A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 236 Badly Injured

Maria's eyelids fluttered open. Taking stock of the empty bedroom, she wondered if James had slept in the same bed; she had fallen into too deep a sleep to tell. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she found women's clothes in his wardrobe and put them on.

Apparently, James had arranged for her clothes to be brought here. She gingerly pulled on her clothes, careful to avoid the wound on her back.

Once she was all dressed, she eyed the clothes in the wardrobe warily. Then she made the decision. She pulled out a suitcase she found and swept all the clothes into it. Breakfast, along with John, was waiting for her downstairs. Seeing her lug a heavy suitcase downstairs, he called out to her. "Good morning, Ms. Song. Breakfast is ready." "Thank you, John. But I have something important to do right now," Maria said apologetically.

John said, "Mr. Xi will be back soon."

"I see. It's not easy to hail a taxi from here. John, could you please arrange for a driver to take me?"

"Okay, Ms. Song."

Since she insisted on leaving, John couldn't force her to stay. Obediently, he called for a driver.

As soon as she was gone, John called James. "Mr. Xi, Ms. Song has left."

The man didn't reply for a while.

Finally, he asked, "Did she say anything before she left?" "No, but she was carrying a suitcase. I don't know what was in it, though."

"I see."

After the call ended, James stared out the window absentmindedly, deep in thought.

When he returned to the manor, he went to check his bedroom. Just as he suspected, the clothes he had left for her in the wardrobe were all gone. Standing in the middle of the bedroom, looking at the neatly made queen-sized bed she had slept in, James pursed his lips tightly.

Finally, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

A couple of rings later, she finally picked up. "Hello?"

"What do you want?"

"Let's have a face-to-face talk in recent two days," Maria said.

His expression darkened. He guessed what she was going to do. "Okay."

Before he could say anything else, she hung up the phone.

Late that night, an Audi was making its way to the Song family villa when a black SUV violently swerved in front of it.

Right before the Audi collided into the black car, its driver slammed her foot on the brakes.

Before Daniela could gather her bearings, several men climbed out of the SUV and swarmed the Audi. Frightened to bits, she didn't dare open the door, despite the men's incessant knocking on the window. The last man who came out of the car carried a hammer. Seeing she had no choice, Daniela gulped nervously and opened the door. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Did you go to Villa Green on the first night of the last month?"

Daniela was a little shocked but hurriedly tried to explain herself. "I just wanted Mr. Bai to help me. I won't pester him anymore, I swear!"

Suddenly, she felt the cold blade of a dagger pressed against her neck. Eyes wide, she started to scream.

"Shut up!"

She immediately shut her mouth and shrank into her chair, trembling, trying to keep as far away from the man as possible.

The man hissed at her ruthlessly, "Who was the other woman you ran into that night? If you even think about lying, you won't make it back to the Song family villa tonight."

The woman she bumped into? Daniela was confused, then finally, her eyes flickered with recognition. "You mean the one who was shot?"

"Yes."

"I know who she is. Will you let me go after I tell you?"

The man nodded.

Daniela swallowed and then said a name.

Fortunately, the man kept his promise. After getting the answer he was after, he turned around and left with the other goons.

When the black SUV was out of sight, Daniela, who had been holding her breath, finally heaved a sigh of relief. Luckily, they were not looking for her. At the HL Group

James was seated in his office and signing some documents. When he was done, he stood up and prepared to leave.

Just then, he heard a knock at the door. "Mr. Xi, Ms. Lan is here to see you," Summer announced.

The man's expression darkened and he reluctantly sat back down. "Please prepare some tea and bring her in."

"Yes, Mr. Xi."

Judy then waltzed into the office in a dark purple mink coat. As usual, she greeted him kindly, "Hi, James. I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"No," James replied flatly. The man organized the documents on his table before finally looking at the woman in front of him.

Before Judy could say something more, Summer came in with a cup of tea and put it on the tea table. "Ms. Lan, please have some tea." Judy turned around and thanked her with a smile.

"You're welcome." Summer left.

Judy then took out a bank card from her pursed and placed it on James' desk. "There's three hundred million dollars in it."

James eyed the bank card on his table silently.

"I called, but you didn't answer. I happened to be in the area today, so I decided to come here and explain it to you in person," Judy said grimly.

"Maria lived with the Xi family for over a year. That was more than enough time for me to get to know what kind of person she is. I knew she didn't deserve to be your wife, so I didn't like her from the very beginning. You had three hundred million prepared for her in alimony, but I didn't turn it over to her because I didn't think she deserved it. So I had it transferred to Cooper's name and planned to tell you later." James tore his gaze away from the card to lock eyes with Judy, sending a chill down her spine.

But she continued, "Moreover, Arthur's gone because of her. Since so many years have passed, you might have forgiven her, but I haven't. After all, I'm Arthur's grandmother. I was there when he was born. Back when we all lived together, Maria made it perfectly clear that she wanted to move out. You know this."

Judy smiled unnaturally, perhaps due to her overarching nervousness.

Of course James knew Maria wanted to move out with their son; she had told him on numerous occasions. So eventually, Maria got her wish and moved to Fairview Villa with little Arthur.

"But even then, she neglected her own child. Arthur oftentimes cried in hunger, but she ignored him and busied herself, playing on her phone. Arthur tried to reach out to her, but she still concentrated on her phone! I was just so angry, so... I suppose I didn't treat her that well."

She was rambling at this point, but still James made no moves to speak. Judy couldn't figure out what he was thinking or whether he believed her.

"I have never used the money in this card. Although I am not your biological mother, you know that I have always treated you and Cooper as my own sons. I felt sorry for you. I felt sorry that you worked so hard to earn that much money, only to give it to that ruthless woman."

Finally, James reacted. "If that's the case, why was she in prison for two years?"

Judy broke out into a cold sweat. Willing herself to keep calm, she answered shakily, "I don't know. Maybe she committed some other crime. Anyway, James, the truth is you don't know that woman at all. Don't be fooled by her appearance. She has had dubious relationships with Colby, Norman, and Lawrence. She's even tried to seduce Jonathan!"

James nodded expressionlessly. "I see."

His lack of emotion made Judy's scalp tingle. "James, you should go to see Alina when you have time. She's still in the hospital. She was injured badly." Alina? Yes, he was definitely going to visit her.

"Mm."

Judy didn't dare say anything more and left the company, leaving the cup of tea Summer prepared for her go cold.

James' gaze returned to the bank card on his desk. Then he asked Summer to have it checked. Indeed, there was three hundred million in it, with interest. He slipped the bank card into his drawer, then left the company.