A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 403 The Wrong Dish

Rosa shook her head. She had never paid attention to Ronald before.

"Do you know Judy? By using Ronald, she destroyed Maria's cafe. Maria sent him to prison."

"Ah. So you want to use Ronald to deal with Maria?"

Colby shook his head. "The man has been a model citizen ever since he got out of prison and hasn't caused any trouble for a long time. Forget about provoking Maria. However, there are a lot of people just like he was before. We should take a leaf out of Judy's book and borrow a knife to kill people." 'That way, even if something happens to Maria, James won't be able to trace it back to us.'

Rosa was lost in thought.

Maria was sorely tempted to decline the invitation to dinner tonight. However, Mr. Fu mentioned that a project she had gotten involved in recently would be discussed, so she had no choice but to attend.

It was just a dinner, so she didn't take any bodyguards to keep a low profile. Only her driver was waiting for her in the car.

Her assistant accompanied her to dinner but had to beg off in the middle of it in order to attend to something urgent at home.

It was nothing out of the ordinary to encounter people she knew during dinner, especially someone like Colby and Rosa. Maria didn't think too much of coincidental meetings.

However, the constant calls for toasts were beginning to annoy her. Her original intention was to replace an excuse to leave once all of the dishes had been served and the business talk had been concluded. During dinner, Rosa went out to answer a phone call.

When she came back and passed by a corner, she caught sight of a man talking to a waitress.

She knew the man-Mr. Xu. A well-known playboy in H City, he was always surrounded by women.

Rosa meant to leave, but what she witnessed stopped her on her tracks.

The waitress handed a hot dish plate to Mr. Xu and left in a hurry.

Then, Mr. Xu took out something from his pocket and poured it into the dish when he thought there was no one else around.

A few seconds later, the waitress hurried back and handed something she had brought to Mr. Xu. Only then did he return the plate to her.

Mr. Xu stepped aside to let the waitress walk into another private room.

Before the woman could open the door, a voice called out to her. "Waitress!"

The waitress turned around and saw Rosa. She greeted her politely, "Mrs. Zheng."

"What do you have in there?"

"Mrs. Zheng, this is stone-ground tofu, which was ordered for this private room." "I see. Well, the dishes in our private room are served too slowly. Go and serve this to our room first."

The waitress visibly hesitated. "Well..." She was just a waitress. She was in no place to make that decision.

Rosa's face darkened, and she pouted in feigned discontent. "What's wrong? It's just one dish. Our private room is full of distinguished guests, and James Xi's woman also happens to be present. Do you want to neglect them?"

Taken aback, the woman hastened to reply, "No, Mrs. Zheng! I'll be right there."

"Good."

Rosa watched the waitress enter their private room. When she emerged, the dish in her hand was gone.

The dishes forthat night's banquet were all arranged by Mr. Li's assistant beforehand. No one would pay attention to the extra dish.

When Rosa entered the private room again, Maria was ladling some of the stone-ground tofu into her own bowl. Delighted by the sight, Rosa quietly made her way back to Colby's side.

Tonight's offerings during dinner consisted mostly of meat dishes. In order to show his sincerity, Mr. Li asked his assistant to order the most succulent, expensive cuts of meat available.

Maria didn't feel like eating, and none of the dishes on display tempted her. However, her appetite was suddenly awakened when she saw the tofu. When the dish was rotated to her side of the table, she wasted no time in getting some.

Colby had the same thought as her, but just as he reached for the serving spoon, Rosa whispered in his ear, "Don't eat this."

He looked at the tofu in front of him and withdrew his hand from the serving spoon without anyone noticing.

"Let's go after a toast," said Rosa.

Anyway, she was not the one who placed the drug in the dish. If something happened to Maria, it had nothing to do with her.

A businessman called Mr. Zong was present during dinner. He was an unruly drunk, so nobody wanted to drink with him. However, Colby invited him this time.

By that time, he had imbibed more than a few glasses of drink and was three sheets to the wind. He didn't care about saving face. When he proposed a toast, the person had to drink, or else he would keep bothering them.

Taking advantage of Maria's inattention, Colby whispered to Mr. Zong, "It seems that Ms. Song didn't drink much. We shouldn't neglect her. She is CEO of the DS Group, after all."

Mr. Zong would never dare offend Maria when he was sober, but his senses were dulled by the alcohol at the moment. It was impossible for him to control himself.

Hearing Colby's words, he immediately stood up and approached Maria with a glass of alcohol in his hand.

Maria intended to leave, but a wave of dizziness suddenly hit her, making her sink back to her seat. She decided to wait until she felt slightly better.

She had only taken a few sips of wine. There was no way for her to be drunk on so little alcohol.

Suddenly, she had a suspicion that someone had tampered with her drink. Warily, she started looking at everyone around her, trying to guess who attempted to hurt her.

She took out her phone to call her driver when Mr. Zong staggered over to her. "Ms. Song, there you are! You are so beautiful!"

Maria tried to hide a shiver of revulsion. 'Why does this drunkard approach me?' Flashing him a patently fake smile, she demurred, "Thank you, Mr. Zong."

Mr. Zong picked up the wine glass in front of her and refilled it. "We haven't drunk together yet, Ms. Song. I really, really want to drink with you!"

From the corner of her eye, Maria saw Colby and Rosa standing up and saying goodbye to the others. She had no time to think before the wine glass was being passed to her.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zong. It's not that I don't want to drink, I'm just not feeling well now. I have to go." The dizziness was getting worse. There must be something wrong.

Maria was about to call her driver to pick her up when her phone was suddenly snatched away from her hand.

With false courage brought about by drunkenness, the man even grabbed her hand to stop her from calling. "Come on, drink this glass before you leave. I'll drive you back!"

Maria kept her temper in check. It had been a while since anybody had dared treat her like this in H City. Now that James wasn't around, these people couldn't wait to flock around her like vultures. Trying to keep calm, she pulled her hand back. "Mr. Zong, I said that I don't want to drink. I'm not feeling well!"

There was a smile on her face, but her voice was cold.

Everyone could feel the atmosphere turn frigid, but Mr. Zong remained unaware of it. He was too angry over Maria embarrassing him.

"Maria Song, you must drink this glass of alcohol right now!" How could he show his face around the city if he allowed her to shame him like this?

With a sneer, Maria retorted, "No, I will not drink that! Give me back my phone!"

To everyone's surprise, Mr. Zong grabbed her by the neck and forced the glass against her mouth.

It was a shocking sight. Some kind-hearted people came over to persuade Mr. Zong, "Mr. Zong, you are drunk. Let go of Ms. Song!" She was James' woman. Even Colby Zheng didn't dare to propose a toast to her.

"Ms. Song? She didn't save me any face! I'll teach her exactly who I am!"