Chapter 155: Teasing James Is More Fun Than Chasing Him
"Cecilia, she's my wife."
James's deep voice carried a heavy warning.
"I know, I just think she's too good for you. She'd be better off with me..."
"Cecilia!"
Cecilia ignored James's warning. Instead, she took two steps closer to Emily and extended her hand politely. "I'm Cecilia, the organizer of this expo. And also... your rival in love."
A gleam flashed in Cecilia's eyes. Her sharp gaze fixed directly on Emily, wanting to see how Emily would respond to her declaration.
There were many women who wanted to climb into James's bed, and Cecilia had seen plenty of them. But those women were all too vain and greedy, and they had no brains—the ambition and desire in their eyes couldn't be hidden at all.
Cecilia didn't take women like that seriously at all.
But Emily in front of her seemed different.
After hearing Cecilia's "declaration of war," Emily's expression remained calm, showing no sign of anger. This made it hard for Cecilia to figure out what Emily was really thinking.
Did she not care about James, or did she look down on her as a rival?
Cecilia narrowed her eyes, calmly studying the subtle expressions on Emily's face.
Emily didn't think much of it. She was just a bit surprised that Cecilia would declare war so directly. This was much better than Maya's sneaky little schemes, and it actually made Emily feel a bit more favorable toward this capable Cecilia.
"Hello, I'm Emily."
Emily politely shook hands with her, then quickly pulled back, maintaining a cautious distance.
This small detail made Cecilia even more interested in Emily.
Emily looked frail, but she was very guarded around people.
Had something happened to her before that made her constantly stay on guard?
Cecilia's mind worked very fast. Her bright eyes slid from Emily to James, and a smile of unclear meaning curved at the corner of her lips.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Thomas. I'm sure you know I like James. As evenly matched rivals, why don't we just get along well?"
"Ms. Thorne, please just call me Ms. Johnson."
Hearing this, a flash of surprise crossed Cecilia's eyes.
Although she had heard that these two had a contract marriage, they'd been married for a month now—had James really not won her over yet?
Thinking of this, Cecilia couldn't help but look at James with contempt.
Could James be... inadequate?
On the other side, James also felt frustrated after hearing Emily's words.
The more James thought about it, the angrier he got, and his expression grew darker and darker.
Naturally, James's changing expression didn't escape Cecilia's eyes, which made her even more interested in Emily.
After all, there had never been a woman who could get special treatment from James before.
Clearly, Emily was special to James.
"Since Mr. Thomas rarely brings Ms. Johnson to my expo, you two can't miss tonight's reception."
"Not going."
James refused with a dark expression.
Cecilia deliberately ignored James's words and looked at Emily with anticipation.
"I can see Ms. Johnson is a genuine person who wouldn't refuse. Besides, I'd really like to become friends with Ms. Johnson."
"Alright, thank you for the invitation, Ms. Thorne."
Emily thought for a moment and agreed.
This made James very unhappy.
That Cecilia was a lunatic—who knew what her purpose was in deliberately approaching Emily.
And Emily, who was usually so sharp, seemed to have lost her mind this time, accepting Cecilia's invitation.
Hearing Emily's answer, Cecilia smiled triumphantly.
"In that case, I'll be waiting for Ms. Johnson's presence tonight. As for Mr. Thomas..."
"I'm going too."
James replied stiffly.
Cecilia looked at James in surprise. "Mr. Thomas, didn't you just refuse? People shouldn't go back on their word."
"Mind your own business. I'm going anyway."
James said gruffly.
Seeing James looking angry but unable to do anything about it, Cecilia's smile grew wider.
She suddenly discovered something new and fun.
Compared to previously racking her brains to chase James and win his favor, using Emily to tease James and make him change expressions seemed to make her much happier.
"Alright then, I'll be waiting at the hotel tonight for Mr. Thomas's grand arrival."
With that, Cecilia left the lounge with an elegant and charming smile.
When only James, Emily, and Marc remained in the lounge, James couldn't help but mock Emily.
"That woman clearly has bad intentions. Why did you agree? Are you stupid?"
Emily looked at James with a strange expression and said coldly, "James, your attitude today is a bit odd. Are you deliberately picking a fight with me?"
"I..."
James pressed his lips together, momentarily speechless.
Indeed, after receiving the DNA report and learning that Emily wasn't Mason's biological mother and wasn't his beloved, his enthusiasm toward her had cooled.
But he couldn't stand Emily leaving his side and talking to other men.
Just thinking about Emily being with other men somewhere he didn't know about filled him with jealousy, making him want to grab Emily back and hide her away.
This led to his strange attitude toward Emily today—hot and cold.
"Anyway, that woman has bad intentions. I'm just worried you'll be tricked."
After a moment, James only said this with a cold attitude.
"You don't need to worry."
Emily replied coldly.
Marc, who had remained silent the whole time, looked at James helplessly.
Just now, Cecilia was clearly amusing herself by provoking James, but James couldn't see the mischievous look in Cecilia's eyes and foolishly fell for it.
Forget it, better not tell James about this.
Otherwise, given James's pride, knowing the truth would probably make him want to dig a hole and bury himself.
The first day of the expo passed without major incident.
During this time, Emily left the venue for a while, and no one knew what she was doing.
James wanted Marc to follow Emily again like before, but without exception, the tracking failed.
"Mr. Thomas, I think we should do less of this tracking in the future. If we anger Ms. Johnson..."
Marc advised helplessly.
Although he didn't have much experience with romance either, in his eyes, James's pursuit tactics were too clumsy.
"I'm doing this for her safety. What's there for her to be angry about?"
James replied arrogantly.
Marc was completely speechless.