A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 83 Woman's Scratches

Alina was so selfish. She wouldn't lift a finger help the Qin family. Stella sighed when she thought of how toxic their friendship was.

So she called Alina to piss her off. She kept her tone even. "Hi, Alina!"

"What's up?" Glancing at the caller ID, Alina didn't feel like talking to Stella. The Qin family was in dire straits. She didn't want to irritate James by talking to someone he was angry with. "Do you know where Mr. Xi was last night?"

Alina was taken aback by the question. She didn't live with him. How would she know his whereabouts last night? "What are you talking about? Get to the point!"

"Well, I have a friend at HL Group. Everyone in their company has been gossiping about Mr. Xi this morning..."

"Okay...why?"

Stella wasn't going to keep her guessing. She pinned her hopes on Alina saving Qin Group, so she had to be nice to her. "Someone saw Mr. Xi start work early-like two or three in the morning early." Alina breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was something serious. He usually does that, right? He's is a workaholic."

"This time was weird. His hair was all mussed. He's usually anal about keeping it combed. The real shocker was what his secretary saw when she pushed his door open."

And the circumstances surrounding this made it weird, not the fact that he was burning the midnight oil. From Alina knew, no one ever saw James like that. His image was too important.

Alina's heart skipped a beat when she heard Stella's words. She got quite annoyed. "Stella Qin! I don't have the patience for this! Get to the point!"

"The secretary saw Mr. Xi without his shirt. Underneath, he was covered in scars. These crisscrossed his back, like in a moment of passion. Some woman must have scratched him with her nails. You really don't know?"

Scratches? Alina's mind went blank. Could it be Maria?

Maria Song! She wanted to kill that bitch!

Although Alina believed James had been sleeping with her since she blew back into town, every time she heard or saw them flirting with each other, Alina boiled over in anger.

Last time, Maria bit and broke the skin on James' lower lip, and this time she let him go to work all disheveled and signed her name across his back with her nails. Alina thought Maria was doing this deliberately to piss her off. She was practically strangled by the jealousy and fury surging in her heart.

Alina made a decision to turn this around. She gritted her teeth and ordered, "Ask your friend in HL Group to tell everyone James stayed at my house last night!"

Stella went silent for a moment, then said in an embarrassed tone, "Well...here's the problem. If Mr. Xi hears that you and I started that rumor, he's going to get mad. And you know what happens then." "Just do what I said!" Alina closed her eyes and tried her best to suppress her anger. 'Damn that Maria Song!' she swore inwardly.

"Alina, Qin Group is in trouble. It's all my fault. I went to bat for you and paid the price. I — "

Alina was annoyed by her hesitation. She knew why Stella didn't want to do this. She also didn't care. "I'll ask Tang Group to take care of Qin Group. Just do it, okay?"

"Really? Thank you so much, Alina. I'll call my friend right now!" Although Tang Group was not as powerful as HL Group, it was on the Fortune 500 Global list. If Tang Group got involved, then Qin Group might be okay.

But Stella hadn't been thinking too clearly. A word from James put Qin Group in financial trouble. If Tang Group helped Qin Group, wouldn't it look like they were against HL Group? And wouldn't James try to destroy Tang Group as well? Clayton did his best as Tang Group's CEO to balance his business and life priorities, but satisfying his daughter's request might bring a world of trouble.

Following Alina's suggestion, Stella asked her friend to spread the rumor. Everyone believed it. After all, Alina was James' fiancee so it was easy to believe. They were surprised at how wild Alina was in bed. But it was juicy gossip and spread like wildfire.

After leaving Fairview Villa, Maria went back to the hotel to take a nap. She didn't get up until it was near dark.

She put on a pants suit to cover the marks on her body. Then she put on some makeup and went straight to Miracle Cafe.

The burgundy-red Rolls-Royce stopped at the door of the coffee shop. At the same time, the black Harkim across the wide road stopped at the door of HL Group.

As soon as she emerged from the car, Summer saw Maria across the street. She opened the back door without taking her eyes off the woman.

She didn't open the door all the way, and James had to push it open by himself. When he got out of the car, he found his assistant wasn't paying any attention to him.

Following her gaze, he saw a woman in a pink suit getting out of a Rolls-Royce. Her long wavy hair was draped over her shoulders, and there was a detached expression on her face.

After getting out of the car, she didn't look his way. She entered the coffee shop under armed guard, her purse in her hand.

Somehow, the man got the impression she ignored him. Although he was pretty sure Maria didn't see him, he still felt uncomfortable. Maria usually looked at the office block of HL Group when she went to work just before she entered the coffee shop.

Something else bothered him too. She wasn't wearing the dress he bought her.

She wore it when she left Fairview Villa today.

After Maria walked into the coffee shop, James looked away and forced himself to focus on business instead.

With everyone's greetings ringing in his ears, James strode into the CEO's exclusive elevator.

He stood in the elevator and looked at the scenery outside. He couldn't help but think of the passionate night he and Maria spent together.

Eventually, he found it a little difficult to breathe, so he loosened his tie with his right hand. It was no use. It was still too hot in there. The elevator soon arrived at the floor where the CEO's office was. With one hand in his pocket, James turned around and walked out of the elevator.

Following him, Summer could feel his change in mood. The CEO was fine, but what happened to shift his attitude so suddenly? She couldn't help wondering.

As they passed the cubicles of the various secretaries and assistants, James glanced at Lorenzo. The assistant was on the phone. The expression in James' eyes let Lorenzo know he needed to wrap up what he was doing and come to the CEO's office.

Lorenzo nodded, quickly ended the phone call, and followed them into the office.

James shed his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the easy chair. Standing in front of the French window without looking behind him, he asked, "Lorenzo, update me on the status of project 'Helping Children with Cleft Lip and Palate.""

Lorenzo looked at Summer in confusion. James usually never bothered with small projects like this one. Why did he suddenly care now?

He suppressed his doubts and answered truthfully, "Everything's going according to plan. YL Group are the best guys to partner with, given their philanthropic work. They'll send someone here to bang out a contract tomorrow."