Chapter 247: Mia Says, Please Behave
When Mia decided to accompany Uri to the Smith Villa for Victor's birthday, she had already spent several days mentally preparing herself.
But she really thought it would just be a regular family dinner, with at most some relatives and friends present.
She truly didn't expect it to be such a grand affair.
These past two years following Blair to social events, she'd gotten used to big occasions.
She could handle them easily, without any stage fright.
It's just—
She couldn't sort out her feelings for Uri.
She wanted to follow her heart.
Until she figured out her own feelings, she didn't want her relationship with Uri to become public knowledge.
"I'm here, don't worry."
Uri noticed something was off with her, thinking she was nervous seeing so many people.
He leaned in slightly, whispering softly in her ear.
As always, he was thoughtful and attentive, constantly caring about her feelings.
Looking at Uri's calm expression and gentle face, Mia immediately dismissed the thought that he had done this on purpose.
Her doubts faded, but she still felt uncomfortable with him being so close.
Any lower and he'd be kissing her cheek.
In private, she would have definitely pulled away immediately, but this was Victor's birthday banquet.
She was here as Uri's fiancée.
With everyone watching, she couldn't embarrass Uri.
Since she was the one who offered to come, she had to do what was expected of her.
"Mm."
Mia turned her head and smiled back at him.
Seeing her smile, Uri's lips curved into an even gentler smile.
The way he looked at her, his affection seemed ready to overflow.
The two gazed at each other "lovingly."
Clea had specially invited over a dozen well-known media outlets for her first time standing beside Victor.
Now, she had inadvertently done Uri a favor.
Camera flashes kept going off, capturing their affectionate gaze.
To most people present, this scene was beautiful as a painting.
A handsome man, a beautiful woman, and a cute child standing together—so pleasing to the eye.
A family of three, their happiness was enviable.
But James wasn't among these people.
He wasn't interested in Uri's high-profile appearance, and even less interested in his so-called fiancée and son.
He was only here to make an appearance.
So when Uri appeared, he didn't even bother to look up.
Until Louis, standing beside him, suddenly lost his composure and called out, "Mia?"
That one word made James's pupils contract violently.
Had he seen Mia again?
Three years ago, it was Louis who told him he'd seen someone who looked a lot like Mia in Marigoldia.
He swore to God he wasn't lying.
Back then, having just lost Mia, even though a year had passed, he still couldn't accept the fact that she had left him.
He believed Louis's words.
He accepted the new treatment method Louis had found.
Eventually, he stood up.
When he finally stood up and was ready to find Mia, Louis told him it was a lie, just to treat his legs.
Following Louis's gaze, James looked toward the entrance.
That one glance...
All surrounding sounds faded away, and only one person remained in his eyes.
The face and voice carved into his soul—even though her hairstyle, clothing style, and makeup had all changed.
Completely different from Mia four years ago.
But he still recognized her in one glance.
This was Mia.
This was his Mia.
His Mia really wasn't dead.
James's eyes instantly turned red, his vision slowly blurring.
Lavinia also saw Mia.
The moment she saw her, she lost control of her strength and crushed her handbag out of shape.
Her first reaction was to look at James beside her.
She wanted to get him out of the banquet hall before he noticed.
But before she could move, she heard Louis call out Mia's name.
After that, everything spiraled out of control.
James saw Mia.
She watched helplessly as James completely lost control, his handsome face—which had been an emotionless glacier toward her for years—instantly came back to life.
"James—"
Panicking, she immediately reached out to grab him.
She did grab him.
But James didn't even give her a glance. Her hand stayed on his arm for less than a second before he shook it off without any consideration.
She had held on tight.
He showed no mercy at all.
To shake her off, he used considerable force.
She was thrown back a big step, lost her balance, and fell backward.
If Louis hadn't caught her waist in time to steady her,
she would have been completely humiliated at the banquet.
Once she was steady, she immediately tried to chase after him, but Louis pulled her back, calling out softly, "Lavinia."
"Louis, don't forget—James is my fiancé now!"
Lavinia stared hard at Louis!
She wanted to break free, but couldn't escape his grip.
Her eyes were full of resentment toward him.
Mia had nothing to do with James anymore.
She was his sister, the sister he'd doted on since childhood—how could he side with Mia!
Louis didn't respond, his hand still gripping Lavinia tightly.
Right now, this was the only thing he could do for James.
He owed James.
Four years ago, he had already owed him.
He had been too confident in his medical skills. Having achieved remarkable success at a young age, he really thought he was God.
He had personally pronounced James's legs a death sentence.
Just because of his diagnosis, believing that James's legs couldn't be treated within his understanding of medicine, he cut off all possibilities.
Even Mia knew that miracles existed in this world, working hard to find other methods to try, never thinking of giving up easily.
How could he have been so confident in his medical skills?
If he hadn't told James back then, James wouldn't have believed so firmly that his legs were truly hopeless.
He wouldn't have pushed Mia away again and again because he didn't want to drag her down.
And there wouldn't have been that final tragedy—James dragging Mia to abort the baby, ending in two deaths.
James had become a walking corpse.
Even though he never imagined that James, who loved Mia so much, would really be willing to leave her.
Would do something so extreme.
These were things he hadn't anticipated.
But in the end, it was still because of him.
If he hadn't been so confident, if he had left even a little room for hope, James wouldn't have—
James didn't know how others were reacting.
He couldn't hear other people's discussions.
His eyes could only see Mia.
The Mia he'd thought about for four years, longed for for four years.
After shaking off Lavinia, he rushed forward with big strides.
He didn't know who was blocking his way.
Anyone who blocked him, he pushed aside.
His emotions were so intense, his steps so large, that his figure stumbled forward.
Getting closer and closer.
As the distance closed, Mia's face became clearer and clearer.
Looking at her bright smile,
James's eyes grew even redder.
For the last two steps, he simply rushed forward.
While everyone was still immersed in the loving gaze of the perfect couple, James suddenly pulled Mia over and embraced her.
His arms tightened bit by bit, holding her tightly in his embrace.
Wishing he could merge her into his bones and blood.
Holding her again, he finally felt his blood warming up a bit.
He had come back to life.
James choked with emotion, whispering in her ear, "Wife, you're back."
Four years—he had begged her to appear in his dreams every single night.
But she never appeared in his dreams.
It turned out, it was because she wasn't dead.
Mia wasn't dead.
She really came back.
Holding her in his arms, truly feeling the warmth of her body.
Mia was suddenly embraced by a man.
Hearing him call her "wife" in her ear.
That word "wife" was spoken with such deep emotion, so intense that she was momentarily dazed, forgetting to push him away.
But it was only for an instant. After realizing what kind of occasion this was, her expression instantly turned cold, and she immediately struggled.
Her tone was displeased as she said, "Sir, I'm not your wife. You've got the wrong person. Please let me go!"
Sir, you've got the wrong person.
Not your wife.
Each of these sentences was like a poisoned blade, stabbing straight into his heart.
Wrong person?
How could he possibly be wrong?
"James, let go. This is my wife."
The moment James embraced Mia, Uri's face instantly darkened.
He raised his hand to grip James's shoulder, squeezing hard.
In Aetheria, Uri had revealed his identity to her.
He had also mentioned he had a younger brother.
This must be the half-brother he mentioned, who had liked to compete with him for things since childhood.
Their relationship wasn't good, so he hadn't said much about it.
Hearing Uri's words, James's eyes instantly surged with shock.
He looked up, his gaze cold without a trace of warmth.
Only now did he remember what Beatrix had just said?
"Let go!"
Mia scolded in a low voice.
Everyone was mindful of appearances, not wanting to make it too ugly.
Seeing James still hadn't let go, her tone deepened, now carrying some annoyance at being offended, "I'm your future sister-in-law. Please show some respect."
Mia knew Uri's relationship with this half-brother wasn't good.
She didn't know if this scene was deliberately staged by him.
But at an occasion like this, making such a scene looked very bad.
She lowered her voice, pushing with even more force.
"James."
Victor's face looked terrible at this farce before him.
He cared most about face.
Today was his birthday, and more importantly, his official return to the public eye.
Seeing his expression change, Clea's face also changed. In her heart, Victor always came first.
She immediately stepped forward, gripping James's arm.
Her freshly done nails dug deep into the muscle of his arm, warning him.
Don't make Victor angry.
James ignored Clea. Holding Mia, his gaze remained on Uri.
"Let go of my mommy."
The drive from the city was quite long.
Fox had fallen asleep in the car, slowly waking up in the noisy environment.
With big eyes and long lashes fluttering like fans, he softly raised his hand to rub his eyes.
Then he saw a strange man holding Mia, with Mia pushing him away.
Fox immediately reached out to pull at him.
That word "mommy" made James's pupils contract again in shock.
He called Mia mommy.
This was—
Too shocked, his arms holding Mia loosened, and she took the opportunity to push him away.
Uri pulled her into his own embrace.
His gaze warned James as he stared at him.
Clea pulled James back, saying in a low voice, "What kind of occasion is this? Whatever it is, wait until after the banquet."
This face, she found somewhat familiar too.
It was the woman James had insisted on marrying back then.
She had objected. How could someone of such ordinary status be worthy of James?
Naturally, she hoped James would marry someone of equal social standing.
But James insisted.
James, who had always listened to her since childhood, was stubborn about this marriage.
She didn't know what spell that woman had cast on him.
They had a very unpleasant falling out over it.
At the time, she had said harshly that if he dared marry her, she would never let that woman through the Smith Villa's doors.
What had James said to her then? He said, even if you were willing, I wouldn't let her enter the Smith Family's doors either.
She understood what James meant, and was so angry she grabbed the freshly brewed tea from the table and threw it at him hard. He dodged it.
They parted on bad terms.
He left with one sentence—he was informing her, not asking for her opinion—and turned to leave.
She was so angry she smashed things all over the floor.
At that time, Uri was lying in bed like a living corpse.
After James took over the Smith Group, it developed better and better, no longer needing a marriage alliance to rise higher.
Most importantly, her foothold in the Smith Family required James to be on her side.
Seeing he had already made up his mind and she couldn't change his decision, she stopped objecting.
She just thought he was chasing a momentary novelty.
Facts proved that mismatched couples don't last.
Now, didn't he have Lavinia?
James's eyes were still red, tears glistening, but his emotions had clearly calmed down considerably.
Not because of Clea's intervention, but because of the little boy Uri held in his arms, staring at him warily with wide eyes.
Was this his son?
James's emotions surged violently inside, his hands trembling uncontrollably.
Mia said he had the wrong person, refusing to acknowledge knowing him.
This meant she hadn't forgiven him at all.
She hated him.
So even though she wasn't dead, she didn't want to come back to see him.
And when she did come back, it was like this.
Mia did this on purpose!
Deliberately using this method to get revenge on him!
"I'm sorry."
This apology wasn't for his offense just now, but for the harm he caused her and their child four years ago.
In these four years, he had said sorry to her countless times in his heart.
Finally, he had the chance to say sorry to her face.
It was all his fault.
Whatever torture Mia put him through was deserved.
He deserved it.
Seeing James apologize for his rude behavior, Mia thought that no matter how bad his relationship with Uri was in private,
on the surface, he had already apologized.
In such a public setting, Mia didn't press the matter, her expression clearly softening.
She gave him a particularly fake smile.
"Come, I'll take you to meet my parents."
Uri spoke gently to Mia as he looked down, but when he looked up at James, his gaze was cold and warning.
Since James came to the Smith Family, the two of them hadn't gotten along.
You could say they were like fire and water.
This was well known in upper-class circles.
There was no need to pretend brotherly affection.
Uri held Fox and took Mia's hand, brushing past James.
Four years ago, when he woke up and could get out of bed, the first thing he did was rush back to Imperial City to see Mia. Seeing Mia in James's arms at that moment,
he had thought that one day, he would make James taste what it felt like to have someone he deeply loved taken away.
Mia was his, always had been, and always would be.
Could only be his.
Mia leaned against Uri. As she passed James, she never looked at him again.
James's heart, already bleeding from Mia deliberately pretending not to know him, now felt like a bag of salt had been poured on it.
He clearly knew she was doing it on purpose.
He also knew he deserved it.
But it still cut to the bone.
He stood in place, slowly clenching his hands into fists.
His gaze kept following Mia and their son.
Unable to look away.
Mia was still alive. That was good.