A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 205 I Want To Move Out

After a few minutes, the bathroom door swung open.

"I'm done," said Maria.

James frowned slightly. "Done? Then, come out already."

'What does she want? Order me around?' he wondered.

Sure enough, what she said next proved his guess.

"I don't have the strength to move, my legs are buckling from under me. This is all your fault." She looked at him with large, innocent-looking eyes. James was speechless. This woman was really something.

He grabbed a bath towel in exasperation and hastily wrapped her up. Then he carried her in his arms and put her in the bed.

Maria threw her hands around the man's neck and planted a kiss on his lips. She enjoyed seeing how James was forced to help her.

James tucked her under the quilt and snapped impatiently, "Go to sleep."

"Fine. Are you leaving now?"

"Yes." He couldn't take sleeping in such a small hotel.

Maria knew that, but was still disappointed.

After briefly tidying up the bathroom, James came out and told the sleepy woman, "Figure out when you'll check out from here. You can stay in the Fairview Villa." Actually, he had brought this up more than once, but she had stubbornly turned him down each time.

"No thanks. I have to move out when you and Alina get married. Why bother?" she answered in a sleepy voice.

"I'll ask Summer to transfer ownership of that villa to you."

"No, thanks. That villa is way too old."

"Then I'll buy you a new one," James said patiently.

"No, thanks. I have money."

That shut him up. He put on his clothes in silence and left the room.

With James gone, a hush fell over the room. Maria pursed her lips in disappointment.

'How could he be so picky? He could've refused to come here if he didn't like the hotel.'

But his proposal lingered in her mind. The truth was, Maria also felt that it was time to leave the hotel, she was tired of staying there.

As soon as James got in the car, his phone rang. To his surprise, it was Maria. "I've thought about it. Buy me a house. I want to move out."

James was speechless for a moment. Infuriated, he had half a mind to go back up there and kill that woman. "You have money, don't you? Buy yourself a house."

"I don't have enough to buy an entire house. I could only afford a bathroom."

"Then just stay in a bathroom!"

"Do you want to have sex with me in a bathroom?" she asked.

Once again, James was floored by her words. Without another word, he hung up on her.

Maria stared at the phone in her hand and giggled. She knew James would end up buying her a house.

Right now, she was more than willing to accept any money. She didn't want to be an independent woman, she just wanted to rely on James.

To put it bluntly, she was nothing but a mistress to James now. In this society, money was everything. Since that was the case, she couldn't afford to put on any airs.

If anyone was going to offer her any, she was going to take it.

Before long, the verdict of Ronald's first trial came out. He was sentenced to three years and six months in prison.

But he refused to accept it and the Tang family scrambled to replace a good lawyer to make an appeal.

Ronald's parents, worried about their son, went to pay James a visit to ask for help.

Inside his office, James sat down opposite to Clayton and his wife. "Uncle, Aunt, please have some tea."

Clayton nodded, "Thank you, James. If it weren't for the gravity of the situation, I would've made an appointment in advance. Are we disturbing you?"

"Uncle, please don't worry about it. You and Aunt are always welcome here."

Clayton's wife, Miranda, looked at James gratefully. He was such a competent man. However, this made her think about her own son, and her grateful expression turned to one of anxiety.

The two men continued to talk about business for a while. After a few minutes, Miranda couldn't take it anymore, so she quietly but urgently tugged at Clayton's shirt.

Clayton fortunately took the hint. "James, actually, I've come here to ask you for help," he said furtively.

James nodded expressionlessly. "What is it, Uncle?"

"It's about Ron. James, you must have heard what happened to him, am I right?"

"Yes."

Miranda couldn't keep silent no more. "Ron knew it was Maria who ruined your engagement party. He was so angry, he tried to scare her. He never expected things would get so serious. Don't you think three years' imprisonment is too much?"

To her surprise, James's expression remained indifferent. "It's not up to me to decide how many years he will be sentenced. I have no power over the law. Your son is an adult, he should be able to face the consequences of his actions."

"Yes, that's true. But James, it was Ms. Lan-"

Clayton interrupted Miranda with a loud grunt and shot her a sharp glance. "James, as parents, we just want our son to suffer less. We don't mean to spoil him or anything like that. Maria refuses to let him go. We were hoping you would do something about it."

Miranda reluctantly shut up. They had analyzed the matter carefully and concluded that Judy must have done it on purpose. And even if she didn't do it on purpose, she was the one who caused it all.

After a brief pause, James said, "Uncle, do you still want to protect your son after what he did? Are you going to wait until he does something even worse, marring the name of the Tang family, before you do something about it?"

Knowing what kind of person his son was, Clayton smiled awkwardly. "James, you're absolutely right."

The way James was acting made him realize his trip here might've been futile.

However, Miranda was still unwilling to give up. "Ron did do something wrong. He might learn a thing or two from being locked up for a few days. But three years?"

After a moment's silence, James cleared his throat. "How about this? Call of the engagement between Alina and me or shorten Ronald's sentence. Take your pick."

"What?" The expression on Clayton's face changed slightly. It seemed James had this on his mind for a while now.

For the sake of the Tang family, he knew the answer to James's proposal in an instant.

Gritting his teeth, Clayton said helplessly, "You're right, James. Ron needs to learn from his mistakes." The truth was, if Alina didn't become Mrs. Xi, the whole Tang family would be doomed.

Miranda knew which option was more important, so she had no choice but to keep silent, tears in her eyes.

How she wished she could kill Maria right now. In that moment, she decided she was going to give Maria a hard time.

"It's good that you're in your right mind, Uncle. You should tell your son to behave while he's in prison. That might get him a chance at early parole." After a while, James added, "I'll send someone to the court later to try and help him."

James' words made Clayton feel a bit better. "James, thank you so much. I'll talk to Ron." Then he stood up and helped his wife up, and the two bid James goodbye.

By his office door, James found Lorenzo standing outside. "Please accompany them to the elevator."

"Yes, Mr. Xi," Lorenzo answered. Then he turned to the Tangs. "Mr. and Mrs. Tang, this way, please." Clayton and his wife left, accompanied by Lorenzo.

When he returned to his office, James called Maria. "How long do you want Ronald to stay prison?"

Maria was stunned. "I have the final say?" she asked uncertainly. She had long thought that Ronald's case went too smoothly.

"Basically, yes."

"If you think three years is too long, then, one year should do."

"Okay." After all, women were softhearted. Maria was no exception.