Continuing her cooking at hand, Maria curled her red lips and chuckled. "No need to thank me. I'm not as tired as you. Did you cancel your dinner appointment just so you could come home?"
"Yes, I did," James answered, nuzzling his face into her neck.
Maria knew that if he hadn't canceled his dinner appointment, he wouldn't have been able to come home until after midnight.
James gently kissed her on the cheek. When he was about to say something, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate.
Maria tapped his chest with her elbow and urged, "Answer the phone."
"Okay."
James reluctantly let go of her and took out his phone from his pocket. When he saw the name on the caller ID, his face stiffened.
He glanced at the woman who was still focused on her cooking before turning around and walking out of the kitchen.
When Maria turned around from the stove, she saw him slide the answer key and ask in a low voice, "How's it going?"
He must have gotten the answer he wanted, because he casually leaned against the wall with a mysterious smile. When he met the eyes of the woman in the kitchen, his smile deepened.
Maria's hair stood on end. She wondered who was on the other end of the line. Why did James look so happy over a phone call?
Once James hung up the phone, he went straight to the bathroom as if nothing had happened. When he came back, he saw the dining table laden with six different dishes that Maria had prepared.
A bottle of wine and a bottle of hard liquor were placed on the table.
Maria gently opened the bottle of red wine first and poured some into two fancy glasses. Then, taking a seat opposite James, she raised her glass in a toast and said happily, "James, thank you so much for your support for the research and development of our new product and, of course, for the venue for the launch event."
He seemed to be in high spirits too. He kindly nodded and said, "My congratulations to you, Ms. Song."
Maria smiled and downed the wine in one go.
Then, she excitedly picked up some food for him and put it on his plate. "Here, have a taste of the spicy crab with red wine sauce. It's my specialty."
"Sure." James ate the food she had picked up for him with relish. At this moment, his chest was threatening to explode from all the happiness he felt.
"Try this one too! It's made with goose and mushroom," Maria continued like an eager child.
One by one, James had a taste of all the delicious dishes that she had prepared for him.
By the time they finished their meal, Maria was a little drunk. Sometime during dinner, she had opened the bottle of hard liquor and poured a glass of that for herself as well. He gave her the sense of security that she needed to let herself get drunk around someone.
Bit by bit, she started babbling because of the alcohol. Without saying anything to interrupt her, James listened to her grand blueprint with interest. "Do you know what my next goal is? My dream is for DS Group to become a listed company," she gushed.
"Well, it won't be just a dream," James said sincerely, running his hand through her hair.
"I don't think it's a dream, either. Oh, James, you really believe in me, don't you?" It was obvious that Maria was really drunk by now. She was holding her red cheeks in her hands and staring at him fanatically.
"Of course!" James had barely had any wine to drink, and he hadn't touched the hard liquor at all, so he was dead sober.
Later that night, Maria fell asleep in his arms, completely drunk. Before dozing off, she vaguely remembered him asking her some questions.
She tried her best to be on high alert, but her mind was out of control. She didn't know what she had answered.
All she could remember was that he had taken her to the paradise of joy several times that night.
In fact, James had deliberately gotten her drunk and asked her several questions about Bob. And just as he had planned, she had answered each and every one of them truthfully.
He asked, "Where was Bob born?"
"At the OYT hospital in the US."
"Why didn't you tell me about his true identity?"
"Because you're a jerk!"
"Bob is my son, isn't he?" Of course, James had already known the answer to that. The result of the DNA test was exactly what he had suspected.
"No!" Maria cried, lying in his arms. "He's James' son. But I won't tell him!" She had let out a mischievous giggle after that, too drunk to see the look on his face.
The next morning, it was almost eleven o'clock when Maria stirred from her deep slumber.
She shook her heavy head to sober herself up.
Fortunately, the wine and the liquor that James had brought were of good quality. Otherwise she would have woken up with a splitting headache. She just felt some discomfort in her stomach.
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