Chapter 348 Mistake Of A Lifetime


    After a moment of silence, Maria pinched James'' cheek and stared at him expressionlessly. "You''re


    not saying anything, so it means that you will, right?"


    "No, I won''t," James promised.


    "Don''t you think you sound too guilty and insincere?"


    He grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes seriously. "I will never cheat on you. Don''t worry. I


    swear to God." In his eyes, there was no woman in the world who was more beautiful than Maria.


    "Well, if you dare to cheat on me, I will blow up your skull."


    James couldn''t help but flinch. ''She is getting more and more violent!'' "I won''t give you a reason to


    abuse me," he told her.


    "Good boy," Maria cooed, reaching over and rubbing his hair like she was petting an animal.


    James was a little unhappy, but after she kissed him on the lips, he cheered up again.


    Summer would take a long leave from thepany, and she would be temporarily reced by


    Gary. James had to hire a special assistant with a high sry.


    An idea came to James. "Mia," he called out softly.


    "What?" Maria, who was looking at her phone, raised her head to look at him.


    James sat down on the edge of the bed and said, ''TH purchase DS Group. Then you can be my


    assistant!" In this way, they would be able to see each other all the time.


    Maria rolled her eyes and thought, ''Son of a bitch! How dare he covet mypany?'' She widened


    her lips into an artificial smile and asked, "How much do you n to pay me to be your special


    assistant?"


    "Twenty percent of HL Group''s shares," he answered without hesitation, as if he had already


    thought it through.


    This is property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Maria froze in shock. He wanted to pay her in shares? And that too with a whopping twenty


    percent? She asked tentatively, "You mean your grandpa''s twenty percent, right?"


    "No, I''ll give you twenty percent of my shares. It has nothing to do with me if Grandpa and Grandma


    want to transfer their shares to others."


    His idea was ridiculous! Wasn''t he willing to pay too much just to hire an assistant?


    "I''ll give you some time to think about it," James added when he saw that she stayed silent for a


    long time.


    Maria raised her eyebrows at him. "I don''t need time to think. I refuse. I don''t want to be your


    assistant! I want to seed on my own. I don''t want to depend on men." Of course, she needed


    this man''s help from time to time, but it waspletely different from being dependent on him all


    the time.


    However, James didn''t want to give up. Leaning forward, he said, "How about this? You can be my


    assistant, and still be the CEO of DS Group. I''ll find someone to help you manage DS Group."


    Being the CEO of apany waspletely different from being a special assistant. Someone


    who was able to do the work of a CEO might not be able to do the work of an assistant, and vice


    versa.


    "Can''t you find someone else to be your assistant?" Maria asked unhappily.


    "I can. I just think that you are more suitable than anyone else," James answered, giving her a


    meaningful look. To him, the most important thing was that they''d be able to see each other every


    day. And of course, she could keep an eye on him and make sure that he wasn''t seduced by other


    women.


    Although Maria was tempted by his offer, she ultimately didn''t want to take him up on it. She stood


    up, wrapped her arms around his neck, put her head on his shoulder, and coaxed, "James, I want to


    be your woman, not your assistant."


    A smile bloomed on his face as he lowered his head and smoothed her long hair. "Okay," he


    agreed. He would never force her to do something she didn''t want to.


    A peaceful silence enveloped the bedroom. After a while, Maria looked up at James and asked, "Do


    you know whichpany Summer''s husband works for?"


    "I don''t know." James had never cared about the private life of his employees.


    "Okay."


    "Why, what''s up?" If Maria really wanted to know, he could ask someone to investigate it.


    However, she shook her head and sighed, remembering that fateful ident.


    "What''s wrong?" James raised her chin with his finger and found a mncholic expression on her


    face.


    "I''m just thinking of the baby who died in the idental miscarriage,” she said softly. "Our baby.”


    At the mention of the baby, his eyes darkened. He pulled her into his arms again and said in a


    hoarse voice, "I''m sorry."


    He felt remorseful towards her and their two children. As a man, he had no greater duty than


    protecting his wife and children, but he had failed miserably.


    "Do you feel sad about it?" Maria asked.


    "Yes." Of course James was sad. Even a cold man like him had a heart. He was not a robot, and he


    felt sadness the same as he did joy or anger.


    Maria chuckled, but there was no trace of happiness in herugh at all.


    She felt as if she was going insane. She knew that James was sad, but she wanted to say


    something that would make him even sadder. "At that time, I felt that I had lost my reason for living.


    I felt like I was all alone in the world. What was the meaning of life for such a person?"


    James didn''t say anything, but held her even more tightly.


    "I didn''t know that I was carrying a second child. That night, it was raining heavily. I just wanted to


    jump into the river and die, but fate didn''t allow me to do die. Maybe God wanted to give me a


    chance to live," she continued. Her voice was devoid of emotion, as if she was already numb from


    the pain.


    She seemed to be so immersed in those memories that she forgot her surroundings. "I was sent to


    the hospital. But before I had a chance to recover, I was taken away by the police. Before I knew it, I


    received a prison sentence."


    Ever since she had been born into the Song family, she had suffered a miserable childhood. Then,


    after divorcing James, she had lived a miserable life.


    To a third person, she had just lost her glorious identity as Mrs. Xi and gone back to being a normal


    person.


    But in her opinion, she had never been happy or sessful, and after divorcing James, she had


    fallen straight to hell.


    After all, everything bad that had happened to her had happened because James didn''t love her.


    While she was in prison, she had hated him as much as she hated Rosa. In her eyes, the two of


    them were her worst enemies.


    Today, she still hated Rosa to the core, but as for James...


    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, choosing to avoid thinking about it.


    James kissed the top of her head and said in a low and hoarse voice, "Mia, it''s all my fault. After I


    married you, I didn''t take good care of you and our children." "Yes," Maria agreed.


    She had had to bear everything on her own two shoulders. There was no other choice. She sat up


    straight and smiled at him. "But it''s toote now. Those two children can nevere back."


    James felt his throat close up. Her words were like a sharp dagger stabbing into his heart.


    Those two children were two lives that he and


    Maria had created, they were their own flesh and blood.


    For James, their death was the mistake of a lifetime. He would never be able to forgive himself for


    it.


    Bob''s little face popped up in his mind, and he blurted out, "Tell me everything about the kids."


    ''Including Bob,'' he added in his mind.


    Maria''s breath tightened, and there was a slight change in her expression. Lowering her head to


    avoid his gaze, she said softly, "Tell you what? It''s toote. As for Arthur, even if you regret it, you


    can''t change the past, can you?"


    She was right, but James wanted to take responsibility for Bob. He would never put Bob in the


    same situation as Arthur again.


    But since Maria didn''t want to talk about it now, he didn''t force her. He sincerely believed that, with


    his own power and resources, he would definitely be able to find Bob. When that happened, he


    would be able to get the satisfaction of Maria admitting that Bob was their child.


    Seeing that he didn''t say anything else, Maria thought that he had believed her words and inwardly


    let out a sigh of relief.


    The next morning, many people turned up to HL Group to attend the interview for the position of the


    CEO''s special assistant.


    There was a flurry all around the office. In the end, only one man and one woman passed all the


    interviews and came out on top. They were the only ones recruited into thepany.


    As soon as James returned to his office, Gary knocked on the door and walked in. "Mr. Xi, I''ve


    gotten some news from the US."


    Hearing that, James turned around anxiously. "What is it?"


    Startled by the intensity of his eyes, Gary took out a document and handed it to him.


    It was a photo of a male model standing in a street.


    However, the point of the photo wasn''t the model, but the person behind him.