A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 281 Open The Door

Caiden and Maria were about the same age. He smiled at her, his pearly whites greeting her brightly. "My coworker must have just introduced our courses to you already, right? We have group fitness classes, Pilates, personal training courses, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. If you have nothing else to do, I can assure you there will be something here for you."

Maria nodded. "I'll most probably be here in the mornings. I'll let you know beforehand."

"Okay, sounds great!"

At this moment, a familiar voice called her. "Hey, Maria!"

Maria turned around and found it was Kent.

He was wearing white sportswear, sweating profusely. Next to him was a man about his age, also sweating. The two of them seemed to have just finished an intense workout.

"Hi Kent!" Maria returned his greeting with a charming smile. "Are you also a member of this club?" It was not surprising that Kent was a VIP member here before his family went bankrupt.

Kent nodded. "I got a VIP membership here a while back and it still hasn't expired. I headed here once I got off work this morning." Maria, what about you? I haven't seen you here before. Did you just join?"

"Yeah." Maria waved the shiny new card in front of him as proof. "Recently, everyone's been saying I gained some weight, so I'm here to lose a couple of pounds." Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

It was true she had gotten a little plump, but after all, she had just given birth. Back when she was in the US, she worked out almost every day. After she came back, she totally abandoned her workout routine.

Kent chuckled, looking her up and down. "Maria, you should beat the crap out of those people. You don't look fat at all, you look just right."

Maria shrugged. "All the same, I want to shed the extra fat. Are you guys leaving already?"

"Yeah, we're headed for the shower. Maybe we can come here together someday. Anyway, enjoy!"

"Okay, bye."

After parting with Kent, Maria changed into gym clothes and did an hour of entry level exercise under the guidance of the coach.

It was already eight o'clock in the evening when she emerged from the gym, fresh from a shower. She was too tuckered out to cook that night, so she decided to eat at a restaurant on the way home.

Meanwhile, at the H City Grand Hotel, a group of drunken men exited.

With the business dinner meeting over, the attendees had let loose and had one too many drinks— James included. Summer hurriedly opened the door to the Harkim as her boss staggered towards the car, halfsupported by another assistant. Finally, the assistant was able to plop the CEO into the back seat.

In an instant, the entire interior of the car reeked of alcohol. Wrinkling her nose, Summer whispered to the assistant, "How much did he drink and why didn't you stop him?"

The newly promoted assistant was in a dilemma. Sighing helplessly, he answered, "It was hard to tell him what and what not to do."

"I see," Summer said, shaking her head. If she had been with them in the dinner just now, she wouldn't have let James drink so much. After all, it was part of her job to look out for him.

The driver started the engine and shot Summer a questioning glance, as if to say, "Where next?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Summer turned around and asked, "Mr. Xi, shall I send you back to the manor or the company?"

But the man didn't seem to hear her. He closed his eyes and leaned against the backrest, as though he had passed out.

Summer repeated her question, but James still ignored her.

Distressed, she wanted to tear the hair out of her head. She had never encountered such a situation before.

James had drank a lot of her before, but it seemed no matter how many drinks he had downed, he had never gotten drunk. Or at the very least, he had been able to tell her where he wanted to go.

Summer and the driver exchanged worried glances. At a loss for what to do, she instructed him, "Please just drive. I'll figure out where to in a bit."

"Okay."

Ten minutes later, Summer turned around again. "Excuse me, Mr. Xi. Are you feeling better? Do you need some water?"

She was greeted with silence.

The man's eyes were closed. The phone in his pocket kept vibrating, but he didn't budge.

Summer had no clue as to how to deal with this.

The car drove on the road very slowly, like a sloth climbing a branch. At last, something occurred to her. She pulled out her cell phone. Hesitantly, she punched in some numbers, then finally made a

call.

It was nearly half past ten in the evening. Maria, who was working in the study, closed the laptop and breathed a sigh of relief, ready to call it a day.

Suddenly, her phone started ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, she swiped to answer. "Hi, Summer!"

"Maria, are you home now?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"I'm coming over in a bit. Please let me in, okay?"

"Okay. What happened?" It was rare for Summer to see her so late at night.

"You'll know it soon. Wait for me, okay? Well be there in maybe ten minutes!" After saying that, Summer hung up the phone.

'We?' Maria stared at her phone, speechless.

Sure enough, roughly ten minutes later, her doorbell rang.

As soon as she opened the door, the smell of alcohol hit her.

Standing by her doorway were three people. Summer, James' driver, and a drunkard leaning on the driver. Maria's eyes widened once she recognized who the drunk man was.

"James Xi? Summer, what is this about?" Maria didn't like where this was going.

Summer started to explain. "Maria, Mr. Xi is drunk. I'm in a hurry to go home, and so does the driver, so..." As she spoke, she pushed James into the woman's arms.

Before Maria had the chance to protest, the tall and heavy man was already leaning on her. She took a step back to steady herself under the weight of the drunkard.

"No, Summer Wait! I never agreed to—"

Summer cut her off hurriedly, "Thanks for taking care of him, Maria! Gotta go!"

"Don't go, Summer! I refused to take care of him!" He took away her company's projects, yet now he expected her to take care of him? Dream on!

But the driver and Summer didn't give her the chance to refuse. Both of them quickly backed away until they reached the elevator, desperately jabbing at the buttons.

The elevator doors slid open and swallowed the two. Just as the doors were closing, Summer clasped her hands together and shouted, "Thanks again, Maria! Bye and good luck!"

Maria was speechless.

She was almost buckling under the weight of James' drunken body.

She angrily tried to shift his weight so she would be more comfortable, but to no avail. "Why did you have to drink so much? Why didn't you go to Alina instead? Do I look like your fiancee?"

Maria cursed at the unconscious man, dragging him into the apartment.

Once they were inside, Maria kicked the door of the apartment close. As she did so, she resisted the urge to kick the man instead. "James Xi, take your shoes off," she barked.

The man suddenly opened his eyes, looking straight into Maria's.

Maria's mouth snapped shut when they locked eyes. Was he awake?

"Why are you holding me?" he asked in an extremely hoarse voice.

Maria frowned impatiently. Was it worth it to explain to him that it was Summer who brought this upon her? "If you were able to stand, I wouldn't need to hold you," she said sardonically.

"In that case, go ahead and hold me." Then he closed his eyes again and slumped over.

Once again, Maria almost buckled over under the weight of this tall man. "Don't you dare fall asleep," she grumbled. "Take off your shoes first!"

"Okay."

Instead of bending down like he usually did, he started to kick off his shoes.

Surprised, Maria looked down, only to find that the man had already kicked off his shoes.

It was her first time to see James remove his shoes so haphazardly. 'Wow! He must really be drunk!'

"If you're able to take off your shoes, then you can walk.

I can't carry you."

"Okay." The man put one of his long arm on her shoulder, using the woman as a crutch as they hobbled into the bedroom.

Finally, he collapsed onto the bed.

She took a deep breath and kicked the man. "Get up and take a shower. Don't pretend to be dead. I'll throw you out if you do."

"Slippers," the man commanded with his eyes closed.

Maria glared at him. Then, she reluctantly acquiesced and went to fetch his slippers.

Her footsteps faded away as she left the bedroom. The man on the bed cracked his eyes open, and they were indeed sober.

Then, when he heard the woman's footsteps approaching, he closed his eyes once more.