A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 118 Broken Up

Maria said she was pregnant again. James felt a migraine coming on, and massaged his brow. He was tired of this trick. He wondered if Maria were just trying to cause drama. "Do you believe what she said?" James stared at Ethan, pondering whether he'd always been that stupid.

Ethan nodded, his face serious. "Of course. You slept with her a lot. Why wouldn't she be pregnant?"

"Who told you that?" James felt like his head was going to explode.

"Why, Maria, of course! She told me and Lawrence. Even Lawrence bought it. Why shouldn't I believe her?" Ethan had a point.

James reminded him, "Don't believe a single word she says!"

"Okay, gotcha. But this is my first offense. Give me a break, okay?" Ethan said. He grinned, trying to look innocent.

"Your first offense?" James cast a cold glance at him. Ethan also brought Maria into HL Group through the CEO's exclusive elevator. "That's right. Let me off the hook and I promise I won't ever believe Maria again," Ethan swore, raising his hand.

James was too angry to let them off without some kind of punishment. "How many valid credit cards do you have now?" he asked. "James! I'm your brother! You can't do this to me!" Ethan cried out, knowing James was going to suspend his credit cards.

"I only have one brother. His name is Cooper," James said icily.

"James, I was wrong. I'm sorry! Please!" Ethan kept whining.

Regardless of his whining, James pressed the button for his office internal line. "I need you to suspend all lines of credit for Ethan Nan."

"James!"

"For six months."

Ethan was desperate. Looking at the cold expression on James' face, Ethan gave in. 'It's not as bad as it could be,' he thought.

But he knew he had meddled in James' love life. That was something the CEO wouldn't forgive easily.

Maria might listen to him more readily than James would. Maybe that was who he needed to go to.

At the University of Arts in H City, classes had just let out for the day.

Around noon, a pink BMW slowly drove along the campus streets.

Everyone stared as the BMW came to a stop in front of the girls' dormitory.

A woman in a striped long dress got out of the car. She picked the right time. Stella had just emerged from the dormitory, and Maria called her name.

Stella was looking quite lovely today. She asked the beautician to re-draw her eyebrows. No one could tell that Maria had shaved those same eyebrows off. They'd gradually grow back, and as long they were nicely maintained, no one would be the wiser.

Stella was talking and laughing with her classmates. When she heard someone say her name, she turned reflexively.

However, before she could do anything else, a woman slapped her. Hard. The woman slapped her so hard that Stella's head rocked.

Everyone gasped, now interested in what was going on. They stood nearby to watch the fun.

When she recovered from the slap, Stella saw it was Alina that had slapped her. She looked hurt at the betrayal. "Alina? What the hell?"

"You should know!" Alina sneered, slapping her again.

She hit her former friend without mercy. After that, Alina's hand was numb.

She wanted everyone to know what Stella did. She said resentfully, "You stupid bitch! You slept with my man! You were my bestie, but you betrayed me!"

Some of them recognized Alina, and knew who she was talking about. Alina was supposed to be engaged to James. When they figured that out, they began to whisper among themselves.

Covering her burning cheek, Stella blushed and tried to explain, "It's all Maria Song! She set me up! You gotta believe me!"

"Believe you?" Alina was mad, and had every reason to be. She took a step forward and said, "You were in the same bed with James! Why should I trust you?"

There was no denying it. She had a pic that showed them in the bed together. When Alina first saw the photo, she totally lost her mind. She tipped over her table, and smashed everything in her room. Alina had never imagined Stella would do this to her.

She was mad enough to beat Stella senseless, and she could probably do it. The only other woman who had bested her was Maria.

"But nothing happened! Ask Mr. Xi," Stella said.

She was really framed by Maria. Why did no one believe her?

When Maria called her that night, Stella knew there wouldn't be a free lunch for her. She quested Maria if she wanted to set her up.

Maria answered, "Your father blamed me for what I've done to Qin Group. I'm so scared and I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have dragged you into this and asked James to deal with Qin Group." Stella bought it. In her opinion, Maria might have some power in H City, but she was far less powerful than her father was.

Listening to Stella's explanation, Alina sneered and wanted to slap her again, but she had a reputation to protect. She exposed her lie with clenched teeth. "You still went to the hotel, didn't you? You didn't call me or anything. That means that you were still up to something! Did Maria kidnap you and take you there?"

Stella didn't know what to say. When she heard that Alina was going to marry James, she fantasized about how great that would be. James was a catch. Maria dangled James in front of her like bait. She didn't have to kidnap Stella and take her to the hotel. Stella did that on her own.

But when she got there, James was already asleep. She couldn't even wake him. It was late, so she decided to just go to bed herself. What else should she have done?

Before leaving, Alina clenched her fists and said, "Stella Qin, you're dead! And so is your family business!"

James had already bought out Qin Group. Alina would deal with Stella herself.

And that was how the toxic friendship between the two women ended. They had officially broken up.

Not long after, there was a post on the university forum. "Alina Tang slapped Stella Qin for hitting on her boyfriend, James Xi."

Soon it became the most read post on the forum and caused a stir in the University of Arts. Later, someone forwarded it to Weibo, spreading it worldwide.

Netizens mocked Stella, and they were cruel and crude. They dug into Stella's family background and disparaged anything they found.

Finally, Qin Group suffered from the negative publicity and declared bankruptcy in two days.

Clayton had just finished his phone call with Alina.

He sipped his tea calmly while he watched the TV news. Qin Group was going bankrupt.

Alina filled him in on what was going on.

Qin Group might not have been the biggest company, but it wasn't small, either. When they declared bankruptcy, everyone involved in finance knew about it.

He had to admit Maria was a cunning woman who killed two birds with one stone.

She caused Qin Group to fall, with no small amount of help from James. And she used Alina to destroy Stella's reputation.

No one in the city talked about Qin Group or Stella anymore.

Clayton had a hunch this was just the beginning, and he always trusted his instincts.

Maria was now very close to Colby and James. Even if she pissed James off, she could still rely on Colby. And Norman was also her backer.

Keeping this in mind, Clayton took out his phone and called Alina again. "Alina, remember, Maria has changed a lot. Don't mess with her before you and James get married."

"But, Dad, what if Maria messes with me first?" Alina was not really willing to make peace, so Clayton's advice wasn't welcome. She remembered all the times they clashed, and Alina lost every time.

Clayton knew it was possible for Maria to gain power in the city. After thinking for a while, he said, "Don't worry. When you get engaged, Sebastian and Judy will certainly come back. Know what I mean?" Sebastian Xi was James' father,

and Judy was James' stepmother.

The two had been traveling and were holed up in France for a time. Clayton had gotten a hold of them and knew that they were planning to return for James and Alina's engagement. They weren't going to miss that for anything.

When he mentioned Judy, Alina understood everything. She snorted. Maria should be grateful for the good times, because things were about turn sour for her.