Chapter 42 Family Gathering


    Alina was irritated by Maria''s attitude. But before she could totally lose her temper, she deliberately


    touched her t 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 be 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 n.


    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 sessful 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 n. 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 beautifultte 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 bber. 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,e 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 vi, she turned to nce at it for thest 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 toe


    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 ny 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


    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 seeded 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 nced 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 simr 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 ept 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 dinnerst time. But much to her surprise, his secretary called her. ording 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 apany 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 backter?"N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    "Sure. Thanks!"


    "You''re wee."


    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-ss 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 ck 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.