. I'm already well aware that you're such a romantic, so there's no need to prove it to me. Next time, you can just give me a few flowers." James was too generous. This time, the bouquet consisted of 999 blooms, and it was quite a challenge to hold them in her arms.

James disagreed, "I can't be perfunctory."

"Fine, as long as you are happy, Mr. Xi." Maria smiled as she inhaled the light, pleasant floral fragrance that emanated from the blooms.

"No, the most important thing is that you are happy, Mia. Why don't we hold a wedding ceremony?"

Maria didn't know how to answer him. Thinking of their wedding a few years ago, she asked casually, "Didn't we hold one before?"

"I left the ceremony in a hurry back then, so that doesn't count. Let's register our marriage again tomorrow and hold a wedding in the second half of this year, okay?"

The first time they got married, everything was planned in a hurry, including the schedule, the venue, and everything else.

There were quite a few regrets because of it.

Maria smiled, but it was not a happy one. "Let's talk about this later. I have to go out later. Bye."

The next thing James knew, Maria ended the call.

Lost in thought, Maria stared at the massive bouquet in front of her.

Back then, they had a hasty wedding, which was held a week after James agreed to marry her.

The marriage licenses were obtained on the first day; on the second day, their wedding house was selected and paid for. Both tasks were accomplished by Maria alone.

With the power James held over H City, he made it possible for Maria alone to get the marriage licenses, which was usually obtained by the couple by going to the Civil Affairs Bureau together.

They had six options for their house, and she ended up choosing the Fairview Villa, the smallest of the six houses and the one farthest from the Song family house.

Needless to say, she picked out her wedding dress all by herself.

Only when the wedding photos were taken was she no longer alone. Even though James only appeared for half an hour, and the shoot only had two sets of clothes and two background scenes, at least they had wedding photos.