Chapter 322 Starry Roses


    Peggy rolled her eyes. "Mr. XI is always calm, isn''t he? When was thest time you saw him get


    excited over anything? Are you expecting him to hold you tightly and passionately profuse his love


    for you?"


    Maria bit her lower lip in thought. Of course she didn''t expect him to go that far, but she couldn''t


    shake off the feeling that he was too calm, as if he was unhappy.


    Unperturbed by her silence, Peggy continued, "I mean, all the hot searches are about the two of


    you! It''s so awesome! Who paid for the publicity, Mr. Xi or you?"


    "He did," Maria answered.


    "I''m so jealous of you! You''re the only woman who he has officially admitted to dating." Peggy


    sighed and looked longingly into the distance, putting her hands over her heart.


    Maria snorted. "He admitted to being together with Alina too, remember? Are you jealous of her


    too?"


    Peggy frowned and quickly waved her hand. "Come on, that''s different! Can Alina evenpete


    with you? If you ask me, it''s all because of you that Mr. Xi broke off the engagement to her. He loves


    you so much that he gave her up for you."


    ''Does he really love me that much?'' Maria wondered. "Well, I don''t know about that, but thank you,


    Peggy."


    She turned to walk to her office, but Peggy stopped her again with a mischievous smile. "Wait! Do


    you have any idea what''s waiting for you in the office?"


    Maria turned back and asked in confusion, "What?"


    "It’s a big surprise!"


    Maria shrugged and pushed the door open. As soon as she walked in, she saw a fancy bouquet on


    her desk. It almost took her breath away.


    She had never seen these flowers before. They resembled roses, but they were a brilliant shade of


    blue, like the color of a starry night sky.


    Each petal was dotted with golden and scarlet glitter.


    Peggy popped her head out from behind her back and grinned. "I had to ask Mr. Xi''s assistant to


    find out what kind of flowers these are."


    "What are they?" Maria still couldn''t take her eyes away from the beautiful flowers.


    "Starry Roses," Peggy replied, sighing contentedly. "You see the golden glitter on them? Well,


    apparently it''s real gold! I confirmed it with the assistant. Mr. Xi is really rich, isn''t he?"


    Maria finally forced her feet to move forward. Going over to the table, she picked up bouquet. There


    were not as many as the blue roses she receivedst time, perhaps because they were rare. There


    were 66 roses in total.


    What was more, these roses had a delightfully different scent from the normal ones. They carried a


    light, calming fragrance with a note of fruitiness.


    "I looked up these roses online, but I couldn''t find anything about them. Then, I asked a friend of


    mine who''s a fashion editor, and she has heard of this rose variety before. It''s very rare and


    expensive. Each rose costs nearly two hundred thousand dors," Peggy said excited.


    In other words, the bouquet Maria was holding in her hand now was worth more than ten million.


    Her eyes popped out and her heart skipped a beat when she quickly calcted the figure in her


    head. She had the urge to call James right now and ask whether he could return the bouquet or not.


    Maybe he could transfer the money to her ount?


    Of course, this amount of money was like pennies to him, and she knew well that there was no


    reason for her to return the flowers. After Peggy left her office, she sat at her desk and took out her


    phone to send a message to James.


    She had barely typed a word when she changed her mind.


    Picking up the bouquet of roses again, she took a few photos of herself holding it in front of her. She


    looked mature and charming in these selfies.


    She carefully picked a picture that she was satisfied with and sent it to him, along with the words,


    ''Do I look good?"


    James was visiting his branchpany when he received the photo from Maria. With a smile, he


    quickly typed out a reply that read, "You look best when you call me honey without wearing


    anything."


    After sending it, he saved the photo that he had received.


    Maria sent him a eyes-rolling emoji and replied, "Shut up!"


    Then, she threw the phone aside as if it was a hot potato.


    Now, it was public knowledge that she and James were together, so other women wouldn''t be able


    to cozy up to him anymore. If Alina ever tried to bother him again, she would definitely ask reporters


    to expose her nasty behavior. ''If Alina''s not afraid that her reputation will be ruined, let her try her


    luck!'' she thought to herself with a sneer.


    After work, Maria cancelled the dinner with her clients and went straight to James'' grandparents''


    house.


    She was holding Bob in her arms when she received a call from James. She answered the phone,


    not intending to tell James about her whereabouts, but Bob opened his mouth and gurgled.


    "Are you with Bob right now?" James asked tly, keenly hearing the noise.


    "Yeah, I was at the construction site earlier. I just stopped by to check on him." She tried to make


    her voice sound as calm as possible.


    "I''ll pick you up."


    Without skipping a beat, Maria refused. "No, thanks. I drove here."


    James just hung up the phone without saying anything.


    After slipping his phone back into his pocket, he leaned against the side of his car, lit a cigarette,


    and slowly smoked it.


    He couldn''t help but wonder how Bob had appeared in their lives so strangely, and why Maria cared


    about him so much.


    His didn''t buy his grandmother''s exnation at all. He knew Maria well, and he had never seen her


    dote on any other child as much as she did on Bob.


    However, if the baby was really hers, when had she gotten pregnant and given birth to him? And


    most importantly, who was the father of the baby? ''Could it be me?''


    Leaning against his car, James looked at the park not far away from him. Staring absentmindedly at


    the trees, he realized that he should start paying a lot more attention to the things happening


    around him.


    Questions about Bob, Maria, and the rtionship between the two of them flooded his mind.


    Just then, a beautiful woman sashayed towards him and greeted him in a soft voice. "Mr. Xi."


    The moment James saw her, he stubbed out the cigarette. "Miss Yu."


    The woman he was talking to was Alma Yu, the chief spokesperson of HL Group. Since she was a


    key employee, he had met her several times in the past.


    Alma smiled elegantly. "Mr. Xi, my assistant left. I don''t like eating alone. Would you like to have


    dinner with me?"


    James cast a cold nce at her. "Left? Do you mean your assistant passed away?"


    For a moment, Alma was taken aback. Then, she regained herposure and smiled awkwardly.


    "No, she just went home."


    "Well, if she''s still alive, she can have dinner with you, can''t she? Assistants need to be on call.


    What do you think, Miss Yu?" Without waiting for or caring about her response, James turned


    around, opened the door, got into the driver''s seat, and drove away.


    This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Alma''s smile froze. ''Who the hell is this Maria? How is she able to make James remarry her? Is she


    more beautiful than me?''


    Maria was busy looking after the baby.


    Just when she finally managed to put Bob to sleep, the doorbell rang.


    Tami hurried over and opened the door, letting James in.


    The moment James saw Maria standing in the living room, holding the sleeping baby in her arms,


    he strode towards her. He just stared at her without saying anything.


    Maria gulped, feeling inexplicably nervous. "Why are you here again?"


    "I haven''t eaten anything yet."


    "Um...how about I ask Tami to cook something for you?" she asked tentatively.


    He nced at the baby in her arms with a hint of displeasure. "No. I want you to cook for me."


    His unreasonable demand made her eyebrow twitch. After pacing around the living room for a long


    time and rocking Bob in her arms, she felt absolutely exhausted. Thest thing she wanted to do


    was to cook for James.


    James stared at Bob carefully, but couldn''t find any resemnce between the two of them. He


    reached out to touch Bob''s tiny hand, but before he could, Maria shifted Bob away and said, ''''I''ll go


    and put him in his crib upstairs. I''ll be right back."


    "Wait!" James called out.


    Maria''s heart beat faster, and her throat tightened. Without turning around, she said, "We can talk


    about itter."


    James stubbornly walked over and stared at her with his sharp eyes. "He''s too heavy. Let me carry


    him. Why do you look nervous?"


    Maria''s heart almost jumped out of her throat, but she pretended as if she was fine and forced a


    smile. "Nonsense. I just managed to put him to sleep. I''m afraid that your loud voice will wake him


    up," she whispered.


    Then, she handed Bob to him with a re. "Fine, here you are. Why don''t you ask his real mother


    toe back soon?"


    James took over the baby, wanting to position him better so that he could rest his head on his


    shoulder.


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