Chapter 37 She Needs To Be Punished
When the ambulance arrived, a nurse immediately applied first aid on Ronald's wound.
Maria was still unconscious in James' arms. Looking at her deathly pale face, he couldn't help wondering why he had saved her earlier. Didn't he hate her to the core? Even Alina had asked him why he did it. But he wasn't able to answer her for a long time. All James knew was his instinct told him to do so. He just reached out his hand subconsciously to protect Maria.
After a while, he cast a glance at Alina and replied lightly, "I can't let her die this way. She needs to be punished."
His tone was so calm that Alina didn't feel any doubt in his reason.
James then threw Maria to the bodyguard's arms beside him and ordered, "Tell the ambulance to take her to the hospital."
"Yes, Mr. Xi." The bodyguard immediately carried Maria on his shoulder and walked towards the ambulance.
While Maria was on the bodyguard's shoulder, James noticed a dark red spot on her ginger dress. When he realized what it was, the bodyguard had already walked away. With a stiff face, James said to another bodyguard, "Take off your coat and cover her back."
His gentlemanly demeanor told him that he couldn't let Maria be embarrassed of being exposed to the public.
Although the bodyguard was confused with James' order, he didn't dare to ask anything. He quickly took off his coat and covered Maria's back.
To sum up, James not only helped Maria make a way out of the restaurant, but she was also brought to the ambulance by his bodyguard. In the invisible competition between Alina and Maria, the latter obviously gained the upper hand again this time.
The farce was finally over, but there were no customers left in the restaurant anymore. Instead of taking Ronald, the ambulance rushed Maria to the hospital.
It was Miranda who accompanied Ronald to the hospital for his wound to be treated by a doctor.
Only a few waiters, the two restaurant managers, and some bodyguards were left with Alina, James, and Clayton in the restaurant.
As a father, Clayton was so angry with what happened to Ronald. And he was dissatisfied that James had saved Maria. But he couldn't just lose his temper in front of James. After all, the Tang family was counting on HL Group to help their business survive. However, he still couldn't help asking, "James, you and Maria...?"
James took a wet tissue from the bodyguard beside him and wiped his hands while saying, "Don't worry. There is nothing between us. The reason why I am here tonight is to discuss my upcoming engagement to Alina."
James' words set Clayton's mind at rest, so he stopped pressing about James and Maria's relationship.
Maria seriously injured Ronald. But Clayton wouldn't deal with her for now. He could wait until Alina got married to James.
Right now, the most important thing for him was James and Alina's engagement.
Whatever relationship James and Maria had, it didn't matter. Clayton believed that a successful man always had affairs outside his marriage. And Maria was James' ex-wife. Her name would always be associated with him. As long as Maria would not be a threat to James and Alina's marriage, Clayton would not get rid of her.
Lorenzo went to the manager's office to settle the problem that happened in the restaurant. James, Clayton, and Alina went back to their private room to continue the discussion about the engagement ceremony.
Since Clayton didn't make a fuss about what happened anymore, Alina didn't dare to say anything, either. She was more afraid that her engagement to James would not push through. Now that she had turned twenty-nine, she was so eager to get married to James and take the crown as Mrs. Xi before she turned thirty.
For now, Alina would spare Maria. But she would definitely punish Maria after she became James' wife.
James had ordered his bodyguard to follow Maria to the hospital. When the doctor had finished checking on her, he told the bodyguard that she only fainted because of dysmenorrhea. Maria was given a painkiller and intravenous infusion, and she could be discharged after it. What she needed was a good rest at home.
The bodyguard took good care of her because it was James' order. He asked the nurse to change her clothes and clean her up.
The nurse was pulling out the needle of the intravenous infusion when Maria opened her eyes.
Maria already knew what was wrong with her. So she silently waited for the nurse to finish taking the needle, then asked the bodyguard to send her back to the hotel.
When they entered her hotel room, Maria sat down on the bed. Then the bodyguard asked, "Ms. Song, would you like to eat something?"
She shook her head and said, "No, thanks. Please call James."
The bodyguard was stunned for a moment. With a trace of hesitation on his face, he replied, "Would it be okay if you personally call Mr. Xi?" As a bodyguard, he wouldn't dare to call James unless there was something urgent. And most of the time, it was his leader who informed him if James had some orders.
Maria glanced at him coldly and said indifferently, "James sent you here to take care of me. Are you sure you want to disobey me?"
The bodyguard broke out in a cold sweat. "No, I didn't mean it that."
"I mean what I say. Call James now. I want to talk to him." She had no plans of letting the bodyguard know that she didn't have James' phone number.
The bodyguard remained firm of not calling James.
Eventually, Maria didn't force him anymore. She just said, "I'm still not feeling well, so stay here and watch over me. It will be more convenient for you to take me to the hospital if something happens to me." Seeing that she still looked pale, the bodyguard agreed at once. "All right."
Ten minutes later, the bodyguard was forced to call James. "Mr. Xi, Ms. Song was given a painkiller in the hospital. She is now back in the hotel and taking a rest."
"Hmm," James replied indifferently and hung up.
The bodyguard confusedly looked at his phone. Thinking that he had angered James, he trembled with fear.
He couldn't help wondering why James got angry. Maria told him that she was James' woman, so he thought that it was his duty to report her condition to James. But if she was really James' woman, why did he react indifferently?
After twenty minutes, the bodyguard called James again. "Mr. Xi, I'm sorry to bother you again. Ms. Song has fallen off her bed because of pain."
"Can I catch her from afar?" James snapped. His voice sounded a little annoyed.
"No, Mr. Xi. I didn't mean..." The bodyguard got so scared that he choked on his words.
Before he could finish what he wanted to say, James hung up on him again.
When his phone rang for the third time, James lost his patience. He picked up his phone on the table and walked out of the room, ignoring Clayton and Alina. He answered the phone impatiently and said, "If you call me again, I will definitely fire you."
Inside the hotel room, the bodyguard looked at the dagger pointed at his neck and said bitterly, "Mr. Xi, I really don't want to call you. But Ms. Song..." He was so scared that Maria would slash his neck if he refused to follow her order.
"What the hell is going on? Do you want me to go there and take care of her?" James was so furious now. He felt like the bodyguard was such an idiot who couldn't even handle a small matter. Now he regretted that he pulled Maria back when she was about to fall off the stairs and asked his bodyguard to take care of her.
He should have let Maria rolled down to the ground floor. After all, he had nothing to do with her, even if she died.
At this moment, James was so angry that he wanted to cut his hand that subconsciously saved Maria earlier.
"Mr. Xi, that's what exactly Ms. Song wants," the bodyguard said. It was Maria who told him to confirm what James had said.