A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 48 Spying On Him

The aroma of coffee permeated the room. Maria took a sip of her freshly-brewed coffee and nodded in satisfaction.

Compliments of the hotel, the coffee in the presidential suite was quite good. Specialty grade coffee beans and a grinder were just some of the perks for those who could afford the room. She found the tray, picked up a steaming cup and walked out of her room.

When the doorbell rang, James was on the phone with a senior executive of HL Group.

He opened the door and saw the woman in slippers lazily leaning against the doorframe, a cup of coffee in her hands. She greeted him with a sweet smile.

When James was about to close the door, Maria deftly slipped inside before he could. She ignored his cold glare.

Heedless of the man's attitude, she put the fragrant cup of coffee on his desk, pointed at it, and whispered, "Pure craft beans. I just brewed it. Don't worry. I didn't poison it."

Before James could say another word, she left his room. Maria went back to her own suite, and poured another cup. This time, she knocked on Colby's door.

Inside the room, Colby was talking business with his assistant. Seeing her come in, he smiled and asked, "Have a good nap?"

"I just woke up. And yeah, I feel better, so I made a cup of coffee for you." Then she looked at the assistant and said, "I'm sorry, but I didn't know you are here. I only brought one cup." The assistant closed the file unobtrusively, and said, "It's fine, Ms. Song. I have tea."

Maria put the coffee on the table next to Colby and put the tray aside casually. She sat down on the sofa next to them, her hands supporting her as she sat. "You busy now?"

After saying that, she patted herself on the forehead helplessly. "What am I saying? I can see you're working now. I was bored, so I thought I'd see if Mr. Zheng was free. I'll take off. Sorry."

Colby indeed had important business to deal with, so he didn't ask her to stay. "Get some rest. The dinner party is more important. Make sure you're ready."

Maria smoothed her hemline and put a hand behind her back when Colby's assistant lowered his head and touched his forehead. Then she stood up from the sofa and said, "Okay. See you later." She took the tray, walked over to Colby, straightened his tie, and said considerately, "Don't work too hard!"

Colby nodded, "All right."

Maria went back to her suite. She closed the door and leaned against it, panting to relieve her nervousness.

Coffee wasn't the only thing she left in the rooms of these high-powered businessmen.

Keeping this in mind, she threw the tray aside, turned on her laptop, and donned her headset.

The bug she planted in Colby's room worked like a charm. His assistant asked, "Mr. Zheng, did she tell you she acquired some inside info from Mr. Wang?"

"No. We're meeting later. She can tell me then," answered Colby. "Let's get back to technology. HL Group outranks us there. James Xi spends billions on research and development every year. He's good at making breakthroughs and excels at independent innovation. So we can't fall behind. We have to work hard! Call Mr. Xue. He knows Mr. Xiao, the head technician at HL Group, right? We could use someone like that on our team. See what it would take to get him to change companies."

Maria smiled. So Colby wanted to steal Mr. Xiao from HL Group. She wondered how James would react if he knew. Would tensions between them boil over? After listening to Colby for a while, she switched audio feeds, this time to the wireless covert listening device she placed under James' desk.

She clicked the link, and nothing happened. She clicked it again several more times, and still nothing. Maria was confused. But not for long, as she heard a familiar voice through her headset. "Ms. Song, congratulations on your choice. This is a pretty powerful bug. But everything has its flaws."

Maria was taken aback. James might be a terrible man, but he was no dummy. He figured out what she did rather quickly.

Colby probably wouldn't replace his. It was behind one of the couch cushions.

Not caring what she had to say, James continued, "The flaw here was in your plan. This device is manufactured by HL Group. When it's turned on, you can see the red LED light. Neat little thing. I signed off on the licensing, you know." The LED light was also a reminder the device was connected.

While saying that, James wondered if Colby hired Maria to spy on him. It would make sense. Then another question popped into his mind. Did she get to know Colby before or after she returned to H City? Maria was still flustered that he'd been able to figure it out. She cursed herself for being sloppy. She should have done more research. Then she'd know it had been developed by HL Group. At last, it was time for the final dinner party. Maria was dressed in the usual -a brown silk dress and a pair of black high-heeled shoes. Her long hair cascaded down her back. She looked beautiful and eye-catching without too much effort.

Mr. Wang had already changed from his suit he wore at the luncheon to a grey one. He looked as if nothing had happened to him earlier today.

He tasked one of his men to secretly investigate what happened. But nothing he found pointed to Maria. When he saw Maria at the dinner party, his eyes lit up and he raised his hand so she could replace him. Before coming here, Colby had hinted to Maria that if she could make Mr. Wang happy, she'd be the proud holder of a 20-million-dollar bank card. He wanted Mr. Wang to take the bid that HM Group was offering.

Maria agreed, overjoyed.

In the evening, Colby brought along several cases of wine and liquor. Everyone drank a lot, especially Maria. Mr. Wang insisted on it. Both Maria and Mr. Wang were engaged in a drinking contest. Each wanted to drink the other under the table.

Since James didn't bring Summer along, Lorenzo downed a few glasses of wine in his stead. Then Lorenzo left the dinner party because of something urgent. Eventually, when the dinner party was over, almost everyone was drunk.

Maria couldn't even stand reliably. With Colby's permission, Mr. Wang's driver escorted her to his car.

James also saw what was going on, but he said nothing and took another drag on his cigarette.

Although Mr. Wang was drunk, he didn't forget there was an enchanting lady waiting in his car. To avoid being shitfaced so that he could enjoy a passionate night, he readily agreed to attend another dinner that Colby arranged.

The silver Audi wasn't parked at the hotel entrance, but in the parking lot. The driver helped the drunken woman into the back seat, closed the rear door, and went back to pick up Mr. Wang.

Three minutes later, Mr. Wang and the driver emerged from the hotel. There were others helping the driver support Mr. Wang's weight, as he was unable to walk due the amount of alcohol he consumed. The driver dismissed them, and insisted on guiding Mr. Wang himself.

In the car with dim light, the woman in a long brown dress leaned back in her seat, her long hair covering half her face. She didn't stir when Mr. Wang was horsed inside next to her.

Mr. Wang was hammered, but not so much he didn't know what was going on. He put his hands on the woman. "Ms. Song." The woman was passed out, so Mr. Wang decided to take advantage of the situation. Before they arrived at the hotel where he was staying, he had his way with her.

The driver from the branch company of HL Group dropped James off at his hotel. He had drunk a lot tonight, but could still walk.

When they arrived there, the driver opened the door and helped James out of the car.

Just as the driver was about to follow him inside, a woman came to him out of nowhere. "Is he drunk? I'll take care of him. You can leave now. Thanks."