A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 131 Stop Seducing Me

At that moment, the memories seemed to flood back to Augustine. With a heavy sigh and tears in his eyes, he said, "I just want you to make up for the loss of Arthur. Why is it so difficult?"

"I'm going to be engaged to Alina Tang. You will have a great-grandson after we are married," James reminded him gently.

"Alina Tang?" Augustine thumped on the tea table. "I won't recognize any baby she gives birth to! This illegitimate child will never be allowed to become part of the Xi family!"

Fortunately, Maria had just thrown some vegetables into the hot oil pan, and the sizzling sound blocked any noise coming from outside the kitchen.

When it came to the marriage between Alina and him, James could never persuade Augustine to accept it, so he didn't respond.

"Why would a nice girl want to be with a divorced man? In my opinion, she's desperate to marry into the Xi family because you're young, handsome, and most of all, wealthy. If you were twenty years older with more wrinkles and less money, I don't think she would spare you a single glance."

James replied, "No one's saying this marriage isn't about money. I know that's all Alina cares about, and honestly, so do I. It's a win-win situation."

He also wanted to marry Alina for the profits and the money. So, what was the difference between them? "Alright, but you'd better know what you're doing. You're so stubborn. I still think you're going to regret it someday!" Although Augustine hadn't taken charge of HL Group nor cared about any business for a long time, he still could see everything clearly.

After that, it didn't take long until dinner was ready.

As Maria began to serve the dishes, James decided to become helpful and walked towards the kitchen to give her a hand. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

When he was about to pick up the soup, Maria unexpectedly held his arm. "Mr. Xi, please, just wait outside. I'll take care of everything here."

James looked at her hand on his arm and cast a cold glance at her. Losing his patience, he asked, "Maria Song, what the hell do you want?"

Maria smiled at the question. Then she became serious again and said, "I just want to avoid arousing any suspicion about us. Can't you tell? We're alone in the kitchen. If Lawrence hears about it, how am I going to explain this to him? If I had known you would be here tonight, I would have come for a visit tomorrow!"

This was the second time James heard her mention she wanted to avoid arousing suspicion.

He was about to argue when Maria interrupted him, "Okay, let's forget about Lawrence for a moment. You also have a fiancee-to-be. Shouldn't you want to avoid arousing suspicion about any relationship between you and your ex-wife as well?"

James was speechless. As much as it was hard for him to admit, her words made sense.

Losing any interest in helping, James turned around and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. Afterward, he sat at the dining table and waited for dinner to be served.

In the meantime, Augustine had already arranged the seats perfectly in his mind. "Charlotte, sit next to me. James, you sit with Maria opposite us. Tami, remove the other chairs."

In his eyes, they were all family members.

"Yes, sir," Tami answered.

Before James and Maria had the chance to object, four chairs out of eight had been removed, leaving the table arranged as Augustine had planned.

After serving the dishes, Maria was the last one to sit down. As she settled next to James, she was facing Charlotte, who was smiling at her.

In order to avoid any embarrassment, she picked up a piece of beef and some pumpkin with a pair of chopsticks before serving them in Charlotte's bowl. "Grandma, this is beef and pumpkin curry. The meat is cooked longer than usual, so it's already soft and well done. It's easy to chew. Have a try."

"Oh, good! You always cook the best dishes, Maria! Let me have a try." Charlotte took the beef to her mouth and soon nodded as she chewed with satisfaction.

Glancing at the woman next to him, James snorted to himself, 'She's really good at charming the elders, isn't she?'

"This porridge takes Chinese yam, spareribs, and corn. I've let it cook for two hours. Grandpa and Grandma, I'll serve a bowl for each of you." Maria put some porridge in two bowls and placed them in front of the elders.

Charlotte said, "Maria, you've been busy for such a long time already. Come on, help yourself and eat!"

"Okay. Thank you, Grandma!" Maria didn't insist anymore. She leaned back in her seat and began to eat.

During dinner, the four of them didn't say anything. Except for the occasional little noises Maria made when picking up the food or serving porridge for the two elders, they all ate quietly.

Augustine and Charlotte enjoyed the dinner very much.

After everyone had finished eating, Tami cleaned the table, and Maria went back to the kitchen.

As Maria came out again, she was carrying a tray, which she placed in front of the elders. "Grandpa, Grandma, these are some cookies and bread I baked. They are all sugar-free and gluten-free. You can take them as snacks later. But make sure you finish them in a week. Otherwise, they will start to taste bad. You may also have them for breakfast if you'd like to."

Looking at those little cookies and bread that smelled delicious on the tray, James couldn't help but feel jealous. He thought, 'Why didn't I get such treatment when Maria asked me to remarry her a few weeks ago?'

Next, he said, "I don't have anything for breakfast tomorrow at home."

The two elders exchanged looks, sharing the same thought. Maybe their grandson wasn't that stupid in the game of love, after all.

Still, Maria calmly refused his implied request. "Well, if you don't have anything at home, you should call Alina. I'm sure she could deliver something to you tonight." Since they were divorced, there was no need to show off affection in front of the elders. Anyway, Maria was not in the mood for that right now.

James was rather shocked to get refused like that. Besides, anything delivered at night wouldn't be served as breakfast but as a night snack instead. Standing up, James grabbed Maria's wrist and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Come with me. I have something to talk to you about."

Maria tried to get rid of his grip, but he held her too tight. Not wanting to embarrass herself in front of the elders, she smiled awkwardly at them while James dragged her to a room.

Charlotte and Augustine were left shocked in the living room as they watched the scene. The man then whispered to his wife, "Dear, James wasn't in love with Maria before, was he?"

"No, not as far as I remember it." Charlotte shook her head.

"Do you think our grandson might have fallen in love with Maria after all these years?"

"I think so."

Rubbing his chin, Augustine smiled. He thought the same. "Are we any closer to having a great- grandson?"

"Yep, I suppose we are."

Satisfied, Augustine nodded in agreement with his wife.

In the room, Maria finally got rid of the man's grip. "What's wrong with you? Why did you have to drag me all the way here?"

James didn't say a word. He closed the door and rested his right arm in the wall behind Maria, trapping her.

Once she met his dark eyes again, Maria's heart began to pound in her chest as she tried her best to find her voice. "What do you want to talk about? Go ahead, speak!" In her head, she begged, 'Stop seducing me!'

Still silent, James took two steps forward, forcing Maria to press her back against the wall. As soon as she realized their bodies were about to come together, she stretched out her hands to stop him from getting any near. "Just say it. There's no need for you to get so close!"

The man lowered his head slightly and asked, "Did you really think I wouldn't figure out your plan, huh?"

"What plan?" Maria asked calmly. But inside, she wondered whether Lawrence had told him the truth.

"First, you hit on me to arouse my interest. Then you played hard to get and began to date Lawrence, just so in the end, you could dump me after gaining my heart." He had spent the last two hours thinking about it before he got to this conclusion.

Maria felt the urge to applaud him but held herself back. She had to admit this man was really smart. He had guessed over half of her plan right. She just wouldn't tell him that, of course. "Mr. Xi, you're overthinking it. I simply lost my interest in a man who keeps trying to kill me. I've had enough."

Lost her interest? James couldn't believe her words. Ignoring her hands between them, he bent his head further and closed the distance between them even more.

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Ophelia Q