A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 435 The Wedding Day

As soon as the photos were taken, the cameraman immediately sent them for printing, because there was no time for them to be edited.

Fortunately, Maria didn't have to worry over booking the wedding venue and the hotel.

She spent the following days waking up early and staying up late in preparation for the wedding until finally, the day arrived.

On the day of the wedding, Daniela barged into Maria's room early in the morning and mocked her harshly. Then there were her parents wearing cold expressions. There was no trace of joy on their faces to signify that their daughter was about to get married.

Maria didn't care about all these things; she was just glad that she could finally leave this family.

Since James was getting married, the announcement of the wedding had caused quite a stir in the city. Countless reporters had racked their brains to find a way to get a wedding invitation, but to no avail. In the end, only two reporters clinched an invitation through their networks, and managed to enter the wedding venue without any trouble.

Beginning with the bride's makeup in the morning, the news updates of the bride and the groom were published on all media outlets. As per the schedule, at six o'clock in the morning, the bride began to get her makeup done. At eight o'clock, she changed into her wedding dress, and photos were taken at nine o'clock. At ten o'clock, the groom was supposed to come to pick her up.

But to everyone's astonishment, the man who showed up at the Song family's house to pick up the bride wasn't the groom, but his younger brother, Cooper.

Some people stepped up to explain that James was already waiting at the hotel where the wedding was to be held, which finally stopped the gossip.

Outside the gate of the Song family house, dozens of luxury cars were lined up in a neat order. The grand scene made everyone envious of Maria.

Cooper carried Maria, who was blushing in embarrassment, to the car decorated with flowers.

After the two of them climbed in, the car drove away slowly. As Maria looked back one last time at the Song family house, which was fading from sight, her eyes turned red.

She had finally left the place where she had suffered for a long time.

"Don't be sad. It's not far away. You can come and visit often in the future." A male voice pulled Maria out of her thoughts.

She knew that Cooper had misunderstood her, but she simply nodded without trying to correct him. "Thank you for coming."

If it weren't for him, she would have made a fool of herself in public and become the first bride ever to climb into the wedding car by herself.

With a gentle smile, Cooper shook his head and said, "You're welcome. I already consider you a part of the family."

From now on, Maria would be James' wife and part of the Xi family, which was one of the richest and most powerful families in H City.

One by one, the luxury cars pulled into the hotel porch, and Maria soon got out of one of them.

The hotel where the wedding was being held was the best hotel in H City, and the whole wedding hall had been prepared by professional staff. The decorations were mainly red in color, and they looked high-end and luxurious.

The wedding ceremony started on time. Dressed in her bridesmaid gown, Siena stood behind Maria and excitedly repeated what she had said countless times earlier today. "I envy you so much, Maria. I never dreamed that you would marry James one day! Oh my God! He is there! He looks so handsome!"

Maria raised her head in a daze. Through the white veil, she saw a man in a black suit standing next to the wedding celebrant. The groom's corsage was pinned to his suit, and his deep gaze fell on an unknown place in the distance, as if he wasn't seeing anything at all.

Many women in the audience screamed in excitement as soon as they saw him, and some of them even called out his name.

Maria smiled slightly. Siena might not have dreamed that Maria would marry James one day, but Maria herself had dreamed of it. She had dreamed of marrying him in the warm spring season while wearing a white wedding gown, just like she was doing now.

On the cue of the celebrant standing on stage, Maria walked towards James carefully and elegantly.

When she was less than a meter away from him, he stretched out his hand to her gracefully. Maria's heart fluttered as she raised her hand, adorned in a white glove, and handed herself to him.

Now that their two hands were clasped together, she felt that everything had been worth it.

The next step was for the couple to exchange rings. Siena walked over and handed James the brocade box. Without the slightest flicker of emotion on his face, James took out a diamond ring and lifted Maria's hand to put the ring on her finger.

Just then, his assistant ran to the stage in a hurry, ignoring the gasps from the wedding guests. After the assistant whispered something in James' ear, a touch of worry crossed the latter's face,

and the huge diamond ring in his hand returned to the brocade box. Then, he rushed out of the wedding venue, which caused an uproar.

"James Xi!" Maria cried out after him.

James heard her voice, but he just ignored her and ran out of the hotel without looking back.

Dead silence filled the wedding venue. The weight of the embarrassment made everyone stiffen.

Trying her best to suppress the negative emotions surging from the bottom of her heart, Maria gently told the celebrant, "Carry on!"

The wedding guests broke into hushed discussions. "The bride must be desperate to get married! How can the wedding continue without the presence of the groom? And what's wrong with Mr. Xi? How could he run away from his own wedding?"

"Maybe he doesn't like this bride!"

"She thought she could change her fate by marrying into a rich and powerful family, but in the end... Ha, what a shame!"

"She was abandoned on her wedding day. If I were her, I would jump into the river to kill myself!"

Although the celebrant was old and experienced, he had never seen a wedding where the groom ran away and put the bride on the spot. He was stunned for a moment. It was not until the bride reminded him to continue that he cleared his throat, suppressed the embarrassment, and continued, "Now, let's welcome the parents of the newly-wed couple to the stage."

Both of their parents walked onto the stage with long faces. James' father, Sebastian, took the microphone from the celebrant and apologized to the wedding guests. "I'm sorry, everyone. There's an emergency at the company, so James had to leave for a while." Then, he looked at Maria and

said, "Maria, although James had to leave for a short while, you are already his wife and my daughter-in-law."

For a short while? Everyone at the wedding, including Maria, knew that James would not return that day.

Maria didn't know how she managed to get through the wedding ceremony. She just plastered a smile on her face and absent-mindedly toasted to the important guests with her parents-in-law. After all the guests left, she was taken to the Xi family house.

In the house, Augustine was erupting with anger. "If that scoundrel doesn't come back tonight, he doesn't need to come back for the rest of his life!"

"Sir, Ms. Song is back!"

Hearing the butler's announcement, Augustine had to swallow his anger for the time being.

Maria walked into the living room and greeted the two elders with respect. "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma."

Charlotte walked over, held her hand, and said kindly, Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

"Don't worry, my dear. Go to your room and wait there. Augustine will definitely call James back."

Maria was moved to the point of tears. She looked at the kind elderly couple and nodded with a smile. "Okay. Don't worry, I'm fine. Grandpa and Grandma, you should go to bed early."

"We will." Charlotte nodded, and then looked at the butler. "Lead Maria upstairs and let her have a rest."

"Yes, ma'am!"

It was only when Maria walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her that she could finally relax and let herself feel the weight of everything that had happened that day.

Massaging her tired waist, she sank onto the edge of the king-sized bed, which was covered with special red bedding. In the center of the bed, there were red dates, peanuts, longans, and lotus seeds, which were meant to represent the elders' wishes that the newlywed couple would have a baby soon. There were also gold bars, silver bars, and precious jewelry placed there.

Everything had been arranged perfectly for the wedding night, but the groom wasn't there. How ironic!