A Vengeful Ex-Wife
Chapter 87 No Progress

Ignoring his anger, Maria asked in confusion, "James, honestly, I don't get why you're trying so hard to marry a criminal. There are so many nice women in town. Don't you like any of them? Did you really leave me for Alina? You left our wedding reception to see her, from what I heard.

If she could convince James to leave Alina, then that would save her a lot of trouble.

She wouldn't do anything to an innocent woman, but this was Alina.

Alina, the woman who wanted to destroy her family. The woman who destroyed her vocal cords with a vicious concoction.

James saw it differently. True, he did leave the wedding early. He admitted that, but it wasn't to meet a woman. He had to deal with a crisis at HL Group.

But it didn't matter anymore. Everything was in the past. He didn't want to dredge things up and explain it to her. "So, will you give it to me or not?" He was running out of patience.

"No way!" This was her leverage. If she held Alina's fate in her hands, then Maria could use it to her advantage. She needed a backup plan in case things went south. So she wouldn't hand it over easily, even if it was James who asked for it.

James didn't have much time to waste. He took two hundred dollars from his wallet and slapped the bills on the table. Then he stood up and left without saying anything more.

Obviously, no one was happy. James didn't get what he wanted, and neither did Maria.

After he left, Maria went to the police station to check on the vandalism case. She hoped against hope that there was some kind of lead on whoever trashed her cafe.

But the policeman still said, "We can't do anything without the surveillance records."

Then she was asked to go back home. They said they'd contact her if they made any progress.

Maria thought maybe she was too anxious. After all, it was only two days after the incident. She thanked the policeman and left the police station.

That night, James and Maria saw each other again at a dinner party.

Maria was there with Mr. Qin, Stella's father.

During the dinner party, she was socializing happily with the other guests. She didn't even spare a glance at James.

Listening to their laughter, James sat in his seat and smoked silently. He had to hand it to her. Maria was a uniquely charming woman and had these business tycoons wrapped around her finger. When the dinner party was over, the guests filed out of the private room. Alina and Stella were in the hallway, talking.

When the two women saw Maria in the crowd, one of them breathed a sigh of relief, and the other glared at her fiercely.

After all, Maria was holding a particular man's arm. An arm belonging to none other than Stella's father.

In turn, Alina didn't think it was a big deal as long as Maria stayed away from James. That was all she cared about.

At once, Stella trotted over and asked Maria sharply, "Why are you with my father?"

Instead of letting go of Mr. Qin, Maria drew him closer and looked at Stella like the cat who ate the canary. "Is there a problem with that?"

Mr. Qin patted his daughter on the shoulder and scolded her quietly, "Stella, stop it!"

Stella totally misunderstood their relationship. She was so angry that she was seeing red. "Dad, this woman is a tramp. Stay away from her!" she yelled at her father.

"Stella! Go home!" Mr. Qin was a little embarrassed. He didn't expect his daughter to be so disrespectful.

He heard that Maria was a lovely, charming woman, so he asked her to be his date for the dinner party.

Stella was spoiled by Mr. Qin. She wouldn't act like this around James, but she could make a fuss over her father.

When the other guests in the party saw what was going on, they did their best to ignore it. They weren't going to interfere in Mr. Qin's family affairs. They all said farewell to him right away. "Mr. Qin, it's getting late. We're gone. Good night."

Before she grabbed James to walk him out, Alina gave Maria a disdainful look.

Soon there were only three people left in the corridor. Immediately, Stella stepped forward and separated Maria from Mr. Qin. "You homewrecking bitch! Get a job instead of sponging off rich men!" First, Maria targeted James, then Colby, and now it was her father's turn.

"Stella! You're embarrassing me! Stop it!" Mr. Qin chided again.

Maria kept smiling graciously. She addressed her date, "Mr. Qin, don't you have another dinner party coming up? Go on ahead! I'll catch up!" Indeed, Mr. Qin was on the way to his next dinner party. Time was running out. He had planned to show up with Maria, but he didn't think Stella would throw a fit like this. At last, he had to take off. "Thank you, Maria."

"You're welcome, Mr. Qin. See you!"

After Mr. Qin left, Stella glared at Maria. "So what do you want with my father? Are you trying to piss me off?"

"Qin Group is failing because of you, and you still act like this! I don't know about you!" Maria said, shaking her head and looking at her polished fingernails. James had punished Qin Group because of how Stella behaved at the jewelry exhibition. But she still hadn't learned her lesson.

Stella blushed out of fury and shame. "What do you care? I'm warning you. Stay away from my father, or I'll rip your face off!"

Maria took two steps forward.

Stella immediately took two steps back. "What are you doing?"

The woman smiled enchantingly, a malicious glint in her eye. "Scared? Good. A word of advice: don't mess with pretty women. You might be disrespecting your future stepmother!"

Maria learned quickly. Men were animals driven by desire. Their brains weren't in their heads, but their private parts. James taught her that. Control their desire, and you could lead them anywhere you want. "You!" Stella raised her hand to slap her.

Maria grabbed her wrist and made Stella slap herself.

"Ouch! Maria Song, you bitch!" Stella was angry beyond words. She almost exploded. If she had a knife in her hand right now, she would gut Maria like a fish without a second thought.

No wonder every time Alina mentioned Maria, her eyes blazed with hatred. Stella now knew exactly why.

Heedless of the clamor behind her, Maria left the hotel elegantly, her high heels clicking on the pavement.

Maria went back and forth to the police station several times regarding what happened to her coffee shop, but there was no progress in the case. The police handling the case were quite curt with her. They just sat on the case and told her nothing.

Maria was annoyed by their attitude.

Realizing she wouldn't get anywhere with the rank and file, she stopped a higher-up climbing the stairs to his office. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Li, the deputy chief?" She heard someone talking to him, and took a chance. Chuck Li stopped, looked back at her, and nodded.

"I'd like to talk to you about a particular case. Do you have a minute?" Maria thought he looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had met him before.

She didn't think the man knew about her cafe, so she was about to explain it to him, but Chuck Li nodded. "Yes. Isn't Wallace in charge of this case?"

"Then what has he done? I've been here several times and got nothing. Is this the way you normally deal with cases?" Maria's tone was firm, with more than a little outrage. She was determined to get an explanation now.