A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 273 Chop Off His Hand

James' eyes narrowed. "Don't worry about it. I won't let her hurt you."

Judy finally breathed a sigh of relief. She put great faith in James' word.

After she had gone, Ethan came up next to James and complained. "I haven't seen enough yet, why did they both leave so soon?"

That earned him a chilling glance.

Ethan touched his nose. "Your stepmother was really scared, and all it took was a few words from Maria. I really can't imagine that Maria used to be timid woman when you were still married." James said nothing and made his way to his car.

Ethan followed him, and soon the Harkim was driving away from the club.

An accident had occurred up ahead on the street, and they found themselves stuck in traffic a few minutes later.

Ethan eyed James, who was busy texting beside him. "Hey, James."

"What?"

"Do you want to see Maria?"

He looked up abruptly and glared at Ethan before getting back to his phone.

"Listen, I have a plan. You can pretend to be drunk and I'll take you to her place. She won't refuse."

"If you have nothing else to do, you might as well get out of the car and walk back home by yourself."

"I'm indeed quite idle at the moment, almost as much as you're lonely right now. I'd better call her and see what she's up to." As a man of action, Ethan quickly whipped out his phone as soon as the idea occurred to him. He browsed for Maria's number.

James didn't bother to stop him. He just continued to deal with his assistant's questions in their company group chat.

The call connected after a couple of rings, making Ethan snicker as he turned his phone on speaker mode. Maria's voice rang clear insider the car. "Hello, young man. What's up?"

"Where are you, Maria?" he asked with a grin.

He sounded so bright and endearing, she couldn't replace the heart to shoot him down right away. "I'm almost at my apartment. What's wrong?"

"So here's the thing. James is drunk. How about I send him to your place?"

'James is drunk? Wasn't he fine when I saw him outside the Leopard Club just now?" "If you take him here, we both know he's going to suspend your credit cards first thing tomorrow morning." "Oh, pssh. No way. James is not that kind of person."

James finally raised his head and cocked it at Ethan. Then he reached out a hand with the intent to end the call once and for all.

Ethan quickly dodged. Maria continued to speak. "Anyway, didn't you see that he was interested in those two gorgeous women? You should send him to them. Who knows, if he enjoys a whole night of threesome, he might even increase your credit limit tomorrow morning."

James' eyes widened at what he had just heard.

'Threesome? Maria sure has a wild imagination.' Ethan hurried to contradict her. "James isn't even remotely interested in them! Anyway, it's a deal, okay? I'm taking him over to your apartment right now." "Please don't, I have a prior engagement. I'm going to see Norman later."

"What? But it's so late already, what are you going to see him for?" Of course, this question was not something that lived in Ethan's mind alone, but also in the mind of the man sitting next to him.

"I'm afraid I can't give you the details. But listen, since James is drunk, just send him to Alina's place. That would make everything so much easier. Okay, I'm pulling over at my apartment now. Bye." Then she ended the call before Ethan could even say anything else.

As the silence in the car grew heavier, the two men exchanged a look.

Ethan instantly broke down and begged for mercy. "I'm sorry, James."

Not only did Maria refuse James' presence, she even she had an appointment with Norman late into the night. It was like James had been dealt with a doublekill strike.

Seeing that the other man was about to lose his temper, Ethan said, "James, aren't you interested in replaceing out what they're up to in the middle of the night?"

"No, I don't. But I do want to kick you out of the car."

"No, James! Aren't we brothers?"

"Stop the car!"

Tires screeched against the asphalt, and in the next moment, Ethan was removed from the car.

He ran after the Harkim as it sped forward, crying and begging for the car to stop. He finally ceased his theatrics when he noticed passersby giving him strange looks. Ethan then composed himself and properly hailed a taxi to take him home.

Maria parked in the garage of Golden Mansion, turned off the engine, and leaned against the back of the driver's seat as she replayed her phone call with Ethan.

It seemed like James wanted to sleep with her as soon as she came back to town. Well, he would just have to dream on.

Days passed, and Augustine informed his grandson that they still hadn't found the child's family. James dropped by their villa one afternoon.

Augustine was holding the little boy in his arms. When he spotted James, he remarked, "You're just in time! Come and hold him for a moment. I need to go get something."

Before he knew what was happening, the baby was deposited into his arms. He was so small that he barely filled James' two large hands.

It had been a long time since he had last held a baby. He hadn't even held Arthur all that much in the past. As it was, James felt awkward having a baby in his arms, no matter which position he put it into. He settled with one hand holding the baby's head, while the other cradled its little butt.

The little boy wasn't crying or fussing; he was just sucking on his thumb. When he noticed James peering at him, however, he pulled his thumb out of his mouth and hummed.

James looked disgusted as he wondered what this gesture could possibly mean.

Then the baby let out several weak groans, and James learned the truth of the tragedy that was happening in his hands.

First, he felt a hot, wet substance trickle down his wrist, then came the smell. The cursed little bean paid no mind to his displeased expression and continued to exert himself. Dreading the worst, James turned his head slightly to inspect the sticky substance adorning his hand. He almost lost all composure right there and then.

"Tamil Tamil" His usually calm demeanor gone, he yelled for the servant with what would sound like desperation to most people.

Tami had been drying the baby's clothes, and she rushed over in alarm. "Oh, you're here, sir," she greeted James.

With a dark and ominous face, James practically pushed the baby in her arms and ordered, "Throw him out!"

Tami instinctively drew the boy close. "But it's a baby, Mr. Xi! How can you say such a thing?" 'More importantly, it's your own baby!' she added inwardly.

Thoughts were raging inside James' head, too. 'So what if it's a baby? It's not mine anyway!' He looked at his hand with disgust, his eyes burning with anger. "Get away from me right now." He had carried his very own son before, and Arthur had never dared to poop on him. Now some unidentified child came along and just dumped his shit on his hand as much as he liked.

Tami couldn't help laughing at the scene before her. "Oh, the little guy just pooped, there's no harm done. It's all right, Mr. Xi, you can leave the baby with me. Please go ahead and wash your hands first."

On his way to the bathroom, James ran into his grandfather, who happened to be brandishing a diaper. Augustine narrowed his eyes and asked, "James, what's that in your hand? Oh my, it looks like poop."

James gritted his teeth and stifled the urge to yell out in rage. He stormed into the bathroom without saying anything.

First, he took a wet tissue to wipe the disgusting thing off his hand. Then, he turned on the tap and washed his hands with soap. He rinsed his hands, then washed them again with soap. He repeated his ministrations thrice.

And yet, despite his efforts, whenever he recalled the scene, he couldn't help himself from wanting to cut his hand off altogether.

After tidying himself up for a good, long while, James finally walked back to the living room. The baby was now lying face down on the sofa, all behaved and obedient as the maid wiped his butt and put a clean diaper on him.

Augustine was laughing the whole time, undeniably pleased. "He's such a good boy! He only ever cries when he's hungry. He's exactly like James when he was a child."

James gaped. He walked over and declared, "Grandpa, you know some random child can't just follow my childhood habits."