Maria chuckled upon hearing the news. How could she have James taken away for investigation? She didn't have enough power to do something that drastic to him.
From the very beginning, she never had to stand out to deal Jonathan the final blow. At that moment, she secretly contacted someone to encourage the investors to sue Jonathan together, escalating the gravity of this matter. She never surrendered despite the fact that James could be dragged into it later.
During the Festival of the Kitchen God, snow was falling from the sky. This was the first snowfall that H City experienced since the winter started this year.
Maria had been working on her laptop for quite some time and she was now exhausted. She dragged her feet around the ward, circling the room to rest her eyes.
Just outside the door, she could hear some people chatting about James.
And thus, she wondered if James dropped by.
Maria scoffed. She had believed that she wouldn't see him again during her stay at the hospital.
To ensure that she heard it right, she made her way towards the door and peered through the window.
As soon as he got off the plane, James rushed to the hospital instead of going to the company.
But the moment he walked through the corridor, he ran into an old acquaintance, his former neighbor. "Hello, Uncle Aaron," he greeted him.
"James, what a coincidence! What are you doing here?¹
Glancing at a particular ward, James replied in a steady voice, "I'm here to visit a patient. What about you, Uncle Aaron?" "The same. Jenna! Come here and see who I ran into!" Aaron Luo was calling someone in the ward nearby.
Seconds later, a middle-aged woman came out, followed by a young lady.
When the middle-aged woman saw James, her confused expression turned into surprise. "Is that you, James?"
"Yes, Aunt Jenna. Long time no see." James nodded at her.
"My dearest James!" The girl behind Jenna was delighted to see James. She threw herself into his arms and greeted him in a sweet voice.
She appeared to be seventeen years old, had an innocent face, and was quite infatuated with James.
Craning her neck, Maria's face was almost pressed against the glass when she ascertained that the girl had indeed thrown herself into James' arms.
And although he wasn't holding her, he didn't push the girl away either.
Staring at the middle-aged couple, James asked them, "Is this Candice?"
"Indeed, she is. Candice, come here. Don't hug James like that." Embarrassed, the middle-aged woman scolded her daughter.
Amused, James said, "You've grown up, Candice."
"That's right," Aaron answered with a smile. "When we moved out, Candice was only six years old. More than a decade has passed by in a blur."
Candice was one of James' loyal fans. She had wanted to meet him again for a long time, but she had never gotten the chance.
And now that she saw him, Candice was very excited. She circled around him, and said, "I didn't expect that you'd be so powerful now. You know, all of my friends are your fans, and so am I."
Her parents shook their heads helplessly. Trying to smooth things over for their daughter, Aaron said, "James, don't mind her please. Candice has admired you ever since she saw you on the news."
James shrugged. "It's not a problem."
Candice burst into tears of excitement. "James, can I ask for your autograph?"
Back when she was just an infant, James had held her in his arms, so he had no reason to refuse something that trivial.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Vengeful Ex-Wife