A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 269 Taking The Initiative

At HL Group

With his eyes closed, James listened to Summer's report. "Your father has returned to the city. It appears that Ruth Duan has called him, and the two couples are to have a confrontation. Ms. Lan has gone to Alina Tang's beauty salon. It's said that Alina exposed the scandal on Ruth's birthday banquet."

The room descended into silence for a moment. "What are the updates on the alimony investigation?"

"The card does contain three hundred million dollars. I've checked the transaction history of the account, and the money was transferred not too long ago. It is highly probable that Ms. Lan transferred the money into that account after the truth was exposed."

"Where is she?" James asked.

Summer mustered up her courage and pretended not to understand. "Excuse me, Mr. Xi, who are you talking about, exactly?"

He opened his eyes then, and cast her a sideways glance. Frightened, Summer bit the bullet. "Did you perhaps mean Maria? We talked on the phone just yesterday. She's been staying in her apartment and hasn't been anywhere else recently. But she does have plans to travel in the next couple of days or so."

"She's behind this, isn't she?"

James hadn't even known that Judy had aborted Parker's child.

"Do you blame Maria, Mr. Xi?" If he did, then Summer

would feel terribly sorry for her friend.

He raised an eyebrow. "How would I dare?" His tone was wry, but it spoke his true thoughts.

"Ms. Lan and Alina Tang planned the kidnapping and pinned the blame on Maria. You can't blame her for taking revenge on them."

James frowned at the hint of grievance in her voice. "Summer, why are you being so protective of her?"

Summer lowered her head. "Not really. I just feel sorry for Maria. She's been through so much, and..." She paused and took a breath before continuing, "Mr. Xi, you've known all this time that she didn't hire the kidnappers. Why did you forbid me from telling her?"

In fact, this wasn't the only thing James knew; he had also learned that Judy, Alina and her mother were behind this.

"She seems very capable now," he replied. "She's been trying to draw a line between me and herself, again and again. Tell me, Summer, do I seem like a man who won't be able to live without a single woman? Or do I seem like a very patient person for that matter?" As far as she knew, it was true that Maria had been repeatedly trying to get a clean break from James. "But Mr. Xi, you have to admit that Maria is different from all other women you've met before."

"And so what? It doesn't mean anything at all." Did her being different from the rest mean that he had to beg her to stay with him?

"Women need to be coaxed. I know Maria appears strong, but don't forget that she is also a woman, Mr. Xi. Why don't you try a more gentle approach to win her over?"

'Coaxing Maria?' James thought his assistant was getting bolder and bolder. "By any chance, are you pleading Maria's case in front of me?"

Summer promptly shut up. At the end of the day, she was still just an assistant, and he was the boss. She wasn't in a position to criticize his decisions.

After saying all that, she was aware that she was now treading on thin ice. It was already quite the miracle that James wasn't outright furious at her. "I'm sorry, Mr. Xi. I was just feeling sorry for Maria, that's all. If there's nothing else, I'll go take my leave and return to my work."

"Get out!" His voice took on its usual cold edge.

"Yes, Mr. Xi."

Summer quickly removed herself from the office. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it as she patted her chest to calm herself. The full weight of her words and actions fell on her then, followed by a primal sense of fear. How could she have gone unhinged in front of James like that?

'Maria, please make peace with Mr. Xi soon, or I might replace myself unemployed sooner or later,' she prayed inwardly.

James lit a cigarette and pondered over Summer's words.

Did Maria feel wronged?

She probably did, and well she should.

She hadn't seen a single penny of the three hundred million alimony meant for her. One of her children died in an accident, and she had a miscarriage. To top it all off, she had been framed and imprisoned for two years.

Of course he couldn't blame her for taking her revenge on Judy and Alina.

After a while, he tucked the cigarette in the corner of his mouth and called Summer. "Won't there be a dinner party hosted by Mr. Chen and Mr. Li tonight? Make the necessary preparations. I'm attending." He hung up and pulled another hit on his cigarette, the smoke shrouding his expression.

Summer took care of the arrangements for his attendance, and she discovered that a number of senior executives from DS Group was expected at the dinner. It might be Maria.

Putting two and two together, she wondered if James had somehow heeded her advice and intended to take initiative this time around.

Night fell in the city. Several luxury cars paraded on the streets and stopped at entrance gates of a famous restaurant. Ushers were waiting as the guests alighted the vehicles, making sure that no one was neglected. Everyone invited to the party was either rich or powerful, after all, or both.

Summer and James arrived to replace that the guest list comprised of men. Not a single woman was in sight.

They learned later on that a general manager of DS Group, instead of Maria, came to the banquet.

Summer found herself drinking a few glasses of wine after dinner, but James didn't touch any of the alcohol.

As the party dwindled, they emerged from the restaurant and spotted a familiar figure in the distance.

Just beside the parking lot, Maria stood talking to a man. Her face was bare of any makeup, and she sported a loose, billowing skirt and light green flats.

As though feeling their gazes on her, she turned to their direction.

Maria waved at Summer with a smile, then turned away to continue her conversation with the man.

Shortly after, they appeared to bid each other goodbye and walked to their own, separate cars.

Maria got into the driver's seat and drove away without another backward glance.

James didn't know it then, but this would be the last time he would see Maria in the next eight months or so.

She went on her trip the next day, and very few people knew exactly where she had gone to.

Judy's association with Ruth was completely dissolved, and her relationship with Sebastian had descended to dire straits. Rumors even said that there had already been talks of divorce.

As for Alina, she was keeping a low profile now that she lost Judy's support and Maria was currently out of the picture.

Two months later, James overheard Summer talking to Maria on the phone. It sounded like they were making plans to meet up for dinner.

Sure enough, when business hours were over, Summer went to his office to inform him that she was unavailable for overtime due to a prior engagement.

James narrowed his gaze at her and agreed to let her go.

In a restaurant, Summer gaped at the pregnant woman in front of her.

She never had any idea that Maria was pregnant!

She was six month along then, bordering on seven.

"Where have you been staying? A lot of people were looking for you. Most of them thought you were in jail."

Maria's face was glowing with health, all thanks to the care of a handful of hand-picked servants and chefs. Tve been in the US all this time. I only came back for some quick business, and I'm leaving again tomorrow."

"Then, the baby you're carrying..." Summer nodded at her huge belly with a measure of caution.

Maria grabbed her hand and smiled.

"You already know what to do about this, right?" Summer said wryly, "All I want to do is to break up with you."