A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 283

"It's already half past nine," Peggy answered. "The meeting was supposed to start half an hour ago. Did you oversleep?"

"Yeah," Maria admitted guiltily. This was all James' fault.

Only then did Maria realize James wasn't in the apartment and that she was alone there. There was no trace of the drunken man from the night before.

She would've thought she had dreamt the whole thing up, if it weren't for her sore body.

"So what should we do? How about I let Mr. Qian take charge of the meeting?"

Peggy asked.

"Okay." After hanging up the phone, Maria angrily tugged at her hair. 'Damn it! James Xi strikes again!'

But didn't he say that if she left him, there was no turning back? Then what was last night about? She couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind. Perhaps he was putting on an act, pretending he didn't want to let go of her.

Unfortunately for him, she was not a teenage girl anymore and was not about to fall for his trap.

Meanwhile, at the HL Group headquarters, James' morning meeting had just adjourned and he headed back to his office.

Summer came in to report to him the latest company data.

After she was done talking, James asked, "When was the last time you were on leave?"

Summer glanced at her boss in confusion. "Not too long ago, sir. I had two days off last month." However, two days off was a luxury for any assistant of James.

"Hand over your work to Gary and take the next couple of days off."

'What? Did I do something wrong?' Summer panicked. "Excuse me, Mr. Xi, did I present wrong data just now?"

James, seeing that she misunderstood him, just added in a light tone, "It's a paid leave."

Realizing what was going on, Summer was overjoyed. "Thank you, Mr. Xi!"

"Now, get back to work."

"Okay."

Suppressing the excitement in her heart, Summer hastily gathered her files and returned to her desk happily. She sent a text to Maria, saying, "Ms. Song, thanks to you, I can have a few days off. I got a paid leave!"

Maria, who was neck deep in work, spared Summer a second of her time and replied with a question mark.

However, Summer suddenly needed to deal with a distinguished guest who had just arrived at the HL Group offices, so it completely slipped her mind to reply to Maria's questioning text.

That evening, Maria visited Augustine again, where Charlotte strongly urged her to stay the night.

She agreed, and put her work aside to play with Bob. The mother and son finally shared a bed.

Listening to his son's steady breathing, Maria lowered her head and gently kissed the baby's plump face over and over again.

She had wanted a natural labor. Unfortunately, to her displeasure, she was forced to have a C-section when the time came for Bob to enter the world.

Last night, James had gently traced the scar on her belly with his finger. "What happened here?"

Fortunately, Maria had been prepared for this question. "I had appendicitis."

Back when she had Arthur, she had given birth to him naturally, so James had no experience with C-sections and consequently had no clue what kind of scar it would leave. Maria's mind wandered to the previous night. She still remembered his gentle kisses on her scar.

Her eyes popped open and she shook her head, as though she could physically shake off the memory of the man from the night before. Her gaze landed on her baby's dimpled face, and she reached for his cheek and gently pinched it. "Your father is the worst. Please don't grow up to be like him."

However, the little guy shifted in his sleep and turned to his other side, leaving Maria with only the sight of the back of his head.

'Is this his answer?' she wondered.