Chapter 34

The auction kicked off with the auctioneer hyping things up, getting the crowd buzzing. At first, it was just some not-so-impressive stuff, with prices staying pretty low, so everything moved along smoothly. Maria wasn’t into this kind of scene to begin with, and having James standing next to her like a walking curse didn’t help. She kept thinking about slipping out but ended up just chatting with Isabella over WhatsApp to kill time. "Texting David?" James eyed her typing and smiling at her phone, totally unlike her usual cold self around him. That ticked him off. Maria didn’t even want to see his face, so she brushed him off without lifting her eyes. "Yeah, talking to him. He is the father of my kid, after all." James’s face darkened more. He said with a biting tone, "So he checks in this often even when you’re out? What, is he scared you’ll run off with someone?" Of course Maria caught the sarcasm, but she couldn’t care less. She rolled her eyes internally and went back to her chat.