A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 374 Diamond Ring

James nodded. "Yeah, Ethan's grandfather is the chairman of Mu Group. And Ethan is his favorite grandson."

'Oh my God! No wonder a young veterinarian like him is able to spend money without a care in the world!

And he has a winery in France.' Maria's eyes went wide with shock.

"Then why is his surname Nan?"

"To throw people off his scent. He always wants to keep a low profile." His name change greatly angered his grandfather, so much so that he threatened to cut Ethan off-but Ethan was still his favorite, so he was reluctant to do so. So far, they had been in a stalemate.

Maria sighed. "Money makes some people so stubborn."

As she spoke, Bob was quietly making his way to the edge of the bed. Fortunately, James caught him in the act and yanked him back to the center of the mattress.

The little boy seemed unhappy. He frowned and gurgled, "Mommy..."

'Mommy?' Maria's eyes lit up in excitement. "James, did you hearthat? Bob called me Mommy!"

The man frowned. "Why doesn't he call me Daddy?"

Maria rolled her eyes at him and scooped up her son. "Son, call me Mommy...

Bob watched his mother attentively and opened his mouth to imitate her. "Mommy..."

When Maria was sure the child was addressing her, she kissed him on the forehead happily. "My dear baby, you're amazing!"

James, on the other hand, was frowning deeply. He walked over to the two and grabbed his son's little hand. "Hey, call me Daddy!"

Bob just looked at him with his big eyes and said nothing.

James let go of the boy's hand dejectedly.

Maria laughed and tried to comfort her upset man. "Don't worry about it too much. The baby is only a few months old. He'll call your his daddy sooner or later." Maybe he would call James his dad after the Spring Festival.

"Fine."

Later that evening, Maria headed to the bathroom to take a shower, leaving James in charge of the baby.

Halfway through her shower, she heard the baby's cries coming from the bedroom. But she decided to shrug it off; after all, his father was there to take care of him.

However, a few minutes later, the door to the bathroom burst open and James came in, carrying a very upset Bob.

The moment Bob laid eyes on his mother, he stopped wailing. He just looked at Maria with tearful eyes, gurgling slightly.

Maria, still in the bath, eyed her son warily. Then she shifted her gaze to the man carrying him, shooting him a murderous glare.

James was also ticked off. Carrying his son into the bathroom was his last resort. "He's just making a scene. He's full, but he doesn't want to go to sleep." He looked down at his son indignantly. He

wanted to pinch Bob as a disciplinary action. However, worried that Maria would kill him, he resisted that urge.

Maria sighed and hurried to finish her shower. James stood to the side with Bob in his arms. After a while, he headed back to the bedroom, Bob in his arms.

"Waah!" The second he stepped foot outside the bathroom, Bob burst into tears once more. Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

"Can I beat him now?" James asked, rolling his eyes. Why did this little boy insist on watching his mother take a shower?

"No. But you can take him to the pool, he always enjoys a swim." Bob, like most other children, enjoyed playing in the water.

"No. It's time for him to go to bed." If Bob didn't go to sleep, James wouldn't be able to be intimate with Maria.

Maria sighed again. "Fine. I'll be done here soon."

When she was done with her shower, Maria wrapped herself in a bath towel and took Bob from James.

Bob seemed satisfied, and rested his chin on her shoulder contentedly.

Maria patted the baby's diapered butt and asked James, "Did you pinch him?"

"Yes," James said on purpose, locking eyes with her defiantly.

What did she take him for? A child abuser?

Maria stifled her laughter and tried to pretend to be angry. "I knew it!" she exclaimed.

"Do you want me to show you how I pinched him?" James saw this as an opportunity to teach Bob a lesson and actually pinch the baby.

Maria hurriedly turned the boy away from him protectively. "It's your turn to take a shower."

Without arguing with her, James nodded and went into the bathroom.

HL Group's annual meeting was held a little later than usual this year. James had instructed Summer to make it grander than usual.

There were three meetings in total. Only the most popular stars of H City were invited to enliven the atmosphere of the meetings.

James took Maria with him to all three meetings without even trying to hide the fact that they were together. In the eyes of all his employees, Maria was already Mrs. Xi.

This year's Spring Festival was even more lively in Xi family thanks to the presence of Bob. It was also the first Spring Festival Maria and James celebrated together in years.

On the New Year's Eve, they took Bob to Augustine's house. Sebastian and Cooper also came.

Augustine and Charlotte were so happy. Over dinner, Augustine even helped himself to two whole glasses of hard alcohol.

Everyone stayed in the house for the night. After making sure the child was asleep, Maria stepped onto the balcony and bent over the handrail to watch the wintery scene before her.

When James was done with his work, he went to look for Maria. He found her by the balcony railing and crept up behind her. When he was finally close enough, he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered lovingly into her ear, "Mia."

Unfortunately for him, Maria smelled the alcohol in his breath and shoved him away in disgust. "Take a shower," she ordered.

"Just wait a minute." Heedless of her order, he buried his nose in her sweet-smelling hair and refused to leave her.

Finally, Maria decided to just let him be.

"We've known each other for around ten years, right? Yet this is the first time we've spent Spring Festival together." In the first year they got together, he left her at home after the family reunion dinner on the lunar New Year's Eve.

The man squeezed the woman in his arms tightly. "From now on, let's celebrate every Spring Festival together."

Leaning into his embrace, she kept silent for a while. Finally, she said flatly, "Okay."

James didn't notice her change of tone. "You had disappeared for months. I didn't know you were going to have a baby. You had a good plan. You told me you needed some space for a while."

He didn't blame her pertaining to the fact that she had set him up. Of course, he wouldn't dare to.

Maria just snorted. "Why would I have told you the truth, Mr. Xi? You would've dug the baby out of my belly."

"I wouldn't have done that. I just wanted to scare you. " How could he do that to his own child?

Maria turned around to look the man in the eye. "Mr. Xi, are you planning to settle accounts with me?"

"What accounts? I'm just saying, you were kind of unfair to me." His hand reached up and lingered on her cheek.

She held back her laughter. "How about you disappear for a few months and let me know how you felt?"

No way! James planted a kiss on her lips and said, "I think you can make it up to me with your body."

Maria rolled her eyes. 'Jerk!'

There was a moment of silence on the balcony. Finally, James pulled away slightly to fish something out of his pocket. He placed the mysterious item on her finger and whispered, "My Spring Festival gift to you." He only had one wish that year, and that was to remarry Maria.

Maria stared at the shiny diamond ring on her finger. "I thought I already refused your proposal," she said after a while.

"That doesn't mean I can't put a diamond ring on your finger."

Maria looked at him wordlessly. This was all just sweet talk, right? When did James learn how to do that? Finally, she held up the huge rock on her finger and announced, "Not bad!"

"Just not bad?" James was not satisfied.

She rolled her eyes and pretended to take off the ring. "You once gave Alina a ring, which totally disgusted me at the time."