A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 46 Battle-Hardened Man

If James fell into her hands someday, first she would strip him off his clothes, whip him, and then tie him on the bed.

"What would you do to me?" Although Maria didn't finish her sentence, James was curious to learn what she had in mind. In his entire life, a woman never had the guts to talk to him like she did.

The words were on the tip of her tongue, but Maria swallowed them back. In order to survive the night, she changed the course of the conversation. "Mr. Xi, I wasn't serious. How could you fall into my hands? I'm just an inexperienced woman, while you're a battle-hardened man. I was just kidding."

James squatted down and looked into her eyes as if he was searching for something. Then he reached out his slender fingers and pinched her chin before whispering in her ear, "If you dare to trouble me again, I'll skin you alive or throw you into the sea to feed the sharks. What do you choose?"

"I choose the latter," Maria answered obediently. Given that she could swim, she had a chance to escape. Of course, if she wasn't tied up.

"Then I'll skin you alive first. What do you think about female circumcision?" Knowing what she had in mind, James refused to give her what she wanted.

'Holy crap! What did he say? Female

circumcision?' Maria's eyes widened in horror. How could such an abnormal idea cross this man's mind? This was the twenty-first century, for God's sake!

Anyway, Maria would keep his suggestion in mind. Once James fell into her hands, she would definitely consider male castration as an option for her revenge plans. She would turn this man into a eunuch! At last, James saw a hint of fear in the woman's eyes. Satisfied, in a rare moment of kindness, he loosened the tie wrapped around her wrist.

As soon as she was free, Maria rubbed her wrists. The next moment, she stretched out her arm and held James' neck flirtatiously. "Thank you, ex-hubby. Muah!" Ignoring the man's scowl, she kissed him on the lips out of gratitude.

Then she fled the room as fast as she could.

James froze in place. Only after hearing the door slam did he come to his senses. Touching his freshly-kissed lips, he thought about asking someone to tie Maria up again so that he could cut her into pieces. However, something Maria said made him hesitate. It was one single sentence among so many others that she uttered that James couldn't seem to ignore.

"Even if Arthur died because I didn't take good care of him, I didn't mean it." Maria words echoed in his mind. Rubbing his chin, James wondered whether there was any secret reason behind Arthur's death that he didn't know of.

But if that was the case, why didn't Maria straightforwardly share her suspicions with him while she confessed that she still loved him?

According to his stepmother, when Arthur had the accident, Maria was alone with their son at home. The nanny had gone out to buy some supplies. Maria was cooking in the kitchen, leaving the child in the baby walker on his own in the living room. As Arthur walked, he hit the cabinet in the corner, which fell onto him. He died immediately.

Recalling what happened to his son, James closed his eyes.

It was Maria who insisted on moving to Fairview Villa. They had been staying in the Xi family's mansion since they got married. They didn't move out until Arthur was three-month-old.

When the accident took place, they had been living there for over a month. Since there were no surveillance cameras installed yet, James had to learn about what happened through someone else's mouth. At the time, James was still attending a conference in France. As he rushed back home, he was met with Arthur's corpse.

Taking into consideration Maria's behavior after she married into the Xi family and his grandparents' regard for her, James decided to let her go. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let her go.

Once Maria walked out of James' suite, she found two strong men and Lorenzo standing at the door. They seemed a bit surprised to see her leaving the room safe and sound.

Maria cast a glance at Lorenzo and mocked, "Lorenzo, you are so efficient!" She remembered the doorbell ringing less than two minutes after James hung up the phone. Obviously, Lorenzo had everything prepared in advance, knowing that James was going to teach her a lesson.

Lorenzo replied nonchalantly, "Thank you, Ms. Song. I'm flattered! As a special assistant, this is my duty."

Maria looked at him fiercely, ignoring the bodyguards around, and warned, "Then Lorenzo, you'd better start praying I won't get to remarry James. Otherwise, I won't allow you to stay in HL Group any longer." Ever since she had been back to H City, almost every time she had met with James, Alina would replace out and rush to where they were in an instant. Lorenzo must be the one behind this. The special assistant didn't say anything this time. He realized Maria had changed a lot over the years. Besides, if she could come out of James' room safe and sound tonight, Maria must be really something. It seemed that he had underestimated her.

Unwilling to continue talking to him, Maria straightened up her dress and went back to her own suite.

Once the corridor was quiet again, Lorenzo stared at the door of Maria's room in a daze. He was about to report to Alina that her cousin had also come to T Country. But on second thought, the cold way Maria looked at him just now and how James had been treating her recently made him hesitate.

The next day, at noon, Colby had just left a series of meetings he had been attending throughout the morning and asked his assistant to inform Maria to accompany him to a formal lunch.

This time, the luncheon was hosted by a government officer. James sat on his left, while the big shot from the Mu Group took the seat on his right.

After a few rounds of drinks, Maria heard Colby introduce her to the host, "Mr. Wang, this is Maria. She's a great drinking companion. Come on, Maria, have a drink with Mr. Wang."

Seeing the unconcealed enthusiasm in Mr. Wang's eyes, Maria was slightly taken aback. Then she glanced at Colby, who met her gaze with a casual smile. "Why are you still sitting there? Aren't you happy to join Mr. Wang for a drink?" Colby asked.

Maria also smiled. "Sure! It's my honor, Mr. Wang." She raised from the chair with a glass of liquor in her hand and deliberately walked past Colby to stand between Mr. Wang and the silent man on his left. She should have guessed this was what Colby had in mind when he decided to bring her to T Country. In fact, she mistrusted Colby so much that she believed it was best to turn to James for help if necessary. So, in search of some sense of security, she chose to stand beside her ex-husband.

After gulping down two glasses of liquor, Mr. Wang stretched out his hand and touched Maria's waist before slowly sliding it downwards. As if nothing happened, Maria dodged the man's indecent touch to open another bottle of liquor. "We finished a bottle already. Let me open another one."

Sitting right next to where Maria stood, James could see clearly every time the man moved his hand from her waist to another part of her body.

He watched the scene with contempt. Colby was really capable of doing anything for money.

He wondered if Norman and Lawrence knew how Maria was humiliating herself. In the following toasts, as every woman in such social activities, Maria was inevitably harassed, either verbally or physically.

In the end, Mr. Wang and Maria seemed to have had a pleasant conversation. They even exchanged their contact info after the luncheon.

Most of the attendees came out of the restaurant to see Mr. Wang off, including Maria and Lorenzo. Only a few bigwigs such as James and Colby remained in the private room.

After getting in his car, Mr. Wang rolled down the window and said to Maria, "Ms. Song, we had a good chat today. See you tonight in the dinner party. Don't miss it!"

Maria still had a bright smile on her face. "Of course. I'll be waiting for you tonight, Mr. Wang.

The next moment, the low-key silver Audi drove away as the smile on the woman's face gradually disappeared.

She didn't return to the private room or her suite in the hotel. Instead, she sent Colby a text message and left.

The weather in T Country was not much better than that in H City. Outside, it was as hot as a sauna. At this moment, except for some workers rushing back to their offices after lunch, no pedestrians would be found walking under the scorching sun. As the Audi drove downtown, passing by a shabby old house, a figure suddenly came into sight and blocked its way.

Creak! The sound of the car's brake was earth-shaking. However, besides an old, uninhabited house on the roadside, there was nothing else around, let alone someone who could have heard the noise. The driver cursed when a woman in black sportswear showed up in front of them.