Chapter 248 He Loves Maria


    James shot Norman a piercing gaze. "Don''t force my hand; I just might do something to Shen


    Group."


    Norman shook his head ever so slightly. "I''m looking forward to it."


    Maria grabbed James'' hand and pushed him out of the door, growling as she followed behind.


    "Come on, let''s go. Hurry!"


    The man said nothing, but let himself be bodily removed from the ward.


    When they were out in the hall, she immediately shook off his hand and strode to the elevator


    without a backward nce.


    James remained standing where she had left him, staring first at his discarded hand, then at Maria''s


    back. "Maria Song, you must know that it''s a hundred times easier for me to put you in jail


    compared to getting you out."


    She was just about to step inside the elevator in that moment, but she paused and took a deep


    breath. She turned around and pasted a fake smile on her face. "Here we are, Mr. Xi, the elevator is


    here. After you."


    Her grievances seemed to be piling up rapidly in just one day. She had yet to get over his little show


    back at the ward, and he wouldn''t even afford her a proper way to vent her anger.


    Indeed, he made his satisfaction at her change in attitude known, and she sauntered over to the


    elevator with a smug face. Of course, once he was inside, he made sure to pull Maria with him.


    She could only grit her teeth and maintain her silence.


    She walked away from him again when they reached the parking lot, and Maria got inside her car in


    a huff. She mmed her car door hard enough to make the vehicle shake a little.


    But then in the next second, rapid, sessive knocks came at her window.


    She rolled her ss down and asked impatiently, "What can I do for you now, Mr. Xi?"


    He ignored her obvious anger and spoke in a light tone. "Let''s continue what we were doing back


    there this evening. I''ll see youter."


    And then he turned around without waiting for her answer.


    "I refuse!"


    "You have no right to refuse."


    Maria swallowed hard, too furious to even retort.


    She knew she couldn''t win this one, and begrudgingly decided to let him do what he wanted.


    It would just be sex anyway, right? She could just consider this as payment for taking her out of jail.


    It was already past midnight when James arrived at Golden Mansion, and Maria happened to be in


    the middle of a call.


    She opened the door of the apartment with the phone still against her ear. "Yes, I know. Transfer


    some money to her ount. Yes, I''ll tell you the rest tomorrow. That would be all."


    She ended the call and watched as James closed the door behind him before changing his shoes


    and taking off his coat.


    Maria had her arms crossed over her chest the entire time, silent and waiting.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content.


    James walked into the living room and threw his suit jacket on the sofa, followed by his tie.


    "Why are you still up sote?"


    "I''ve been waiting for you, of course," she replied with just the slightest hint of sarcasm. "I mean,


    how could I dare to sleep without you?"


    He paused in the act of unbuttoning his shirt, then pulled her into his arms without warning. "Figure


    out a way to exin why you chose to take the me for the crimes of the HM Group''s senior


    executive. I''ll go take a shower in the meantime."


    Maria hesitated. Was there a way for her to avoid having to tell him the truth?


    The answer to that would definitely by a resounding no.


    And James knew a wealth of methods to force her to speak.


    In the end, she told him that she had asked Colby for help in getting a friend out of jail, and the price


    she had to pay was to go in herself. She deliberately omitted the rest of the story, and was adamant


    with herself that if he pried further, she would let loose with her long-withheld rage.


    James left early the next morning and headed straight to thepany.


    Maria ate breakfast alone, then armed herself before driving to the coffee shop.


    When she arrived, she found a man waiting for her.


    Maria took off her sunsses and stared at the young man in front of her. "Are you kidding me?"


    she asked after a while.


    "I''m not. You must have heard about what happened to my father, right? I have to support myself


    now. Please give me a chance, Maria. I''m willing to start from the grassroots level."


    She said nothing.


    ''Why did Kente here of all ces for a job interview? Is he not aware that I was the one who


    sent his father to prison?''


    "Have you made up your mind? Your sry will be less than the cost of your regr meal."


    Kent smiled wryly. "Of course I''m sure about this. I''ve shed the life I lived in the past. Now I can''t


    afford to even dream of an expensive meal."


    Maria was silent again. Kent was technically innocent of his father''s crimes. "All right, you can start


    working tomorrow. But I''m telling you now—I won''t be giving you any special treatment."


    "Yes, of course. Thank you so much, Maria."


    Kent rose and was about to leave when she stopped him. "Is your maternal grandfather okay with


    you doing this?"


    As far as she knew, Mrs. Jiang''s family was also a rather prominent, upper-ss family in H City.


    Although they might be more or less implicated in the issues of Jonathan and his wife, that would


    probably amount to nothing in terms of their established power in the society. Kent could just work in


    his grandfather''spany.


    "Of course not. But they can''t tell me what to do," Kent said with a small smile.


    Maria shrugged. Kent soon left and got into a shabby Audi his grandfather had given him.


    The soft smile on his face disappeared.


    He looked out of his window back at the coffee shop and his hands clenched around the steering


    wheel.


    Maria, meanwhile, was inside the private room, smoking a cigarette.


    Alina was set to be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days. She was Maria''s next target.


    And James was also her target.


    James didn''t contact her in that day or the next, and Maria was actually grateful since she had


    matters to take care of.


    Two dayster, James was walking down the underground parking lot


    and was about to get into his car when Ethan burst out running from the elevator. "James! Thank


    God I''m fast or I would have missed you!"


    He trotted over to the Harkim, panting.


    "What''s up?"


    "Oh, nothing much. Where are you going?"


    "Alina will be discharged from the hospital today."


    Ethan had been about to let himself into the car uninvited, but he took a step back after hearing


    James'' reply. "Okay. You should go then." He didn''t want to see that nasty girl, Alina.


    But he was grabbed by James and deposited inside the vehicle. "You''reing with me."


    Ethan gape, too shocked to protest.


    They came to the ward, where a servant was packing up Alina''s things.


    "James, Maria beat me up, and I had to remain confined for so many days. I am still your fiancee,


    even only in name. Won''t you seek retribution for what she did to me?" Alina asked.


    James'' eyes darkened. "I won''t hold her ountable, just like how I didn''t hold you ountable for


    poisoning her in the past."


    Alina was not expecting this response, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know it was my


    fault," she rushed to exin.


    "You''ve done a considerable number of wrongdoings." James shot her a cold and indifferent look.


    "You should apologize to Maria formally." For everything, including the fact that she had scalded


    Maria on purpose.


    Alina didn''t know what to say. James was telling her to apologize to Maria! But it was her who had


    been in the hospital all this time! "But why, James? I am your fiancee, not her!"


    Ethan, who had been trying to blend into the wall till then, coughed conspicuously. He couldn''t stop


    himself from butting in just then. "It''s just a title though, you even said so yourself. Even if you were


    Mrs. Xi, James wouldn''t love you."


    Alina gaped, her eyes wide, and a tense silence fell over them. The words she had heard just now


    were heartbreaking more than anything else.


    When the servant finished packing up, James took the lead out of the ward. "Let''s go."


    Ethan sidled up next to the woman who seemed rooted to the spot from the shock she''d been


    served. "Since you don''t seem convinced, I will exin it to you on behalf of James. There really


    isn''t much to say, though. The reason is that he loves Maria." After saying that, Ethan strode to keep


    up with James.


    Dread filled Alina, in addition to the pain and humiliation that had already been swirling inside her.


    Thosest words were like the nail to a coffin.


    They were barely out of the hospital building when James'' phone vibrated. He nced at the caller


    ID and turned to the two behind him. "Get in the car first."


    He swiped on his screed to answer. "What is it?"


    Maria''s voice came from the other end of the line. "If I''m not mistaken, you should be at the hospital


    now, right?"


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