A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 42 Family Gathering

Alina was irritated by Maria's attitude. But before she could totally lose her temper, she deliberately touched her flat belly and put on a sad look on her face. "If you still have a little conscience, you won't let my child be deprived of a safe home."

Before Maria could say something, she turned around and left.

The corridor was so quiet while Maria stood at the door for a long time motionlessly. Her mind was in a mess. Was Alina pregnant? If so, James would become a father again soon. If he had a new baby, would he forget Arthur easily?

Alina's words rang out in Maria's mind. And it made her decide to reconsider her plan.

James had the heart to give her away to several men for fun. He didn't hesitate to send her to jail for trespassing. And now, he asked Alina to sue her. What else could she expect from him? Thinking about all this, she felt a sharp pang in her heart.

But there was nothing she could do. After all, this was her own choice. The moment she fell in love with James, she was destined to be humbled in front of him. That was because she had no background and backing. She was just an ordinary woman.

On the other hand, James was a rich, powerful, and successful man. It was undeniable that the gap between them was too big.

Because of what happened to Arthur, she was unjustly abandoned by the whole world. Now that she was back, she must stick to her plan. It was payback time. She would take those who had betrayed her, bullied her, and framed her to hell.

But of course, there were still a few people in H City that she cherished.

Summer, Norman, and Lawrence were among them. No matter what happened to her in the future, she would never drag them down. Even if her life became miserable, she would never cause trouble for them as long as she lived.

Maria was back in her usual self today because her monthly period had already ended. She went to work in high spirits. She was busy making beautiful latte art for her customer when she received a call from Miranda.

Since both of her hands were busy, she put her phone between her ear and her shoulder while lazily listening to Miranda blabber. Miranda was howling about how she wrongly treated Alina and Ronald. "You hit Alina and Ron in public. As a mother, of course, I must be angry. But you are still my niece. And family scandals shouldn't be exposed to the public. As long as you apologize to your cousins at our family gathering, we will let bygones be bygones."

When Miranda mentioned the words "family gathering," Maria suddenly remembered her grandfather, Gordon Song. He would always organize a family gathering at this time of every year.

But it had been a long time since she decided to cut ties with the Song family, so she said, "The gathering of the Song family has nothing to do with me."

"Oh, come on! No matter what, you will always be a member of the Song family. Your parents must be so angry at that time that they disowned you. Last time, I saw your grandfather secretly shedding tears in his room for you. He must have been missing you a lot."

Maria fell silent for a moment. Did Gordon really miss her? She remembered that night when she broke up with the Song family. It seemed that Gordon wanted to speak up for her, but Chandler asked the servant to send him back to his bedroom without giving him a chance to demur.

Before she left their villa, she turned to glance at it for the last time. There, she saw Gordon standing in front of the window of his room, waving at her.

"Mrs. Tang, stop beating around the bush. Why do you want me to attend your family gathering?" Maria was not stupid to believe that Miranda had forgiven her so easily after she had beaten Alina and Ronald. "It's our family gathering. Your grandfather is getting older and weaker each day. I want you to come back and see him again."

Maria's lips curved into a disdainful smile, but she didn't say anything.

Then Gordon's image appeared in her mind. Her grandfather was already ninety years old. And because of the operation he underwent two years ago, his health had deteriorated a lot.

Maria thought for a while. Considering her grandfather, she then said decisively, "Okay, I see."

Maria knew that they were plotting something

against her. But even so, she still wanted to

attend the family gathering because she longed to see Gordon again.

Inside his office in the HL Group, James was checking his schedule with Summer. His face was cold and expressionless.

After a while, he said, "I'll be on a business trip for two days, so I'll temporarily hand over the project with the Mu Group to Lorenzo. When I

come back, you can then go to L Country to

start the project with the CT Securities Group."

Summer didn't dare to object. She just nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Xi." After thinking about it carefully, she made up her mind. Since Maria still couldn't win James' heart back and couldn't even protect herself against him, she would go to L Country for now. In the future, if Maria succeeded in taking James back, she would like to see if Maria could help her move back to H City.

"You may leave now," James said.

"Okay."

As soon as Summer walked out of James' office, Lorenzo came in with two staff. "Mr. Xi, here is our latest collection of ties. There are eight different styles this time. Please check each of them." James tidied up his suit and glanced at the trays held by the two staff. There were four styles of ties in each tray.

He casually picked up a dark blue tie with dark patterns. It looked a little familiar to him.

Then he remembered Maria. When they were still together, she had always tied his tie for him. Among his collection of neckties at that time, there was one that looked quite similar to the one in his hand right

now.

Upon realizing that he was thinking of Maria again, James frowned. She was away for a few years. He shouldn't be thinking of her unless someone else mentioned her to him.

But now even with a necktie, he thought of her. This wasn't a good sign. He could never accept the fact that she was always in his mind.

James felt angry. It seemed that he had underestimated Maria's impact on him.

He irritably threw the tie back in the tray and ordered coldly, "Take them all away from me!"

Knowing James' temper, Lorenzo secretly winked at the two staff. In an instant, they both strode out of the office.

He then cautiously asked James, "Mr. Xi, don't you like those styles? Perhaps we can put them on sale."

"No need. Send them all to the market right away," James ordered. He knew that there was no problem with those ties. The problem was himself. "Yes, Mr. Xi."

When Lorenzo left, James received a call from Alina. She invited him to attend the family gathering of the Tang and Song families on Wednesday next week.

It was just a small request, so he agreed at once. After hanging up, he began to work on the documents on his desk.

Maria thought that Colby would never talk to her again after the trouble she had made during the business dinner last time. But much to her surprise, his secretary called her. According to the secretary, he would be on a business trip, and he wanted to know if she would like to go with him.

Certainly, Maria wouldn't want to miss this kind of opportunity.

But she was a bit dubious of his real purpose, so she thought for a while. After all, this was not just a dinner party. If she went with him, they would stay in a hotel. Anything could happen. Hence, she decided to test him. She said to the secretary, "I really want to go with Mr. Zheng. However, my monthly period just started yesterday. If he doesn't mind, I'm willing to accompany him."

It took a while for the secretary to reply. "Mr. Zheng is in a meeting right now. Ms. Song, is it okay if I'll call you back later?"

"Sure. Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

Colby's secretary didn't call Maria back. But she received a text message informing her that Colby agreed to take her with him.

The secretary had also sent her the booking information of a first-class ticket to T Country under her name. It showed that their flight would be at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Maria began to pack her things. Since they would only stay in T Country for two days, she didn't need a lot of stuff. She just brought a few sets of clothes for the possible dinner party and for sightseeing, underwear, cosmetics, and some necessary skincare products.

At the airport, a black Bentley stopped at the VIP entrance. The driver got out of the car and opened the backseat door for Colby, who was wearing a well-tailored suit and shiny leather shoes. He then asked, "Where is she?"

The driver, who knew who he was referring to, replied, "She's already waiting in the VIP lounge, Mr. Zheng."

Colby nodded and started to walk inside.

As one of the top entrepreneurs in H City, he had to take good care of his reputation, especially that he was married now. So to avoid suspicions, he instructed his secretary to tell Maria to meet him inside the airport.