A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 2

Although he could sense the provocation in Norman's tone, James was still indifferent as he answered, "Then, Mr. Shen, congratulations in advance!"

From afar, the two men could look as either friends or foes. It would be hard for an outsider to distinguish.

As Norman heard James' response, he smiled without saying anything.

Since they didn't have much in common, they promptly separated in order to socialize with other guests.

As soon as Alina dragged Maria to a corner, she loosened the grip on her wrist. With a cold look in her eyes, she stared at Maria and asked, "Why did you come back to H City?"

Maria rubbed her aching wrist and explained, "I didn't plan to, Alina. It was Mr. Shen who asked me to accompany him to the party. I couldn't refuse him, so I came."

'Humph! How could I not come back? I would be a murderess for the rest of my life if I stayed away forever,' Maria thought to herself, concealing her true feelings. Her sudden return to H City seemed unexpected to a lot of people. At the moment, Maria wanted to get Alina's guard down so that she could deal with her later.

Despite the softness in Maria's voice when answering the question, her timidity was long gone. Alina failed to notice this as her only focus was on finding out why Maria had returned so abruptly.

"You used to be mute. When did you recover?" Alina asked.

With a smile, Maria replied, "Right. I happened to meet a doctor who was able to cure me. Alina, don't you think I was lucky?"

After a few years without seeing each other, Maria looked even more gentle and delicate, far from the bold look suggested by her glamorous dress and makeup.

"James and I are about to get engaged soon. I advise you to forget what happened between you two in the past, or I'll make you disappear from H City for good." Maria could hear the obvious threat in Alina's voice.

'They're about to get engaged...' From an angle that Alina couldn't notice, Maria sank her freshly manicured nails into her palms, but her face remained unaffected. "Alina, please don't worry. I divorced Mr. Xi a long time ago. I don't hold on to any fantasy about him anymore. If there's nothing for me to do in H City in the next few days, I'll leave soon." Alina nodded with satisfaction. "Good. At least you're still wise to know your place. Now, if you're done here, just leave. You're not welcome to my birthday party!"

"Okay! I'm leaving right now," Maria answered without any hesitation.

The next moment, several young ladies from high society came out of nowhere and surrounded Maria. A woman approached her contemptuously. "Oh, Maria Song! How did you manage to hook up with Mr. Shen?"

"In my opinion, Mr. Shen is dating her just for fun. How could a gorgeous man like him take a fancy to someone else's ex-wife?"

"You are absolutely right! Maria, what's the use of a murderess like you dressing up so nicely?" This time, a woman in a blue evening dress walked over to Maria and pinched her chin, raising it to look into her eyes. "I advise you to stay away from Mr. Xi and Mr. Shen from now on. You bitch don't deserve to even dream about men like them!"

As soon as their eyes met, Maria recognized the woman in front of her. She was Stella Qin, Alina's confidant and the youngest daughter of the Qin family's head.

Maria didn't say a word while she listened to their insults.

Realizing that Maria wouldn't respond, Stella Qin took two steps closer and provoked her further. "You know that Mr. Shen and Mr. Xi are sworn enemies. Yet you still dare to shamelessly hook up with Mr. Shen. You're doing this to attract Mr. Xi's attention, aren't you?"

Stella Qin looked at the other woman, and her jealousy got the best of her as she raised a hand to slap Maria in the face. "Bitch! You like to pretend you're this poor thing, but I'll show you... Ouch!"

Maria grabbed Stella Qin's hand still in motion and knocked her head against the wall, neither heavily nor lightly. Therefore, the expected slap sound never came, and it got replaced by Stella Qin's cry of pain.

Several people, including Alina, looked at the scene stunned. Alina couldn't believe that it was Maria who did this.