A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 59 An Incurable Disease

A small old woman was in front of the tricycle. She was wearing a shabby raincoat that barely protected her from the rain. She was pulling the tricycle with difficulty, and Maria was helping her to make it move upward.

An elderly woman and a beautiful woman in a red dress working too hard under the heavy rain resulted in a very touching scene.

Perhaps Maria had pushed the tricycle so hard just now that when it reached the upslope, she lost control of it. Before she could know it, she had already released her hold on it, and she fell to the ground kneeling.

She felt a sharp pang on her knees, and it took a long time before she could get up.

When she raised her head, she saw that the old woman was having difficulty stopping the tricycle that was going down the slope. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stand up, throwing away her high heels and hobbled towards the old woman. She exerted all her remaining strength to pull the tricycle to a stop.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief when the tricycle finally stayed in place. Fortunately, it was not motorized. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to catch up with it. The old woman thanked her again and again. Maria just smiled and said, "You are welcome, Granny. Please go home now. The rain is getting heavier. You might catch a cold, and it's too dangerous for you to stay outside."

Maria cared about the old woman so much because the old woman reminded her of her maternal grandmother. Her grandmother, who was born and raised in the countryside, was also a petite woman but very capable. Her grandmother did all the housework and farm work alone.

The old woman thanked Maria one last time before she turned around and left. All of a sudden, Maria seemed to have thought of something. She opened her purse, quietly caught up with the tricycle, and slid some cash into its compartment without the old woman's knowledge. She then stopped and watched the old woman and tricycle slowly disappear from her sight.

Maria then turned back to look for her high heels. It seemed that the rain wouldn't stop until the morning. When she crouched to pick up her high heels, raindrops fell on her scraped knees. But she didn't mind the pain at all.

As she stretched out her arms, the rain suddenly stopped above her head, and a pair of shiny black shoes appeared in her sight.

She withdrew her hands and looked up.

"Teaching people to fish is better than giving them a fish," said a magnetic voice that sounded so pleasing to the ears.

Maria looked back at the old woman who had already disappeared in the dark night. It seemed that James had witnessed everything.

She wanted to give him a big hug, but she was soaking all over.

Maria glanced at the Harkim that was parked not far away and curled her lips. "Who's the assistant with you right now? How can he be so irresponsible to let you get out of the car and get wet in the rain? And are you not afraid that your shoes will dirty the road washed clean by the rain?"

James stared at Maria in silence. Her long wet hair clung to her shoulders and face. The makeup on her face was ruined, and her wet red dress tightly hugged her perfect figure.

Right now, Maria was totally out of poise.

Upon hearing what she said, his face darkened. "I'll give you a chance to take back your words just now and say something pleasant to hear." James must have been hexed by Maria. He didn't even know why he got out of his car under such heavy rain. It seemed that he had been cursed by her, and he got an incurable disease that was overwhelming his heart.

As expected, Maria just turned a deaf ear to him. She picked up her high heels and said, "I don't want to repeat my words anymore. My knees are too painful for me to keep on talking." Looking up at him, she added in a pitiful voice, "James, can you take me in and treat my wounds?"

James remained motionless as he was in a dilemma. If he picked her up and took her in, she might dare to get into his bed tonight.

However, she was the reason why he got out of his car despite the heavy rain. His efforts would only come to waste if he would just leave her alone here in the end. Thus, he decided that he would take her back to the hotel where she stayed.

James turned around to leave, thinking that Maria would stand up and follow him. But when he didn't feel any movement behind him, he frowned, turned back, and snapped, "Are you not coming?" "My knees hurt."

"So what?"

"Come here and pick me up. I'll hold the umbrella for you."

James didn't say anything.

When they were in her hotel room, Maria wiped herself with a bath towel. James was about to leave when she stopped him. "Are you not worried that I will have a fever later? I'm all alone here. If my fever gets too high, no one can take me to the hospital. Will you let me die just like that?"

James halted from his steps. Then without turning his head back, he replied indifferently, "It would be better if you die." He needed to be firm so that this inexplicable thing that seemed to have been controlling his behavior wouldn't win over him anymore.

Maria wrapped her hair with the bath towel and held his arm. "Please stay for a few hours. Or just wait for me to finish taking a shower before you leave. I'm afraid that I'll pass out in the bathroom."

James slightly turned around and looked at Maria's pleading eyes blinking at him. "Does it have anything to do with me?" He thought that Maria made no sense at all. Why would she take a shower when her knees were wounded? Didn't she know that the water from the shower might infect her wounds?

"Of course it has," Maria reasoned as she pulled him to sit on the sofa, ignoring his unwillingness.

She promised herself that from the moment he got out of his car, she wouldn't let this tongue-in-cheek man get rid of her anymore.

James had been sitting on the sofa for about two minutes, and he started to get irritated, feeling worse than being stuck in heavy traffic. With a frown, he took off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and stared on the wall, lost in thought. In the bathroom, Maria pulled back the shower curtain.

This was something unique in this hotel. The shower room had a French window wherein if the curtain was not drawn, the person in the bedroom could see what was going on in the bathroom and vice versa. This was exactly the reason why she pulled back the curtain.

From the bathroom, she defiantly met James' eyes while hanging the bathroom towel on the rack.

She then took her wet dress off.

Maria was confident of her body. She was slim but not bony. She had perfect curves.

James stretched his arms and put them at the back of his head. He leaned against the sofa and looked at Maria expressionlessly. In such a posture, he was like an emperor watching over his territory. 'James, she's just a woman. Don't get aroused,' he warned himself.

Maria looked away from James with a smile and turned on the shower.

As soon as the warm water poured on her body and slid down to the wounds on her knees, she bit her lower lips because of the pain. Actually, she didn't want to take a shower. But she had been in the rain for a long time, and her body was so dirty. She couldn't bear to lay on the bed like this at all. Thus, she decided to take a quick shower and then apply some medicine to her wounds after.

James noticed that a thin layer of mist started to cover the bathroom, making the scene inside hazier and more enchanting.

It made him recall some memories in the past when he and Maria had just gotten married. Since he could only take over HL Group if he could give Augustine a great-grandson, he went back home to have sex with her whenever he was free.

The silk-like feeling when he touched her skin and her soft cries for mercy in the dark flashed back in his mind. James felt like he was about to lose control.

He did his best to calm himself down and fumbled for a cigarette in his pocket. However, there was nothing in there. He looked around the room and saw a pack of cigarettes for women on the table. He stood up, took one stick, and lit it.

Standing in front of the window with his back to the bathroom, he took a deep drag.

After a few seconds, he stepped back and drew back the curtain.

There was a high-rise condominium building opposite the hotel. He didn't want her to be watched by any of the residents there.

James finally calmed after smoking. He walked to the table and stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray. After taking a last glance at Maria, who was now washing her hair, he left her room.

Maria heard the sound of the door opening and closing, so she knew that James had left.

Alas, she failed again. She planned to throw herself at him after she freshened up. But he didn't take her bait.

James walked out of the hotel in long strides without even taking an umbrella. Fortunately, the rain had already stopped.

As soon as he sat in the car, he ordered Lorenzo in a savage tone, "Tell Joshua to speed up the Tang family's case against Maria and deal with it as it should be." His chest heaved up and down from controlling his emotions. He didn't want to see Maria's enchanting face again.