A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 360 A Stupid Question

James was angered by what Maria said.

She hugged Cooper in his absence, and now, she even openly showed her concern for him.

The jealousy in the air was getting stronger and stronger.

"What? Are you going to cook for him in the middle of the night?" James asked with a hostile look in his eyes.

Maria didn't even glance his way. "Why not? Cooper, what do you want to eat? I'll make it for you. It's already so late. How about I make a bowl of noodles? Or do you want Western food instead?" Noticing the unhappiness in his brother's eyes, Cooper refused Maria with a smile. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry."

Maria shook her head immediately. "How could you not be hungry?" If Cooper wasn't hungry, how could she get on James' nerves? "Let me make you a simple bowl of noodles, okay? It will only take a few minutes. Oh, but Bob is sleeping inside. Can you stay here and keep an eye on him?"

After saying that, she turned to go downstairs. When she passed by James, however, he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

She didn't turn around. James said lightly, "If he's hungry, I'll ask the chef to make something for him. You wait for me in the room." He wanted her to explain to him why she and Cooper had been hugging each other just now.

Maria didn't want to argue with him in front of Cooper, so she gave in and nodded slightly. "Okay. Cooper, do you want to see Bob?"

Not wanting to create a rift between them, Cooper looked at James and asked, "James, why don't you come with us?"

"Okay." The two brothers entered the bedroom together.

Looking at their backs, Maria rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Bob was sleeping soundly in the crib that James had prepared for him, right next to the big bed.

When they entered the room, the little boy had his eyes peacefully closed, completely unaware that his father and uncle were watching him.

"He's gotten taller," Cooper murmured softly with a gentle smile on his face. He wanted to hug the little boy, but he didn't want to disturb him while he was sleeping.

"Yeah, he has," James replied with a hint of pride. He had mixed feelings upon seeing his son.

Cooper felt uncomfortable staying in his brother and sister-in-law's bedroom, especially so late in the night. After chatting with James for a while, he went back to his own room.

There were rooms reserved in the villa for Cooper, Lawrence, and Ethan.

After Cooper left, Maria sat in front of the dressing table and began to remove her makeup.

James walked to her side. "Why were you hugging

Cooper?"

She paused in the middle of wiping off her mascara and looked at him through the mirror. She hadn't expected that he would still be holding onto this matter. "Are you suspecting us, Mr. Xi?"

"No."

"Then don't ask such a stupid question," she retorted, continuing to wipe off the make-up.

James pursed his lips impatiently. A trace of displeasure flickered through his eyes. "If there's nothing going on, why can't you just give me a straight answer?"

"It's exactly because there's nothing going on that there's no need for me to explain. If you don't trust me, or if you replace me an eyesore, I can leave right now." She tapped the dressing table with her palm and stood up to leave.

But she had barely taken two steps towards the door when James grabbed her wrist again. "Maria!"

"What?!" she shouted back, just as worked up as he was.

He pulled her to the bed and threw her onto it with great force. "Stay here. You're not allowed to go anywhere!"

Maria was on the cusp of losing her temper. She sat up straight and asked, "What's been going on with you recently?"

James looked down at her in silence for a few seconds, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "Have you had enough?" he asked through gritted teeth. He had given her a night alone so that she could sort out her thoughts and calm down, but it seemed that she hadn't done that at all.

"Enough?" Maria scoffed. Without saying anything more, she got back up, sat in front of the dressing table, and resuming removing her makeup.

Seeing that she had become quiet, James stopped pestering her and went into the bathroom.

But he had just finished taking off his clothes when she barged in.

As soon as Maria stepped into the bathroom, she inadvertently glanced at his crotch and quickly raised her eyes to meet his gaze. Suppressing her violent heartbeat, she snapped, "Didn't you see that I was removing my makeup just now? You know that I have to wash my face immediately after that. Why are you hogging the bathroom?"

The winter season made her lazy. As long as she didn't wear heavy makeup that day, she would just use a wet tissue to remove her makeup before washing her face.

Usually, she would only do that after James had a shower, but tonight, she had removed her makeup absent-mindedly. She didn't want to just sit there and wait for him with a greasy face, so she barged into the bathroom instead.

The truth was, the bathroom was a large space. The two of them could attend to their respective matters at the same time.

But James would just see this as her taking the initiative for tonight. After all, no matter how much a couple quarreled or fought, there were some things that had to be done between them.

Before Maria could approach the basin to wash her face, he pulled her under the shower head and kissed her hard.

For a moment, she was stunned. She had walked into the bathroom with only one purpose in mind. Had he misunderstood her on purpose?

To prove that she hadn't come here to initiate anything, she pushed him away and said, "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll go to the next room."

"Are you going out like this?" James asked in a low voice, running his eyes over her body.

Maria lowered her head to have a look. Her pajamas were half-drenched under the shower. Although her body wasn't exposed, the wet clothes were clinging onto her skin, highlighting her silhouette. Since Cooper was staying in the villa now, it was inappropriate for her to walk out of the bedroom like this.

She took a deep breath and said, "Then let me just wash my face here. I won't disturb you." Standing under the shower, James watched wordlessly as she walked away and washed her face at the basin. When she was done, she turned to leave the bathroom, but he quickly grabbed her and pulled her back into the shower. He didn't want to bother talking nonsense with her anymore. He just did everything that he wanted to.

Nearly an hour passed before he let her go, and that too only because she kept expressing her fear that Bob might wake up anytime and no one would be around to take care of him.

After stepping out of the bathroom and finishing her skincare routine, Maria lay down on the bed, right next to Bob's crib.

When James finished his shower and walked out, he found the woman about to drift off to sleep. "Attend an event with me the day after tomorrow." "No." Without opening her eyes or skipping a beat, she immediately refused.

Standing by the side of the bed, he stared expressionlessly at her for a while. Then, he put on his pajamas and went to the study without saying anything.

At six o'clock the next morning, James opened his eyes to a dim room. Since the curtains were closed, he reached out groggily and turned on the bedside lamp.

As soon as he turned around, he saw a pair of big eyes staring at him curiously.

For a moment, his heart stopped. Then, he realized that his son was back home.

When their eyes met, Bob's lips widened into a big smile, which softened James' heart a little.

He got up gently, walked around the big bed, and picked up the little boy from his crib.

"Phew!" Lying in his arms, the little boy spat out a small bubble of saliva.

The words "You're just like a fish" almost slipped out of James' mouth before he realized that this boy was his own son.

In a daze, he carried Bob to the bathroom to change his diaper. He couldn't help but wonder who the little boy took after. Where had he gotten the habit of spitting bubbles?

Was he a fish in his previous life, or had he inherited the habit from Maria?

Well, whatever it was, James was a man of his word. As Bob's father, he would do everything for him that he hadn't done for Arthur before.

After washing Bob's butt and putting on a fresh diaper for him, James dissolved the milk powder in some water and handed the feeding bottle to him. Then, he carried the baby that was drinking milk into the walk-in closet.

After dressing Bob, James washed up and got ready.

When Maria got up, the father and son had already had breakfast and were busy with their own things.

James had gone to the company, while Bob was taken to the stables by John. Sitting in the stroller, the baby cheerfully watched the horse eating grass.

In the afternoon, Maria received a call from Norman. "I'm going abroad on a vacation tomorrow. Come with me."

Maria didn't even have to think about it before refusing him. After all, she had a child to take care of now. "I can't..."

"Are you worried about Bob? Come on, raising that little guy is a piece of cake. Just leave him to James. You can't spend all your time around that baby."