A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 131

At that moment, the memories seemed to flood back to Augustine. With a heavy sigh and tears in his eyes, he said, "I just want you to make up for the loss of Arthur. Why is it so difficult?"

"I'm going to be engaged to Alina Tang. You will have a great-grandson after we are married," James reminded him gently.

"Alina Tang?" Augustine thumped on the tea table. "I won't recognize any baby she gives birth to! This illegitimate child will never be allowed to become part of the Xi family!"

Fortunately, Maria had just thrown some vegetables into the hot oil pan, and the sizzling sound blocked any noise coming from outside the kitchen.

When it came to the marriage between Alina and him, James could never persuade Augustine to accept it, so he didn't respond.

"Why would a nice girl want to be with a divorced man? In my opinion, she's desperate to marry into the Xi family because you're young, handsome, and most of all, wealthy. If you were twenty years older with more wrinkles and less money, I don't think she would spare you a single glance."

James replied, "No one's saying this marriage isn't about money. I know that's all Alina cares about, and honestly, so do I. It's a win-win situation."

He also wanted to marry Alina for the profits and the money. So, what was the difference between them? "Alright, but you'd better know what you're doing. You're so stubborn. I still think you're going to regret it someday!" Although Augustine hadn't taken charge of HL Group nor cared about any business for a long time, he still could see everything clearly.

After that, it didn't take long until dinner was ready.

As Maria began to serve the dishes, James decided to become helpful and walked towards the kitchen to give her a hand.

When he was about to pick up the soup, Maria unexpectedly held his arm. "Mr. Xi, please, just wait outside. I'll take care of everything here."

James looked at her hand on his arm and cast a cold glance at her. Losing his patience, he asked, "Maria Song, what the hell do you want?"

Maria smiled at the question. Then she became serious again and said, "I just want to avoid arousing any suspicion about us. Can't you tell? We're alone in the kitchen. If Lawrence hears about it, how am I going to explain this to him? If I had known you would be here tonight, I would have come for a visit tomorrow!"

This was the second time James heard her mention she wanted to avoid arousing suspicion.

He was about to argue when Maria interrupted him, "Okay, let's forget about Lawrence for a moment. You also have a fiancee-to-be. Shouldn't you want to avoid arousing suspicion about any relationship between you and your ex-wife as well?"

James was speechless. As much as it was hard for him to admit, her words made sense.

Losing any interest in helping, James turned around and went to the bathroom to wash his hands. Afterward, he sat at the dining table and waited for dinner to be served.

In the meantime, Augustine had already arranged the seats perfectly in his mind. "Charlotte, sit next to me. James, you sit with Maria opposite us. Tami, remove the other chairs."

In his eyes, they were all family members.

"Yes, sir," Tami answered.

Before James and Maria had the chance to object, four chairs out of eight had been removed, leaving the table arranged as Augustine had planned.

After serving the dishes, Maria was the last one to sit down. As she settled next to James, she was facing Charlotte, who was smiling at her.

In order to avoid any embarrassment, she picked up a piece of beef and some pumpkin with a pair of chopsticks before serving them in Charlotte's bowl. "Grandma, this is beef and pumpkin curry. The meat is cooked longer than usual, so it's already soft and well done. It's easy to chew. Have a try."

"Oh, good! You always cook the best dishes, Maria! Let me have a try." Charlotte took the beef to her mouth and soon nodded as she chewed with satisfaction.

Glancing at the woman next to him, James snorted to himself, 'She's really good at charming the elders, isn't she?'

"This porridge takes Chinese yam, spareribs, and corn. I've let it cook for two hours. Grandpa and Grandma, I'll serve a bowl for each of you." Maria put some porridge in two bowls and placed them in front of the elders.

Charlotte said, "Maria, you've been busy for such a long time already. Come on, help yourself and eat!"

"Okay. Thank you, Grandma!" Maria didn't insist anymore. She leaned back in her seat and began to eat.