Peggy rolled her eyes. "Mr. XI is always calm, isn't he? When was the last time you saw him get excited over anything? Are you expecting him to hold you tightly and passionately profuse his love for you?"
Maria bit her lower lip in thought. Of course she didn't expect him to go that far, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that he was too calm, as if he was unhappy.
Unperturbed by her silence, Peggy continued, "I mean, all the hot searches are about the two of you! It's so awesome! Who paid for the publicity, Mr. Xi or you?"
"He did," Maria answered.
"I'm so jealous of you! You're the only woman who he has officially admitted to dating." Peggy sighed and looked longingly into the distance, putting her hands over her heart.
Maria snorted. "He admitted to being together with Alina too, remember? Are you jealous of her too?"
Peggy frowned and quickly waved her hand. "Come on, that's different! Can Alina even compete with you? If you ask me, it's all because of you that Mr. Xi broke off the engagement to her. He loves you so much that he gave her up for you."
'Does he really love me that much?' Maria wondered. "Well, I don't know about that, but thank you, Peggy."
She turned to walk to her office, but Peggy stopped her again with a mischievous smile. "Wait! Do you have any idea what's waiting for you in the office?"
Maria turned back and asked in confusion, "What?"
"It’s a big surprise!"
Maria shrugged and pushed the door open. As soon as she walked in, she saw a fancy bouquet on her desk. It almost took her breath away.
She had never seen these flowers before. They resembled roses, but they were a brilliant shade of blue, like the color of a starry night sky.
Each petal was dotted with golden and scarlet glitter.
Peggy popped her head out from behind her back and grinned. "I had to ask Mr. Xi's assistant to find out what kind of flowers these are."
"What are they?" Maria still couldn't take her eyes away from the beautiful flowers.
"Starry Roses," Peggy replied, sighing contentedly. "You see the golden glitter on them? Well, apparently it's real gold! I confirmed it with the assistant. Mr. Xi is really rich, isn't he?"
Maria finally forced her feet to move forward. Going over to the table, she picked up bouquet. There were not as many as the blue roses she received last time, perhaps because they were rare. There were 66 roses in total.
What was more, these roses had a delightfully different scent from the normal ones. They carried a light, calming fragrance with a note of fruitiness.
"I looked up these roses online, but I couldn't find anything about them. Then, I asked a friend of mine who's a fashion editor, and she has heard of this rose variety before. It's very rare and expensive. Each rose costs nearly two hundred thousand dollars," Peggy said excited.
In other words, the bouquet Maria was holding in her hand now was worth more than ten million.
Her eyes popped out and her heart skipped a beat when she quickly calculated the figure in her head. She had the urge to call James right now and ask whether he could return the bouquet or not. Maybe he could transfer the money to her account?
Of course, this amount of money was like pennies to him, and she knew well that there was no reason for her to return the flowers. After Peggy left her office, she sat at her desk and took out her phone to send a message to James.
She had barely typed a word when she changed her mind.
Picking up the bouquet of roses again, she took a few photos of herself holding it in front of her. She looked mature and charming in these selfies.
She carefully picked a picture that she was satisfied with and sent it to him, along with the words, 'Do I look good?"
James was visiting his branch company when he received the photo from Maria. With a smile, he quickly typed out a reply that read, "You look best when you call me honey without wearing anything."
After sending it, he saved the photo that he had received.
Maria sent him a eyes-rolling emoji and replied, "Shut up!"
Then, she threw the phone aside as if it was a hot potato.
Now, it was public knowledge that she and James were together, so other women wouldn't be able to cozy up to him anymore. If Alina ever tried to bother him again, she would definitely ask reporters to expose her nasty behavior. 'If Alina's not afraid that her reputation will be ruined, let her try her luck!' she thought to herself with a sneer.
After work, Maria cancelled the dinner with her clients and went straight to James' grandparents' house.
She was holding Bob in her arms when she received a call from James. She answered the phone, not intending to tell James about her whereabouts, but Bob opened his mouth and gurgled.
"Are you with Bob right now?" James asked flatly, keenly hearing the noise.
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