Chapter 62 Engagement Ring
Chapter 62 Engagement Ring
Eventually, James shook off Maria's chin rudely and said through clenched teeth, "If you don't get out of here in one second, I will throw you out in pieces."
Maria didn't say anything. She just exhaled heavily and glared at him.
But when she noticed that he looked away, she took advantage of the opportunity. Before he could know it, she already held his hands tightly.
James was stunned as he didn't see it coming. And while his body froze, Maria tiptoed, kissed his lips, and bit his lower lip to bleed.
Before he could react, she quickly jumped away from him. The taste of blood in her mouth gradually dissipated her anger. She licked her lips wantonly and turned her body towards the door in an enchanting way. "I wonder how you are going to explain that to Alina Tang," she said complacently before going out.
The bite marks she had left on his lower lip would take a few days to heal.
"Maria Song!" James roared behind the closed door.
Maria heard it, but she didn't mind. Instead, she tossed her long hair behind her back and gracefully walked out of the HL Group, looking triumphant. All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.
But as soon as she got in the car, the complacent look on her face vanished. Alina had done something to expedite the lawsuit, so she had to find a way to deal with it immediately.
Yesterday, she had just received the lawyer's letter, and the court hearing would commence in two days.
If she didn't abide by the requirements of the law, she would be put in jail again. When that happened, she knew that Joshua would do all his best to deal with her.
Since things didn't work with James just now, Maria had to find another way to overcome this.
She thought for a while before giving her lawyer a call. "Let's accept the challenge. Get a copy of the hotel's surveillance video ready."
After talking with her lawyer for a few minutes, she called another person. "Investigate Ronald and Alina. Dig deeper and find all the scandals related to them."
Her battle was about to begin, so she needed to be combat-ready.
She wasn't able to provide direct evidence to prove that Alina was responsible for drugging her. It'd been so many years, and the person who drugged her was too difficult to find. During the entire day, almost all employees of the HL Group had noticed the bite marks on James' lower lip. Alina had heard about it in the evening. After her work, she couldn't wait to see James, so she rushed to HL Group as soon as she could.
When she arrived, James was about to start with his scheduled conference. It was supposed to be a video conference, but he requested to change it into a voice conference. Alina checked his lips. There were a few bite marks on his lower lip.
"James?" she exclaimed in a low voice, trying to suppress the jealousy in her heart. But she couldn't hide the questioning look on her face.
Alina wondered who could have done it to James. As a woman, she knew what it was. A trace of fury flashed across her eyes as she thought who could have dared to provoke her this way.
James glanced at her, signaling to her to sit down first. His conference was more important. No matter how urgent Alina's concern was, it was not his priority. He could talk about it with her after he
finished his work.
Alina didn't dare to interfere with his business either, so she had to quietly sit on the sofa not far away.
She took out her phone and sent a message to Lorenzo. "Who were the women who came to James' office today?" Alina knew that James didn't leave the company today. She should have gone to Lorenzo's desk first to ask everything that happened in the company the entire day before she went to James' office. But she was too excited to see James that it didn't occur to her.
Since Lorenzo didn't hide anything from Alina, he sent her the names of the women who came to see James today.
Alina's eyes were glued to Maria's name. Her hunch was right. Besides, there would be no other women who could be as bold as Maria when it came to James.
'Maria Song, you are such a shameless bitch!' she thought to herself as she went furious. Last night, Elaine had taught Maria a lesson in front of James. She didn't expect that Maria would still have the audacity to come to James today.
When James' conference was over, Alina had already calmed down. She looked at him with concern in her eyes and asked, "James, what happened to your lips? Have you applied medicine?"
James closed his laptop and replied, "Yes, I have. Why are you here? It's so late now."
Obviously, he ignored her first question. Alina bit her lower lip and remained silent for a long time. But when she saw the puzzled look on James' face, she came back to her senses. She faintly smiled and said, "Nothing serious. I just missed you. How about we go out for dinner?" "Sorry. I can't go with you. I have so many things to do tonight." James opened a drawer nearby, took out a small box, and handed it to her. "By the way, the engagement ring is ready. Try it on."
The words "engagement ring" sounded like music to Alina's ears. She was so overjoyed that she totally forgot about the bite marks. She took the box from him with trembling hands. And as soon as she opened it, she gaped at it as if she had seen a treasure.
A ring with a heart-shaped diamond that was almost as big as a dove egg on top quietly lay inside the box.
Alina took out the diamond ring and was about to put it on her ring finger when something suddenly occurred to her. She approached James, who was reading a document, and said, "James, can you put it on my finger?"
Without raising his head, James continued writing some notes on the document and said, "I'm a little busy now."
Alina bit her lip and just stared at him in silence. She was hurt by his attitude towards her.
But there was nothing she could do, so she just put the ring on her ring finger by herself. It seemed that he didn't know her size because it was a little tight. She then showed her hand in front of him and said, "Look, James. It's just a little smaller, but does it look good on me?" She tried her best to sound energetic. "Not bad. I'll ask Lorenzo to change the size tomorrow," he answered without even casting her a glance. Actually, when he asked Lorenzo to buy a diamond ring, he casually told Lorenzo the finger size that abruptly came to his mind. Before he realized it, Lorenzo had already left.
"It's all right, James. I can do it myself. This is my ring, and I want to personally take care of it," Alina said in a dulcet tone.
"Okay." James didn't insist anymore.
Alina's eyes landed on James' slender and bony fingers. She noticed that he wasn't wearing a ring, so she said, "You don't wear anything on your finger. I'll get a ring for you too."
"No need. I'm not used to wearing any jewelry," James casually said, still looking at the document in his hand.
Alina's heart sank. She clearly remembered that James had worn a wedding ring when he was still married to Maria. But now that she was his fiancee-to-be, he refused her offer by making an excuse that he didn't wear any jewelry.
She concealed the sadness in her heart with a false smile and insisted, "It doesn't matter. You can wear the ring during the engagement day, then just take it off after."
"That will do. Thanks." James didn't want to waste his time on such a trivial matter, so he agreed with Alina at once. "Why are you so polite? James, I'm not an outsider anymore."
While talking, Alina's eyes focused on his wounded lip all the time. Well, it was so eyecatching that it was difficult for her to ignore it. She couldn't take it anymore, so she finally asked, "Who bit your lip?"
It was only then that James shifted his gaze from the document to her face.
His eyes looked so deep and inexplicable that Alina felt a little scared. Meeting his gaze reminded her of an old saying, "To be in the king's company is tantamount to living with a tiger."
"Go home now."
Upon hearing those three words, she subconsciously straightened her back. James not only ignored her question for the second time but also drove her away. For a moment, she didn't move. She thought it was so unjust and she couldn't accept it. Almost losing her temper, she asked, "Was it Maria Song?"
"Since you already know the answer, why do you still ask?"
"I just want to hear it right from you, James. We are soon to be engaged, and she is your past. Why did you still allow her to do this to you? Is it because you can't let go of her?" Alina's eyes turned red as she was on the verge of crying. "You have nothing to worry about. She is not a threat to your throne as future Mrs. Xi."
His words sounded like a promise to her. James loosened his tie and leaned against the back of chair.
"How about you, James?" Alina walked over and hugged him, her tearful eyes begging. "You are an exceptional man. I know that there are thousands of women who are willing to climb up your bed whatever it takes. If you want to, you can fool around with them. I won't interfere. But I only want one thing. Maria Song should not be one of them."
Alina could accept anyone to be James' mistress but Maria. She would never allow Maria to be a part of his life ever again.