Chapter 374 Diamond Ring
James nodded. "Yeah, Ethan''s grandfather is the chairman of Mu Group. And Ethan is his favorite
grandson."
? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
''Oh my God! No wonder a young veterinarian like him is able to spend money without a care in the
world!
And he has a winery in France.'' Maria''s eyes went wide with shock.
"Then why is his surname Nan?"
"To throw people off his scent. He always wants to keep a low profile." His name change greatly
angered his grandfather, so much so that he threatened to cut Ethan off-but Ethan was still his
favorite, so he was reluctant to do so. So far, they had been in a stalemate.
Maria sighed. "Money makes some people so stubborn."
As she spoke, Bob was quietly making his way to the edge of the bed. Fortunately, James caught
him in the act and yanked him back to the center of the mattress.
The little boy seemed unhappy. He frowned and gurgled, "Mommy..."
''Mommy?'' Maria''s eyes lit up in excitement. "James, did you hearthat? Bob called me Mommy!"
The man frowned. "Why doesn''t he call me Daddy?"
Maria rolled her eyes at him and scooped up her son. "Son, call me Mommy...
Bob watched his mother attentively and opened his mouth to imitate her. "Mommy..."
When Maria was sure the child was addressing her, she kissed him on the forehead happily. "My
dear baby, you''re amazing!"
James, on the other hand, was frowning deeply. He walked over to the two and grabbed his son''s
little hand. "Hey, call me Daddy!"
Bob just looked at him with his big eyes and said nothing.
James let go of the boy''s hand dejectedly.
Mariaughed and tried tofort her upset man. "Don''t worry about it too much. The baby is only
a few months old. He''ll call your his daddy sooner orter." Maybe he would call James his dad
after the Spring Festival.
"Fine."
Later that evening, Maria headed to the bathroom to take a shower, leaving James in charge of the
baby.
Halfway through her shower, she heard the baby''s criesing from the bedroom. But she decided
to shrug it off; after all, his father was there to take care of him.
However, a few minutester, the door to the bathroom burst open and James came in, carrying a
very upset Bob.
The moment Bobid eyes on his mother, he stopped wailing. He just looked at Maria with tearful
eyes, gurgling slightly.
Maria, still in the bath, eyed her son warily. Then she shifted her gaze to the man carrying him,
shooting him a murderous re.
James was also ticked off. Carrying his son into the bathroom was hisst resort. "He''s just making
a scene. He''s full, but he doesn''t want to go to sleep." He looked down at his son indignantly. He
wanted to pinch Bob as a disciplinary action. However, worried that Maria would kill him, he resisted
that urge.
Maria sighed and hurried to finish her shower. James stood to the side with Bob in his arms. After a
while, he headed back to the bedroom, Bob in his arms.
"Waah!" The second he stepped foot outside the bathroom, Bob burst into tears once more.
"Can I beat him now?" James asked, rolling his eyes. Why did this little boy insist on watching his
mother take a shower?
"No. But you can take him to the pool, he always enjoys a swim." Bob, like most other children,
enjoyed ying in the water.
"No. It''s time for him to go to bed." If Bob didn''t go to sleep, James wouldn''t be able to be intimate
with Maria.
Maria sighed again. "Fine. I''ll be done here soon."
When she was done with her shower, Maria wrapped herself in a bath towel and took Bob from
James.
Bob seemed satisfied, and rested his chin on her shoulder contentedly.
Maria patted the baby''s diapered butt and asked James, "Did you pinch him?"
"Yes," James said on purpose, locking eyes with her defiantly.
What did she take him for? A child abuser?
Maria stifled herughter and tried to pretend to be angry. "I knew it!" she eximed.
"Do you want me to show you how I pinched him?" James saw this as an opportunity to teach Bob
a lesson and actually pinch the baby.
Maria hurriedly turned the boy away from him protectively. "It''s your turn to take a shower."
Without arguing with her, James nodded and went into the bathroom.
HL Group''s annual meeting was held a littleter than usual this year. James had instructed
Summer to make it grander than usual.
There were three meetings in total. Only the most popr stars of H City were invited to enliven the
atmosphere of the meetings.
James took Maria with him to all three meetings without even trying to hide the fact that they were
together. In the eyes of all his employees, Maria was already Mrs. Xi.
This year''s Spring Festival was even more lively in Xi family thanks to the presence of Bob. It was
also the first Spring Festival Maria and James celebrated together in years.
On the New Year''s Eve, they took Bob to Augustine''s house. Sebastian and Cooper also came.
Augustine and Charlotte were so happy. Over dinner, Augustine even helped himself to two whole
sses of hard alcohol.
Everyone stayed in the house for the night. After making sure the child was asleep, Maria stepped
onto the balcony and bent over the handrail to watch the wintery scene before her.
When James was done with his work, he went to look for Maria. He found her by the balcony railing
and crept up behind her. When he was finally close enough, he wrapped his arms around her waist
and whispered lovingly into her ear, "Mia."
Unfortunately for him, Maria smelled the alcohol in his breath and shoved him away in disgust.
"Take a shower," she ordered.
"Just wait a minute." Heedless of her order, he buried his nose in her sweet-smelling hair and
refused to leave her.
Finally, Maria decided to just let him be.
"We''ve known each other for around ten years, right? Yet this is the first time we''ve spent Spring
Festival together." In the first year they got together, he left her at home after the family reunion
dinner on the lunar New Year''s Eve.
The man squeezed the woman in his arms tightly. "From now on, let''s celebrate every Spring
Festival together."
Leaning into his embrace, she kept silent for a while. Finally, she said tly, "Okay."
James didn''t notice her change of tone. "You had disappeared for months. I didn''t know you were
going to have a baby. You had a good n. You told me you needed some space for a while."
He didn''t me her pertaining to the fact that she had set him up. Of course, he wouldn''t dare to.
Maria just snorted. "Why would I have told you the truth, Mr. Xi? You would''ve dug the baby out of
my belly."
"I wouldn''t have done that. I just wanted to scare you. " How could he do that to his own child?
Maria turned around to look the man in the eye. "Mr. Xi, are you nning to settle ounts with
me?"
"What ounts? I''m just saying, you were kind of unfair to me." His hand reached up and lingered
on her cheek.
She held back herughter. "How about you disappear for a few months and let me know how you
felt?"
No way! James nted a kiss on her lips and said, "I think you can make it up to me with your
body."
Maria rolled her eyes. ''Jerk!''
There was a moment of silence on the balcony. Finally, James pulled away slightly to fish something
out of his pocket. He ced the mysterious item on her finger and whispered, "My Spring Festival
gift to you." He only had one wish that year, and that was to remarry Maria.
Maria stared at the shiny diamond ring on her finger. "I thought I already refused your proposal,"
she said after a while.
"That doesn''t mean I can''t put a diamond ring on your finger."
Maria looked at him wordlessly. This was all just sweet talk, right? When did James learn how to do
that? Finally, she held up the huge rock on her finger and announced, "Not bad!"
"Just not bad?" James was not satisfied.
She rolled her eyes and pretended to take off the ring. "You once gave Alina a ring, which totally
disgusted me at the time."