A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 358 My Act

Instead of going back to his manor, James drove them to his grandparents' home.

In the villa

Augustine said, "I have told you that Bob would use your surname. You didn't pay attention to such details yourself. Are you blaming me now?"

James' expression hardened into a stony mask. Of course, who could he blame but Augustine? His eyesight was so poor that he couldn't recognize his own son at first glance.

With a slow shake of her head, Charlotte added, "Like I said before, he looks exactly like you when you were a child." She dropped hints for him a long time ago, but he failed to pick up on them for some reason. Was it her fault?

Their words stung like needles. James frowned and pressed his lips into a thin line. A lot of people bore resemblance to him, and it wasn't something particularly notable for him. How could he suspect Bob's identity on that basis alone?

His eyes swept over the room's occupants and rested on Maria's face.

She had already said her piece, but she still added, "I asked Bob to call you his dad, but you didn't agree."

Her audacity rendered James speechless.

Later, he called up Cooper, who simply threw back the blame on him. "I asked you to have another baby as soon as possible. Why did I stress 'another' back then? Because you already have Bob."

James couldn't believe how stupid he had been all along.

His entire family had lied to his face, and he had nothing to say to them. He was silent on the drive back to his manor.

His terrible mood was not lost on Maria, who was sitting in the back with Bob. In a soft voice, she comforted him, "Your parents still don't know that they have a grandson."

James still did not respond.

His prolonged silence was starting to make Maria embarrassed. With a roll of her eyes, she decided to ignore him.

All of Bob's food and clothes had been dropped off at the manor. Maria quickly prepared some formula milk for him. The little boy soon fell asleep after emptying the bottle.

As they sat in front of each other in the study afterwards, the tension in the air was so thick that it could be cut by a knife.

"So...you're admitting that Bob is my son." It was not a question. The flatness in his voice was intimidating.

"No, I'm not." She knew exactly what he was after, so her denial was immediate even if he already knew the truth.

With a solemn face, James opened the drawer next to him and took out a manila folder. Then, he walked up to her and threw it at her. "Take a good look."

He leaned against the desk right in front of her and stared down at her, his sharp eyes not missing any expression that crossed her face.

Hesitatingly, Maria opened the folder and found two sheets of paper in it.

As she quickly scanned through the content, her face changed.

Maria placed the document back into the folder and asked, "When did you start suspecting it?" She racked her brains, trying to identify the exact moment when she slipped up and gave away the secret she had kept for so long.

"A long time ago. Bob's blood type was particularly telling."

Maria stared at him, confusion written on her face. 'I know that Bob's blood type was a rare one, Rh negative, but how did he find out?'

"Bob had a high fever last time," he explained kindly, as if answering her unvoiced question.

Her eyes widened at his words. 'He's known the truth since that time?'

She vaguely recalled how odd his expression was when he stood in the corridor of the hospital and looked at the examination results. As it turned out, he had begun to suspect Bob's identity since then.

"But when did your suspicion get confirmed?"

"I was almost 100% sure that time." The only thing he needed to eliminate all doubts was a paternity test. After all, he knew that Maria would deny it.

"Why did you take Ethan to your grandparents' home?" "Ethan may look frivolous on the outside, but he knows his stuff when it comes to business." Sure enough, Ethan did not disappoint him.

Reining in her anger, Maria asked in a measured tone, "When did you find out that Bob was staying with Norman?"

He shot her a hooded look and replied laconically, "Awhile."

The short answer grated on her nerves. All along, he had let her lie through her teeth while knowing the truth. 'He must have thought I was such a clown, ¹ she thought bitterly.

In her fury, she threw the test results at him and asked in a raised voice, "Was it fun for you, watching my act?"

"It was rather enjoyable." Like there wasn't an angry woman ready to spit fire at him, he languidly picked up the folder from the floor.

Maria was livid. "So what? James, what are you after? Do you want to take Bob? Dream on!"

"No," he replied evenly.

Her jaw dropped in a gasp.

She almost missed his next sentence. "I don't just want my son, I also want you." He was determined to have them both.

He slipped his arms around her.

Panting, she pushed against James' chest. "Let go of me!"

But James did not budge an inch. Instead, he pulled her even closer and shut her up by claiming her mouth in a passionate kiss. "Don't challenge me in the public next time. Be polite, okay?" He was quite sensitive about such matters.

He knew that his Maria was a spoiled, opinionated woman who sometimes acted at will.

However, if anything happened to her, he would come rushing to her side to handle everything for her.

With a sneer, she mocked, "What are you talking about? You think you don't deserve that slap? Did I do anything wrong?" Deep down, she acknowledged her mistake and knew that she shouldn't have slapped someone like James. To her defense, she couldn't control her temper back then.

Looking away, she vowed to herself, TH make him kneel on durian shells next time.'

"Maria." Noticing her averted eyes, James clamped his arm more tightly around her waist.

"Don't do that again. I'm still very angry at you right now. If you go against me on this, there will be serious consequences."

She turned her face away, lips pressed into a thin line. James' patience was running thin, but he still tried to keep a cool head.

Gently, he placed his forehead against hers and reminded her, "Remember, you lied to me." He, on the other hand, didn't hide anything from her.

However, Maria overestimated the length of his fuse. She snapped in a stubborn tone, "That's right, I lied to you. I never wanted for you to find out that Bob is your son. In fact, I would have kept it the truth from you for the rest of my life."

You don't deserve to be a father at all. You didn't fulfill your responsibility as a father to Arthur, and you made fun of me just now!

James, I've never seen anyone joke about their child's health. Are you an idiot?" It was foul of him to lie to her about Bob's condition and tell her that he had leukemia.

James raised an eyebrow. His eyes flashed in anger.

Loosening his grip on her, he said in an indifferent voice, "Maria, I know more than anyone what my shortcomings were regarding Arthur. I don't intend to make the same mistakes with Bob. If you think

that I deceived you by saying Bob had leukemia, I sincerely apologize for making you upset."

Maria whirled around, her eyes blazing. "James, you don't understand. I was not just upset. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown when I found out. Don't you get it?" She literally collapsed the moment she heard that Bob was diagnosed with leukemia.

The word "upset" couldn't even begin to describe what she felt at that time. She was devastated.

Bob was too important to her. If anything ever happened to him, she wouldn't know what to do.

The panic she had felt at the time was something she never wanted to experiece ever again.

Her mind was in such a turmoil that it didn't even occur to her to verify whether the news was true.

Then, just as she was about to lose her mind, he suddenly appeared and had the nerve to tell her that it was all a lie! Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.

'Does he really think that I will accept his apology just like that? Ridiculous!'