Chapter 322

Maria Lewis brought the food over, cutting off the overly fake compliments in an instant. She’d made a lot, so everyone naturally sat at the same table. As expected, the conversation revolved around James Bennett and Amelia White. Someone joked around and asked Amelia to share the love story between her and James. She played shy, but her eyes sparkled like she’d been waiting for this. When everyone started clapping and egging her on, she shot James a loving gaze before launching into a well-made-up tale that had the group laughing and screaming. James, though? He didn’t hear a single word. Head down, eating his food, occasionally flashing a polite smile in Amelia’s direction, just to play along. But his eyes, or at least his peripheral vision, never left Maria sitting at the far edge of the table, silently focused on her meal like nothing else mattered. No matter how wild Amelia’s story got, Maria stayed completely unmoved, like she didn’t give a damn. Before James came into the pictur