Chapter 4 Games And James

This time, James sent a message to John which read, "I don't need to hear anything about Maria." Whatever that woman was up to, he didn't want to know.

After she came home from the cemetery, Maria was tired and hit the sheets. The next morning, she went to HM Group for her interview. It was all part of the plan.

Maria's homecoming made most of the city nervous.

On her third day there, Alina called her. "Maria, a friend of mine went to America. Now she's back, and I'm throwing a party to celebrate. Wanna come?"

"No thanks. I'm not sticking around here much longer. I'm gone as of tonight," Maria said in a soft voice, but there was no hint of emotion on her face.

She used to think of Alina as a scheming woman, but it seemed that she was not as patient as she thought she was. 'Huh? Is Alina afraid I might go to the police and report her crime?

Don't worry, Alina. I won't do it now. The game hasn't even begun,' thought Maria.

She wanted Alina to know that she, Maria, had the final say over how Alina spent the rest of her life!

"Leaving so soon? You just got here! Why the rush? At least stay long enough for the party!" If Maria left now, Alina couldn't mess with her. Not only that, she had to make it clear to Maria that James was her fiance-to-be, and was off-limits.

By then, even if Maria didn't leave, she would find someone to drive her off. After all, she was James' ex-wife. He might still carry a torch for her.

"Well… okay then. See you there."

After hanging up the phone, the two were thinking about their own plans.

Maria was pretty sure James would also go to the party. If he wasn't going to be there, Alina would have had no reason to invite her. Alina didn't need to show off her wealth. She just wanted to show off her fiance-to-be, James.

It turned out that Maria's guess was right. As expected, James was there.

Someone opened the door to the private room. Then, James and Alina walked in.

The man wore a dark blue tailored suit sans tie, and the top three buttons of his shirt were undone. He was not as serious as he was at work, dressed in business casual clothes. But his bearing revealed his dignity.

Next to him stood Alina in a dress of light brown. She had the full monty when it came to makeup. Fake lashes, drawn on eyebrows, luscious lips. She kept smiling, maybe because of James.

Seeing them walk in, all the partygoers stood and began to greet the couple. They had caused a momentary commotion.

Maria took a few steps back and sat quietly in a corner, watching them exchange greetings.

A moment later, Alina looked around the room and fixed her eyes on Maria, who was playing with her phone. She called out, "Maria, you're here!"

Maria was sporting a red shirt with three buttons undone, revealing the black camisole inside. She topped it off with a high-waisted long black skirt, showing off her perfect figure.

Hearing her greeting, Maria immediately put away her phone, stood up and addressed the smiling woman. "Hi Alina! Hello, Mr. Xi!"

Seeing Maria dressed like that, Alina believed she was trying to seduce James. She glanced at the man beside her and found that James refusing to even look at Maria. Seeing this made her quite happy.

She stood up and walked over to Maria. She took her hand and said kindly, "I'm glad you could come tonight. Until the party the other night, we hadn't even seen each other for years. I want to change that."

Echoing Alina's play-acting, Maria responded, "Okay! Me too!"

Stella would never forget what this woman had done to her. She seized the opportunity and began to insult Maria. "You were too kind to invite her here, Alina. You treat her like your own sister, but she probably doesn't appreciate it! The Song family has cut ties with her. Where do you get off acting like this?"

Stella wanted to call her a murderess, but she was afraid that might remind James of the unpleasant past. She swallowed the word she wanted to say most to avoid angering him.

Alina tucked her hair behind her ear and scolded Stella. "Quit it. Let bygones be bygones. She's my cousin regardless."

She looked like a noble goddess, as beautiful as the Virgin Mary, and once again won the hearts of the men at the party.

Stella shook her head helplessly. Then she looked at James. He'd kept his silence thus far. "Mr. Xi, I heard you're getting engaged. Treat her right. Alina's a good girl."

James was playing with the lighter in his hand, opening it, staring at the flame, and closing it again. When he heard Stella talking to him, he looked up at her and said, "Are you telling me what to do?"

His voice was cold and ruthless, and the room fell into a hushed silence.

The normally happy guests scarcely dared to breathe. Because of her relationship with Alina, Stella often mocked the people she hung out with.

James's words were humiliating. She blushed and hurriedly explained, "No, Mr. Xi. I didn't mean it like that."

If it were anyone else, Stella would have torn him to shreds. Her temper was the stuff of legends. But it was James.

Alina was afraid James would get mad and leave, so she didn't call him out for disrespecting her friend. She tried to change the subject. "Well, it's time to start the party! You, go open the wine!"

"Okay, Alina."

And Alina was successful at turning those frowns upside down.

Taking all this in, Maria sat in the corner and waited for Alina to make a move.

After raising their glasses, toasting Alina's friend who had come back from abroad, they clinked glasses and sipped the wine.

James came here today to keep Alina company. He sat on the sofa and stared at his cell phone, a contrast to the party atmosphere.

He gave off such an intimidating vibe that no one could ignore him. They shook it off and tried to lose themselves among the other partygoers.

Alina was more restless than Maria had expected. As soon as everyone had a glass of wine in their hand, she put her plan into action.

In fact, Maria was quietly watching everything that was going on. She came here prepared. She was just biding her time when she saw Alina wink at Stella.

Stella took that as her cue. She put down her glass and looked at Maria, smiling innocently. "Hey, Maria, didn't you used to have a crush on someone on your school days? You'd never admit to it, even when you had to drink three glasses of wine when you lost the game. Now that your school days are behind you, who was it?"

Again, the party guests fell silent. Everyone waited in breathless anticipation of Maria's answer. Was Stella talking about James?