Chapter 57 Broken Up


    "Mrs. Song, you haven''t changed a bit." The smile on Maria''s face faded, and only hatred remained


    in her eyes. "I''m not the same Maria Song you knew! If anyone daresy a finger on me, I''ll make


    them pay."


    The look in her eyes scared ine. Her heart hammered in her chest. Suddenly, she raised her


    hand and pped Maria. Pak!


    Silence reigned after the p. Gordon''s excitement faded, and Chandler pretended to scold ine.


    "Holy crap, ine! What were you thinking? Just leave her alone!"


    Satisfied smiles appeared on the faces of the Tang family. They knew ine hated Maria the most,


    especially knowing she hurt Alina and Ronald.


    As if she hadn''t heard what Chandler said, ine turned on Maria. "You left once! Why did you


    come back? You should have stayed where you were until you die!" The thing she regretted most in


    her life was giving birth to Maria. Because of her daughter, she lost her job, Chandler cheated on


    her, and he left her in their hometown.


    Later, Maria managed to anger the Xi family as well. And James divorced her. It was all because of


    Maria. ine always felt ashamed around Judy because of this. Maria rubbed her burning cheek


    and smiled. "I didn''t want toe back either, but my beloved is here." Her eyes passed over the


    crowd and fell on the man she referred to. He was oblivious to, engaged in some conversation,


    phone in hand.


    Realizing who she was referring to, both ine and Alina wanted to rush over to her and strangle


    her.


    "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Maria!" ine was seriously angry. Six years ago, Maria took


    James away from Carolina and Dani. After she married him, their son died because of her. In the


    end, James divorced her and was going to get engaged to Alina.


    "I am, believe me!" Maria lowered her head to stare at her shoes and quickly hid the pain in her


    eyes. When she raised her head again, there was no emotion there. "Everyone loves someone. I


    just said it in public. Is that so bad?"


    Maria finally realized James was as cold as the Song family. When she confessed her love to him in


    public, he acted like he hadn''t heard her.


    Everyone knew who she was referring to. The Song family wouldn''t stick up for her, and even


    James was unwilling to lift a finger.


    Carolina came over and tried to calm ine down. "Mom, please stop. Everyone''s staring at us,"


    she said gently.


    After calming herself down, ine sighed heavily in her heart.


    Seeing her mom in a better mood, Carolina turned to Maria. "I''m going to marry Mr. Xi''s special


    assistant, Lorenzo. He''s on a business trip today, so he couldn''t be here. Can youe to our


    wedding?"


    ''Carolina is going to marry Lorenzo?'' Maria was stunned.


    Carolina was conceited. She thought only a man like James was good enough for her. So why was


    she lowering her standards to marry a CEO''s assistant?


    After shaking off her amazement, Maria stared at her sister. She gave her an unambiguous answer.


    "Sorry, I''m not interested in your wedding. But I''d love to attend your funeral. And that goes for all of


    you!"


    Carolina didn''t expect her to say something like that. Her eyes darkened and angerced her tone.


    "Maria!"


    This time, even Chandler rushed to chastise her. "How dare you! If you set foot in our house again,


    I''ll break your legs!" he growled.


    ine wasn''t putting up with any more. She covered her heart and looked away from Maria. She


    pointed at the door and shouted again, "Get out of here!"


    Half of Maria''s face began to swell up, but she ignored it. "Sure. Before I leave, I have to tell you


    something."


    Everyone stared at her in spite of themselves.


    The smile on Maria''s face disappeared


    She stared at her biological mother coldly and said in a colder tone, "ine Wen, you''ve made it


    painfully clear I don''t have a mom. Maybe I never did. And you won''t ever touch me like that again!


    That p changed everything. Really,


    when I think about it, it''s all I got from you. Do


    that again, Mrs. Song, and you''ll find out how angry I can get!"


    After saying that, she turned around and left


    gracefully, leaving no chance for ine to say another word.


    She straightened her back and walked to the exit of the hotel in high-heeled shoes. Before she


    could walk out, she heard a hoarse, elderly voice behind her. "Maria."


    The amiable voice exploded in Maria''s heart. It almost seemed like a trip back in time, many years


    ago, when she was still part of the Song family. Her grandfather always said her name kindly.


    She had been maintaining a facade, pretending to be hard-hearted all night. Gordon''s voice


    crumbled that wall she''d built around her heart. She felt like weeping. But she pushed those feelings


    aside, turning to him and smiling. "Hi, Grandpa," she said softly. The butler pushed Gordon close to


    Maria. Then he set the brake on the wheelchair and stood aside. The wrinkled old man looked at


    her lovingly.


    Maria lifted the hemline of her dress and walked quickly to the old man. She squatted in front of him


    and asked worriedly, "Grandpa, why are you out and about?"


    The old man''s eyes were reddened, but full of joy. His trembling hands grasped her tightly. "You''ve


    been back all this time, and haven''te to see me."


    Maria lowered her head, smiled and apologized softly, "I''m sorry, Grandpa."


    She wanted to see him too, but she didn''t want to suffer the abuse the Song family would heap on


    her if she came to their vi.


    Gordon touched her slightly swollen cheek with his dry hand and said guiltily, "That has to hurt.


    Might want to see a doctor and have that checked out."


    He founded Song Group, but as he grew older, he became less and less influential in the Song


    family. He could do nothing to help Maria tonight.


    "It doesn''t hurt. No worries." A p was nothingpared to what she had suffered in the past six


    years.


    "Silly girl, how could it not hurt?" Gordon murmured, looking at his youngest granddaughter. "And


    don''t worry about me. I eat and sleep as much as I ever did. Your dad takes good care of me. Take


    care of yourself, Maria. I''ll call you if I get a chance."


    Chandler was an entrepreneur. He paid great attention to his reputation and would not do anything


    bad to his father. That would ruin his future.


    Knowing that her grandfather didn''t want her to worry, Maria nodded, "Okay. I get it. Hope to hear


    from you soon."


    Before Chandler came out to look for his father, the butler wheeled Gordon back to the party.


    After the wheelchair disappeared around the corner, Maria left the hotel.


    The driver was waiting for her outside. Before she could get in the car, a man came over and


    stopped her. "Excuse me, miss. Are you Maria Song?"


    Maria turned and saw a young man in a courier''s uniform. She nodded.


    He took an envelope from his bag and handed it to her. "Ms. Song, I have a package for you. Sign


    here, please!"


    A package for her? Someone sent this; someone who knew she''d be there right now. Curiouser and


    curiouser!Text property ? N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org.