A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 271 Are You A Fish

Maria could tell Augustine and Charlotte couldn't wait to hold their great-grandson, so she smiled and gently placed the baby in Charlotte's arms.

Charlotte instantly lit up, watching the baby with delight. Even Augustine couldn't help but soften at the sight of such a cute little thing. "Grandpa, Grandma, could you look after the baby? There are some thing need to take care of first," Maria said.

"Is that what you want?" Augustine couldn't tear his gaze away from his great-grandson.

"Yes, Grandpa."

"Okay then," Augustine said a little too quickly. His eyes shone as he watched the baby wriggle in Charlotte's arms.

Maria had the baby's luggage carried into the villa. After that, she instructed the driver to take her back to the Golden Mansion.

Ever since she landed, she hadn't had the chance yet to go home. When she finally arrived at her building, she had all her luggage taken to her apartment.

When the last of her luggage was dropped off at her apartment, Maria stood in the middle of the room and sighed. "I'm back, H City."

Meanwhile, in the HL Group headquarters, a meeting was being held among the senior executives of the company.

Because the data presented didn't yield satisfactory results, the man sitting in the chairman's seat looked extremely unhappy.

Just as he was scowling at the figures, his phone rang. Glimpsing at the caller ID, he swiped to answer the call. "Hello, Grandpa." "James, Charlotte and I stumbled upon a baby on the street when we were out on a walk. Do you think we should keep it?" James was silent. 'A baby?'

"The baby is so cute, James. It's about one month old. Charlotte and I have grown rather fond of it, actually."

James pursed his lips, still keeping silent.

He decided to see this baby for himself.

The moment James entered the villa, he found the baby lying in a crib in the middle of the living room.

The baby had just woken up looking at his surroundings with wide, curious eyes.

Wearing a light-colored jumpsuit, the baby sucked on its little paw, his deep black eyes watching the stranger approaching him.

James recalled the first time he laid his eyes on Arthur. This baby reminded him of Arthur, observing the world around him with such curiosity.

As the two of them locked eyes, the baby seemed to instantly like the big man. He cooed and gurgled with a happy smile, wriggling his little arms and legs excitedly. James just watched him in silence. What made the little fellow so happy?

Finally, he withdrew his gaze from the baby in the crib and addressed his grandparents in the room. "Where did you replace it?"

Charlotte answered calmly, "At a corner of the street."

Augustine added, "I've sent someone to investigate. It'd best if we can replace its family."

At this moment, the little guy spat out a bubble from his mouth. Seeing this, James frowned slightly. "Are you a fish?"

The boy spat out several more bubbles in response.

James found himself stretching out a finger to poke each bubble, one after another.

Seeing the way their grandson acted, the two elders couldn't help but snicker under their breaths.

Before leaving, James said, "If you two really want to, take care of it for the time being until we replace his family."

He could tell the two elders loved the little guy as if he were their great-grandson.

Augustine nodded. "Sounds good. You must send two servants here. Charlotte and I aren't strong enough to look after an infant by ourselves."

"Alright." Of course, James wouldn't refuse. He would do anything to please his grandparents.

Once he left, he did what he promised to do and sent two servants to the house. He also asked Summer to buy some baby's supplies and have them sent over.

It had been six months and twenty days since James saw Maria again. The second he entered the Leopard Club, he recognized a familiar feminine voice bickering with Ethan in the corridor. "You're deaf and blind!"

She seemed to be a little plumper, though she still dressed the same. Somehow, she looked even more charming and mature.

Ethan was at a loss for words, unable to retort. However, from the corner of his eye, he saw the man approaching them. "James, your woman just hurt me. Teach her a lesson! If you won't, I will!"

Completely disregarding the banter the two were having just now, James said to Ethan expressionlessly, "Mr. Liu is waiting inside. Are you coming or not? If not, then go home."

Of course, Ethan knew what the answer to that question was. Giving Maria one last snort, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and strode into the private room, followed by James. Maria smiled to herself proudly, watching the two head towards the private room.

'You might be smart, James Xi, but you still haven't figured out that I've given birth to your son.'

Just then, someone called her name, gesturing for her to hurry up. Snapping back to her senses, she scuttled to the private room.

The reason why the three of them were at the Leopard Club that night was there was a bid for a project that aimed to help stray animals in H City.

There were many companies competing, including the HL Group and Maria's DS Group. Ethan was there acting as a volunteer vet.

That night had also been Ethan's first time to see Maria in a while, so naturally he struck up a chat with her. The chat shortly led to bickering, which made things feel like the good old times.

Just now, the words "your woman" from Ethan did not cause any romance between James and Maria. The two of them separated after entering the private room.

When they were all inside the private room, Ethan pushed Maria towards James. "Sit over there, next to James."

Maria lost her balance from Ethan's shove. 'Ethan, I'm going to kill you!' she cried internally.

Before she was able to regain her balance, her hand brushed against James'.

Mortified, she immediately drew her hand.

James noticed how quickly she had retracted her hand and his expression darkened. It didn't take a genius to tell he was extremely unhappy.

Feeling the coldness emanating from the man beside her, she guessed it was probably because he was unhappy she was here. Through gritted teeth, she yanked Ethan by he arm and forced him to sit between her and James.

That way, James wouldn't be able to accuse her of seducing him the second she was back in town.

Sitting between the two, Ethan was equally unhappy. If he stood up, it would be too obvious, maybe even rude. If he stayed seated, he'd have to play the third wheel between Maria and James. How annoying! But he didn't feel annoyed for too long, because a few minutes later, someone shoved him aside.

Ethan quietly eyed the two women Mr. Liu sent to please James. They were hired for James and James alone, so they ignored Ethan and even had the audacity to shove him. Ethan glanced at Maria, who was busy chatting with other people. Seeing he was left to his own devices, he huffed in frustration.

The two women, with heavy make-up and curvaceous figures, practically threw themselves onto James. Their intentions were painfully obvious.

This was nothing out of the ordinary. After all, James was handsome and rich; multitudes of women fawned over him.

Maria seemed oblivious to all this, so Ethan decided not to bring it up. Instead, he sipped from his glass of wine and took out a pack of cigarettes.

He automatically offered one to Maria. "Smoke?" In the past, Maria was a casual smoker.

However, to his surprise, she just smiled at him sweetly and said, "No, thanks. I quit smoking."

She hadn't lit a cigarette ever since she found out she was pregnant.

Hearing this, Ethan was stunned. He scooted over to her and asked, eyes wide, "Can you teach me how to quit smoking?"

Maria chuckled. 'Get pregnant,' she thought to herself.