A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 56 Self-humiliation

Gordon had long got to the hotel after the Song family's butler drove him there. As the head of the family, Chandler and his wife, Elaine Wen, were chatting with Clayton and Miranda. Noticing the group of young people coming in one after another, the two couples smiled.

Miranda was thrilled. The fact that James came to the Song family gathering was equivalent to a public announcement that he and Alina would get married soon.

Once James entered the hall, the Song and Tang family couples stood up at the same time to greet him in person.

However, before Elaine could speak to James with her flattering smile, she caught a glimpse of the woman in a red dress at the end of the group. Her gown was so eye-catching that it was difficult not to notice it. As soon as she saw the woman's face, her expression changed.

Chandler realized something was wrong with Elaine, so he followed her gaze and saw a familiar girl smiling at them. As her parents, they could recognize that smile anywhere.

This time, Chandler's face fell slightly, just like his wife's.

Miranda had been paying attention to everyone's reaction the whole time. Faced with this scene, she pretended to be nice and cleared her throat before greeting the young woman warmly, "Good evening, Maria. You came!"

Since the hall was a little quiet at then, Gordon, who was sitting in the host's seat, couldn't help overhearing Maria's name. Excited, he held the armrests on his chair in order to stand up.

Clayton had already seen Maria long ago and knew that she would be at the family gathering. While everyone's eyes were on Maria, he led his daughter and James to their seats.

At first, James wanted to greet Gordon, but once he saw the old man standing up excitedly to see Maria, he chose to sit down for the time being.

Yet Clayton didn't care about his father-in-law's wishes. Pressing Gordon back to his seat, he said, "Dad, James is here."

With no other choice, Gordon had to withdraw his gaze from Maria. Compared with the Song and Tang couples' enthusiasm in regards to James, Gordon seemed not to care much about him. After James greeted him, he nodded slightly in response. No one could tell whether Gordon was satisfied or angry from the way he looked.

It was not that James didn't notice Gordon's change of attitude towards him. A long time ago, on the day he got married to Maria, Gordon was quite pleased with him. He had even asked him to take good care of Maria repeatedly. Nowadays, Gordon was completely indifferent to James. Maybe the old man probably blamed him for divorcing Maria.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hall, Elaine approached the woman in red and asked harshly, "Maria, what are you doing here?"

Every fantasy Maria had about a pleasant family reunion during the past six years was gone at that moment. A trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, but it was so quickly no one noticed it. She smiled at her mother. "Mom..."

As soon as she uttered that word, Elaine interrupted her, "Don't call me Mom! You lost that right six years ago! You're no longer a member of the Song family!" Elaine didn't deserve a daughter like a Maria at all!

Maria nodded and glanced at the crowd. Then she said coldly, "In fact, I didn't want to come either. If it weren't for Aunt Miranda...I mean, Mrs. Tang's invitation, why would I want to humiliate myself by being here?" Was she so prone to self-humiliation like that?

"I'm glad you're aware of that. Now, get out of here!" Elaine pointed at the door and drove her away mercilessly.

"Aunt Elaine, why are you so angry? People can hear you from outside!" Someone else's voice reached their ears before they could even see who it was.

The next moment, Ronald walked into the hall in a casual denim suit.

Elaine was about to answer him when Ronald raised his voice and uttered in shock, "Maria Song? What the fuck! How dare you show up in front of me?"

Elaine was confused by his attitude. "Ron, what happened?"

Chandler didn't tell Elaine that Maria beat Ronald and Alina.

Ronald's eyes glinted with anger as he pointed at the silent woman in red and said, "Aunt Elaine, didn't Maria tell you how fierce she is now? She slapped my sister's face so hard it got swollen. And look at the back of my head. Maria smashed a bottle of red wine on it when we were in a restaurant. The scar is still there to prove!"

"What? Did Maria do all this?" Elaine looked at the scar on Ronald's head in disbelief. Then she looked back at Alina, whose face had already recovered.

Besides Elaine, Carolina and Daniela also seemed shocked. After all, Maria had always been obedient. They could never expect that sort of behavior from her.

Alina approached them quickly. Holding Elaine's hand, she persuaded her softly, "Aunt Elaine, please don't be angry. Maria misunderstood something and got furious. I can understand why she acted the way she did." Alina described enough to make it look like she was an understanding woman, but she didn't forgive her for what happened between Maria and Ronald.

She only wanted to make herself look good in front of James. She couldn't let him think that she was a vicious woman.

Nonetheless, Elaine wasn't satisfied with her words. She said reproachfully, "Even if there were misunderstandings, she couldn't slap you in the face! As for Ron, she smashed a bottle on the back of his head. Why didn't you tell me that, Miranda?"

That was exactly what Miranda wanted to happen. Since Elaine was Maria's mother, it was natural for her to teach her own daughter a lesson. In that way, Miranda didn't have to look like a petty person. "Elaine, Alina and Ron are both fine now. If Maria wants to apologize to my children in front of everyone here today, I won't hold it against her!"

Ronald glared at Miranda. "Mom! You are too easy-going! I lost a lot of blood that day, and my sister's face was awfully swollen. I could kill Maria today, and it wouldn't relieve my anger!"

Miranda patted her son's hand lovingly as she comforted him, "Ron, don't be so stubborn. Maria's not an outsider. Just let her apologize, my dear!"

While mother and daughter echoed each other trying to be nice, Ronald acted as the fierce one. They worked in complete harmony with one another.

The four older men present weren't clueless about what was going on. Although Chandler and Clayton also noticed that the three members of the Tang family were acting, it was not appropriate for them to interfere, so they left it to their wives to handle it.

If it had been Carolina and Daniela who had been beaten up, Elaine would have definitely let them fight back. Maria hurt Miranda's children, and Miranda just wanted her to apologize. In Elaine's opinion, this was too kind of her!

At that moment, Elaine scolded Maria, "Apologize to Alina and Ron right now!"

Maria, who had been watching the good show in silence until now, was finally given a chance to speak. As her red lips parted, she made Elaine even more furious with her next words. "They deserved it! Why should I apologize?"

Five minutes ago, Elaine didn't recognize Maria as a member of the Song family, but now she wanted to give her orders as a mother would. Why should Maria obey her?

After Maria opposed her in public, Elaine was so enraged that her hands trembled. She pointed at Maria's face and yelled, "What? You are so grown up now, is that it? How dare you lay your hand on Alina and Ron?"