A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 226 Pillow Talk

On the same floor as the CEO's office, there was a designated area for the CEO's assistants. Currently, only Lorenzo was there, along with another nameless assistant. When he saw Maria approaching the CEO's office, Lorenzo got to his feet. "Ms. Song, please wait a moment."

She didn't respond, but she did shoot him a look of cold nonchalance.

"Do you have an appointment? If not, please go to the reception on the first floor and make one." He was unfazed, and he carried on with his usual professional manner.

"I didn't know I needed to make an appointment just to see James," she replied sarcastically.

"You are a senior executive of HM Group, which is in great trouble now. You can't show up here uninvited." Lorenzo kept his tone light, but the sting was there in his words, and Maria did not miss it. Her gaze turned piercing. Just then, a ding came from the elevator, followed by the unmistakable sound of the elevator stopping on this floor. The doors opened and closed, and soon footfalls came. Maria didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. Instead, she kept her eyes at Lorenzo and continued her sparring with him. "What if I say I want to see him as his ex-wife? If that still doesn't qualify, we can just say I'm his sex partner. That would be rather crude though, wouldn't it? How about lover then? You might not believe me capable of this, but a single bout of pillow talk with James could mean your doom."

She had enough. It was high time she dealt with Lorenzo.

Lorenzo's face flushed with anger, but James was standing right behind Maria so he was powerless to give in to his emotions. "Are you threatening me?" was all he could say, and stiffly at that.

"Obviously." A chill appeared in the area, making Maria aware of who was behind her without even a backward glance. She brushed the knowledge aside and kept laying it on Lorenzo. "Remember to keep yourself in check before you speak so rudely to me. One is the general manager of the Song Group, while the other one is James' assistant. You are about to be married, too, aren't you? If I were you, I would definitely have long resigned from your position!"

Lorenzo instantly understood what she meant. His eyes darted awkwardly to the man behind her. "Mr. Xi..."

Maria looked back then, looking straight into James' eyes. "I've been trying all day but I couldn't open the bathroom door in the manor. I almost called the police. Who was responsible for installing these fixtures? They've done a hell of a poor job. You'd want to look into it, don't you think?"

Several people's expressions changed at every word Maria said.

Summer's eyes widened, her heart caught in her throat. She had disclosed some information regarding the manor to Maria, information that was supposed to be confidential.

If James did decide to investigate the matter, a lot of people would get implicated. And the first one to go would be none other than Lorenzo himself.

"Summer, contact the team in charge of the interior design of the manor." After saying that, James strode into his office without waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Mr. Xi," Summer said to his back.

Maria turned to Lorenzo, who had gone pale, and sneered. 'It looks like you're about to receive one heavy blow,' she thought to herself with cruel glee. She had yet to reveal that Lorenzo and his aunt had stolen the three hundred million alimony that she had been meant to receive.

The truth was that there was no problems with the bathroom door.

Maria had just come up with the idea when she had first learned that Lorenzo had a hand in hiring the people who had worked in the manor's design. James must have known her intention. Since he was willing to investigate, it meant he was going to deal with Lorenzo.

Maria didn't follow into James' office. Instead, she turned on her heel and exited the building, heading straight back to Golden Mansion.

Seated at his desk, James felt his temples throb, and he reached to rub the ache away. He had to give it to Maria-she truly had a penchant for making trouble for him.

Shortly after, Summer knocked at his door and ushered a few men into his office. They had all been involved in the overall planning of James' manor.

Lorenzo had seen them go inside; they had passed by his table. He had been on edge since Maria had left, and sweat now beaded profusely on his forehead. He knew that this could very well be the end of his career, here and now, so he pulled out his phone and hurriedly called Judy.

James inspected the men

as he put down his pen and waved his hand. "Go ahead then," he said casually.

Those few words were enough to make the men tremble, so great was the weight of pressure in his voice.

Two of the workers exchanged a look before one of them stepped forward. He swallowed nervously and opened his mouth. "Mr. Xi, with all due respect, I may just be a construction worker, but I have been in this industry for more than a decade. My work speaks for itself, and I assure you that I wouldn't have been hired by your company and offered a high-paying contract if I were incompetent in any way. I can give you my personal and professional guarantee that when I installed the doors in the manner, I didn't slack off one bit. I never left a screw loose or a nail un—"

"Well, it turns out that something is now wrong with the bathroom door. What do you think is the problem?" James asked.

The man turned red with embarrassment. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. It only took him a second, however, to recognize which was the more dangerous option. He knew clearly who he was facing today, and he wanted to keep his job. "The quality of the doors... do not match the standard for the rest of the manor."

Surely, a man like James Xi understood what he meant without him having to spell out the shameful facts.

The person next to him spoke up. This other man was the person who had specifically handled the door frames. "Mr. Xi, I had nothing to do with this either. Our task was the installation of the fixtures. We had no say on the quality and design of the materials used throughout the construction."

Another person stepped forward. "I was the one who purchased the doors. But it was Lorenzo who told me to buy those doors." It looked like this worker was part of the procurement team. Everyone was desperate to escape from having to take responsibility for the problem.

Fortunately for them, their stories all corroborated with each other, and the answer became rather obvious after a while.

His expression remaining cold and blank, James pressed the button of his internal line and called Lorenzo to the office.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Xi?" Lorenzo had gone back to his normal self.

"Go on." James nodded to the other people in the room, and someone took over the reins. "Mr. Lan, you knew it when the doors for Mr. Xi's manor were being manufactured. We ordered them according to the price you offered."

Lorenzo's voice died in his throat.

That single statement alone was incriminating enough, and James had no need to keep listening to this garbage.

He sent everyone away until it was just him and Lorenzo in the room.

The moment Summer got back to her desk, she dialed Maria's number. "Hey, Maria! Listen to this, you wouldn't guess just how bold Lorenzo is! He actually had the audacity to gain a kickback on Mr. Xi's property!"

Maria smiled wryly from her end. "Oh, he's much bolder than you could think." Take the alimony for example.

"Well, I don't think Mr. Xi will let this slide this time around."

Maria didn't say anything. She knew for a fact that James would not let this slide.

Lorenzo had always been against her, but this was not important. The most important was that he acted as a stooge for Judy and Alina. James had also wanted to deal with him for quite a while now, so he just might take advantage of the mess she stirred up and use it to get rid of a traitorous subordinate.

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Villa, Judy paced back and forth in the living room as she gnawed on her thumb.

Something had happened to her nephew, and she didn't know how to help him. Should she just stand by and watch James fire Lorenzo?

If that happened, not only would she lose her spy in HL Group, Lorenzo would also be unable to stay in H City anymore.

'Maria Song! Maria Song! It's all because of that damned Maria Song!' she cussed inwardly.

In the end, she decided to call Sebastian, who was in the middle of a meeting with a client. "Sebastian! Something happened to Lorenzo!"

Before her call ended, she saw another incoming call from Alina.

Judy hurriedly nagged at her husband to help Lorenzo before answering the other call. "Hello, Alina. What's up?"

"Auntie Judy, I have something important to tell you. Are you free right now?"

"Is it super important?"

"Yes, it is!" Alina was very excited to share the news. It might spread throughout the city soon.

Judy wasn't in the mood to go out at first, but Alina seemed hyped for some reason, and the girl did say it was important. So they decided on a place, and she took her purse and rushed out of the villa.