A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 225 Dearest James

Maria chuckled upon hearing the news. How could she have James taken away for investigation? She didn't have enough power to do something that drastic to him.

From the very beginning, she never had to stand out to deal Jonathan the final blow. At that moment, she secretly contacted someone to encourage the investors to sue Jonathan together, escalating the gravity of this matter. She never surrendered despite the fact that James could be dragged into it later.

During the Festival of the Kitchen God, snow was falling from the sky. This was the first snowfall that H City experienced since the winter started this year.

Maria had been working on her laptop for quite some time and she was now exhausted. She dragged her feet around the ward, circling the room to rest her eyes.

Just outside the door, she could hear some people chatting about James.

And thus, she wondered if James dropped by.

Maria scoffed. She had believed that she wouldn't see him again during her stay at the hospital.

To ensure that she heard it right, she made her way towards the door and peered through the window.

As soon as he got off the plane, James rushed to the hospital instead of going to the company.

But the moment he walked through the corridor, he ran into an old acquaintance, his former neighbor. "Hello, Uncle Aaron," he greeted him.

"James, what a coincidence! What are you doing here?1

Glancing at a particular ward, James replied in a steady voice, "I'm here to visit a patient. What about you, Uncle Aaron?" "The same. Jenna! Come here and see who I ran into!" Aaron Luo was calling someone in the ward nearby.

Seconds later, a middle-aged woman came out, followed by a young lady.

When the middle-aged woman saw James, her confused expression turned into surprise. "Is that you, James?"

"Yes, Aunt Jenna. Long time no see." James nodded at her.

"My dearest James!" The girl behind Jenna was delighted to see James. She threw herself into his arms and greeted him in a sweet voice.

She appeared to be seventeen years old, had an innocent face, and was quite infatuated with James.

Craning her neck, Maria's face was almost pressed against the glass when she ascertained that the girl had indeed thrown herself into James' arms.

And although he wasn't holding her, he didn't push the girl away either.

Staring at the middle-aged couple, James asked them, "Is this Candice?"

"Indeed, she is. Candice, come here. Don't hug James like that." Embarrassed, the middle-aged woman scolded her daughter.

Amused, James said, "You've grown up, Candice."

"That's right," Aaron answered with a smile. "When we moved out, Candice was only six years old. More than a decade has passed by in a blur."

Candice was one of James' loyal fans. She had wanted to meet him again for a long time, but she had never gotten the chance.

And now that she saw him, Candice was very excited. She circled around him, and said, "I didn't expect that you'd be so powerful now. You know, all of my friends are your fans, and so am I."

Her parents shook their heads helplessly. Trying to smooth things over for their daughter, Aaron said, "James, don't mind her please. Candice has admired you ever since she saw you on the news." James shrugged. "It's not a problem."

Candice burst into tears of excitement. "James, can I ask for your autograph?"

Back when she was just an infant, James had held her in his arms, so he had no reason to refuse something that trivial.

After James gave Candice his autograph, she was about to ask him if she could add him on WeChat. However, Aaron intervened, fearing that James would be put off. After saying goodbye to him, he dragged his daughter out of the hospital by force.

After seeing them bid each other farewell, Maria withdrew her gaze, gritted her teeth, and went back to bed.

Pushing the door open, James entered the ward and saw that Maria was leaning against the headboard with a blank expression. Before he could speak, she said, "My dearest James."

She was imitating the tone of the young lady, and deliberately tried to vex him.

James was speechless. His face turned grim when he realized that she had heard his conversation earlier.

"I didn't expect that you'd be so powerful now." Maria echoed Candice's words earlier with a tone laden with jealousy.

Standing at the bedside, James stared at her, noticing that her mental state had improved. "It seems that you're feeling much better now. In that case, let's leave the hospital!"

Maria ignored his suggestion. "I'm so envious of your relationship to that girl."

It was actually fine for the young girl to admire James because Maria thought Candice didn't know about his beastly nature. But the most important part was how he reacted when the girl was hugging him. Wasn't he supposed to be a neat freak? He didn't dislike Candice at all, and it even seemed like he was interested in her, which pissed Maria off.

With darkened eyes, he said, "Maria Song, don't you have a brain? Or have you become impaired after being confined in the hospital for a long time? Didn't you see how young she is?" He was right. He could even be considered as Candice's uncle.

"Did I spoil your plan? Look at your face now. It's as long as a donkey's face." Maria goaded him on purpose. James' face was far from a donkey's.

'A donkey's face?' James thought to himself.

He took off his gloves and threw them at the end of her bed, saying, "We haven't seen each other for a long time. It seems that you've forgotten how to speak with respect, haven't you? Do you need me to teach you?"

"No, thanks. Mr. Xi, you're probably too busy to do that, so I won't trouble you."

That was exactly the reason why James came here. Not wanting to argue with her anymore, he asked, "Were you the one who caused those recent things to happen?"

"What are you talking about? I don't get it." Only a fool would admit to their crime. Even if she was facing him, there was no way she'd admit.

What if he was here to take revenge on her? In Maria's opinion, if he told others that she was the one who orchestrated the plan against Jonathan, she would be marked as a target.

"You're more capable than I expected." Even HL Group got involved, leading to further chaos in the bank under his company.

Smiling, Maria said, "Mr. Xi, I'm far less competent compared to you. But what are you afraid of? You didn't do anything illegal, did you?"

Of course, James didn't commit a crime. But because of what happened, he found a few corrupt men, who were part of the bank's senior management. Dealing with these bad men, replaceing someone to replace them, and auditing the accounts caused him a lot of trouble.

"If you don't have anything to do these days, just stay at home." If his guess was right, then someone had already suspected her.

Or maybe one of Maria's men betrayed her.

According to the bodyguard's report, there were a few people wandering around the hospital corridor and behaving strangely. They paid attention to this ward specifically.

Therefore, because of James' words, the woman who had been staying in the hospital for almost twenty days, left the hospital.

After leaving the hospital, she went back with him to his manor.

She chose a suitable room, and stayed in the manor comfortably.

Three days before the Lunar New Year, Maria was taken to a coffee shop by bodyguards. Business in the coffee shop was still booming.

Her wounds hadn't completely healed yet, and there was nothing she could do about it. Bored out of her mind, she ran across the street, planning to tell James that she was going back to her apartment tonight to get something.