A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 280 The Couple Fell Out

It couldn't go on like this. Maria would have to ask her subordinates to try to gain projects from other companies.

If the bigger ones would end up being taken away by James anyway, then she would just have to sign smaller contracts. Despite her struggles with her business affairs, however, she still made sure to keep abreast with the other matters.

These days, rumors had been running rampant about how Judy's status in the Xi family was in a risky position. Sebastian had apparently been treating her coldly. He couldn't seem to get over the fact that his wife had slept with another man and had aborted his child.

Judy and Sebastian had made plans to travel to L Country this year, but in light of their recent scandal, there was no way the trip was happening now. Sebastian had been ignoring her all this time. Instead, he had been pouring all of his attention on his work and often went in and out of HL Group.

Judy couldn't believe her eyes when she had first taken notice. Ever since James had taken over the company, Sebastian had left it alone and never interfered with business affairs. On the one hand, he felt wronged at having been bypassed in the succession of the CEO position. On the other hand, James had the final say in all matters regarding the company anyway. With things the way they were, Sebastian no longer wanted to take part in the business. But now it appeared that he was feeling differently, and Judy was having a hard time coping with this abrupt change.

As she examined her options, not for the first time, she pulled out her phone and opened the application for her bank account. She proceeded to transfer the funds under her name to another one under her sister's name. She needed to establish a way out for herself in case of emergency.

The truth was that she didn't have a lot of money anymore, after failing to invest in the land in South District and having to pay back the three hundred million to James.

Just as she was about to enter the password to conclude her transaction, the sound of footsteps came from outside the room.

She quickly keyed in her code just as the door opened and Sebastian walked into the room.

Judy locked her phone screen and came over with a smile. "Honey, why are you home so early today?"

Sebastian looked at her with a blank face and questioned, "Judy Lan, who told you that Gabriela and Mitchell Shen entered the hotel together at that time?"

Gabriela Zhong was James and Cooper's biological mother, while Mitchell Shen was Norman's father.

The reason why Sebastian had divorced Gabriela was because of her affair with Mitchell. Although he hadn't seen any proof with his own eyes, Gabriela had admitted it herself when he had asked her at some point.

Judy's heart skipped a beat at his unexpected question. It had been so many years ago, why was he bringing it up now?

When he saw the fear in Judy's eyes, Sebastian finally realized what he had missed for so many years.

All at once, he felt hatred toward this woman. He despised her to the core. But not quite as much as he hated himself in that moment. He hated himself for giving up on Gabriela in exchange of this deplorable woman in front of him.

"Sebastian, it's been a long time." Pak!

"Ouch!"

The sound of skin hitting skin rang out in the room. Pressing her hand against her burning cheek, Judy stared at her husband in disbelief. "Sebastian Xi, you..."

He had slapped her!

Sebastian was giving off an ominous pressure that was just as suffocating as James' intimidating aura. And when he spoke again, his voice held a hint of danger. "Gabriela didn't cheat on me with Mitchell at all But you, you truly betrayed me and our marriage when you slept with Parker Xu! Judy Lan, I've been wrong about you all these years."

She whimpered and tried to explain. "How would I know whether she cheated on you or not? I just saw them check into a hotel room together, and that's that! And how many times do you want me to explain to you about what happened between me and Parker? It was a mistake that night!"

She had gone to see her best friend at the time, but Ruth had not been in their hotel room. Parker was, though, and as luck would have it, he was very drunk and had mistaken her for his wife. So why was she getting all the blame? Who should she blame then?

"Then let me ask you this-why did you take the alimony James had set aside for Maria?" It was becoming clear to Sebastian now, how his second wife was nothing more than a gold digger. Judy choked. "That money shouldn't have been given to Maria Song in the first place. She killed her son!

Besides, I didn't spend a single penny of it, I just put it in a separate account to return to James later. And I've done just that! He has the money back now, so why are you still mentioning this?"

"Even if she really did kill her own son, what does the alimony have to do with you? What right do you have to take it? More to the point, Arthur died in an accident. He wasn't murdered by Maria! Don't twist the facts." He wouldn't even have known what kind of woman Judy was if he hadn't seen the evidence James had provided.

Judy could keep insisting that she had only been keeping the money from Maria's hands, but why hadn't she given it back to James in the past six years? She had countless opportunities to do so. What she had done instead was to claim the money as if it were her own. Now that the secret was exposed, she was pretending that she had been safekeeping it and had never spent a single dime. The truth, of course, was that she had needed to piece the whole amount together from various sources.

Judy sneered at her husband. "What's this? Are you and James just going to forgive that murderer?"

"It's none of your business whether James forgives her or not. No wonder my parents never acknowledged you throughout the years. I've been around this world for decades, and I always thought I've seen all there is to see. But I wasn't capable of seeing the true colors of the person sleeping next to me!"

Judy took a deep breath, knowing that it would be futile to face Sebastian head-on. She needed to take a softer approach. She promptly burst into tears and clung to his arm. "Sebastian, I know I was wrong. It's all my fault. Please don't divorce me, okay? I swear that I will correct my mistakes in the future!"

He frowned and said nothing.

"Twenty years have passed since I married into the Xi family. I've treated you well and treated Gabriela's two sons as my own. I even chose not to have my own children. You know this, too! Honey, I really want to be with you forever. I only lost my head back then because I didn't like Maria Song. Will you please forgive me?"

Her words only made Sebastian feel very exhausted, both physically and mentally.

He pushed her away and spoke in a weary tone. "We need to calm ourselves down for a while."

He had initially thought about divorcing her, but the whole process and its aftermath would be too troublesome. In the end, he decided to observe this woman further before taking on any drastic measures. Judy whimpered again. "Okay, as long as you don't leave me. I have no children, Sebastian. I only have you..."

Her last sentence made his heart sink. They would have had a child in the past, but for James and Cooper's sake, Judy had insisted on getting an abortion.

In her own way, she had done a lot for the Xi family.

Sebastian strode out of the bedroom. The expression on Judy's face instantly turned ferocious. 'Maria is to blame for all of this. Damn you, Maria Song!'

At Elite Fitness Club in H City

This renovated club was a new landmark in H City. Many of the town's elites had applied for VIP cards here, and the membership fee amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

Taking advantage of her spare time in the evening, Maria came to get herself a VIP card. The private coach assigned to her came over and reached out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Song. I'm Caiden Su. I'm glad to be your coach." "Nice to meet you, Caiden!" The two shook hands and she took the opportunity to look him up and down.

The man was about 1.85 meters tall, dressed in an allblack sportswear, and was fairly muscular. It was obvious that he had spent a lot of time working out. Aside from his good figure, he was also quite handsome. No wonder young girls wanted to have the gym coaches as their boyfriends.

"Ms. Song, please follow me and I'll show you around."

"Okay. Thank you!"