A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 264

"Cooper!" Maria exclaimed with a smile. "I see you never changed your phone number, what a pleasant surprise!"

"Well, it's too troublesome to change my contact details."

That made sense. People like James and Cooper must possess a wide range of network and connections. Of course they couldn't just change numbers as they liked.

"I wanted to thank you for what you did. I do have a question though. How did you know that I was about to donate a kidney?"

"Well, you did lie to my brother about your abortion last time, and I got worried you two might get into a serious fight. So I asked my men to keep an eye on you. You're not mad at me for doing this, are you?" Cooper explained in his usual gentle manner.

She wasn't entirely sure just yet. 'So he was there when James answered the phone that time.' She answered, "Why would I be mad at you? I know you had my best interests in mind. But where did you find the donor?"

"That's a secret."

Maria burst into laughter. "We haven't seen each other for years and you're still keeping secrets from me?"

"Can't I? I'm a twenty-something grownup now, you know."

"Well, anyway. I just called to let you know that I’ve broken up with your brother. Will you still be willing to help me when I'm in trouble?"

"You broke up with him?”

"Yeah." They even had the breakup sex to account for it.

"Of course I will help you. You will always be my sister-in-law." To Cooper, only Maria was deserving of that title.

She went silent for a moment. "I have something to tell you. Can you promise me not to tell anyone? Including your brother."

"Sure."

Then she dropped the bomb.

"I'm pregnant with your brother's child. I intend to go to the US and give birth there. Do you think you can help me keep the whole thing a secret?" Cooper was rich anyway, it wouldn't burden him too much if she came to him for help.

Besides, the child was his nephew, too, so he bore a measure of responsibility in raising it.

Cooper was unable to respond for a good while as his eyes bugged out of their sockets and his jaw hung open.

Much later, Maria went over to Miracle Cafe.

She had rarely dropped by recently, and when she did, she had often chosen to do so at night.

If the shop assistant hadn't called her and told her that Elaine had brought someone here to make trouble, she wouldn't have come. She didn't want Colby to know she was discharged from prison.

Most of the staff were already off duty when she arrived, and only Kent and a female clerk were left behind, cleaning up the mess.

Elaine hadn't actually wrecked the whole store; perhaps she had feared the same retribution that Ronald had reaped. Instead, she and the men she brought only smashed a handful of furniture.

Maria stepped inside. Kent paused what he had been doing and walked over to her. "You're here," he nodded.

"Yeah," she replied, taking off her sunglasses. "I see you're still working. Thank you for your hard work."

"Not at all," Kent smiled.

Maria eyed the rest of the mess that hadn't been cleared yet. "Do you know why Elaine did this?"

"Yes, I think so. She kept cursing you over and over for having her daughter donate her kidney."

'A kidney?' She had to wonder whether the donor that Cooper had found was Carolina or Daniela.

Maria's face changed slightly. She took out her phone and called Carolina.

"Maria!" Carolina answered in obvious surprise. "Are you released?"

"Where are you now?"

"I'm at the company, why? What's wrong?"

So it wasn't Carolina. "Where is Daniela?"

"She was taken away," Carolina said after a short pause. "It looks like she was forced to donate her kidney against her will. She's still recovering at the hospital." Elaine had been insisting that Maria was behind Daniela's predicament, but Carolina had always said that was impossibly. Maria was supposed to be still in jail after all.

It turned out that she had already been free all this time. That would make more sense to Carolina, though. There was no way James would just stand by and watch his woman stay locked up in prison.

"Why? How about you?" Kent asked, visibly confused.

"I haven't been feeling good lately so I decide to go on a trip," she answered off-handedly.

Kent believed her. Just a few nights ago, she had been in an extremely foul mood back at the bar.

Maria made all other necessary arrangements for the temporary turnover of the cafe before walking out into the night.

She walked to her car but didn't get in immediately. Instead, she stood there and took in the cityscape around her, her gaze pausing at the high-rise buildings across the street. The HL Group building had more or less become a city landmark over the years, and everyone dreamed of landing a job in one of its offices.

And standing at the top of its one hundred floors was James, the ultimate dream guy of every woman. Maybe she just had an unnatural stroke of luck, having managed to marry him in the past. And now, she was once again carrying their child inside her.

This time, Maria swore that she would definitely protect the baby from any harm.

On the other side of the road, the black Harkim screeched to halt at the company entrance, a familiar figure emerging from the glass doors of the HL Group lobby. He was wearing his signature tailored dark suit and shiny leather shoes, and as usual, he was flanked by two of his assistants.

Holding her laptop with one hand, Summer trotted ahead to open the door to the car's back seat.

James paused to unbutton his suit jacket, and as if drawn by an invisible string, he turned to the direction where Maria was standing.

Their gazes met, clear and steady even across the distance.

And for some reason, Maria's guilt started to prick in her chest. She instantly turned away and opened her car door. Within a matter of seconds, she started the engine and was speeding away from the coffee shop.

James stood in place and watched her go.

Meanwhile, Judy was pacing back and forth. She had slowly come to the realization that she couldn't just sit still and wait for Maria to deal her a fatal blow. Given that woman's renewed personality, Judy was sure that she would come for her. Besides, she couldn't figure what James was thinking either, and what the reasons were for his recent actions.

She had thought about it over and over, and had finally decided that she couldn't let Maria have the chance to attack first.

The others had no idea she was out of jail now, but Judy knew all about it. She had even heard that Maria had gone looking for James in the company.

She had promptly sent her men to investigate the woman's whereabouts, and they had reported just now that Maria often went shopping in HX Street.

Bit by bit, an idea was forming inside Judy's mind.