A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 116

Maria rolled her eyes at Lawrence and smiled. Then she smoothed Ethan's hair and said, "Ethan, I've made up my mind. No drinking game today!"

Ethan shifted her hand off his head. "Stop petting me like some kind of puppy!

"You mean I'm not petting a puppy?" Maria asked, amusement evident in her tone.

Watching them, Lawrence chuckled. Moderately upset, Ethan raised his glass to the woman. "Come on, we should start a drinking game! The loser is a puppy!"

"No, thanks. I have plans today. Take a rain check?" Maria took out her phone and began to make a phone call.

Half an hour later, Lawrence dragged Ethan out of the bar.

At the same time, a man left the Harkim and went straight to the twenty-sixth floor of a particular hotel.

Before he emerged from the car, he had already prepared himself mentally. Blue Jazz Bar was on the top floor of the building. Earlier, Lawrence sent him a message, asking to meet him there.

He tried to ignore the nagging feeling there was something wrong. Why would one man invite another man to a hotel? James believed that the person waiting for him would be Maria.

As soon as he stepped into the elevator, he saw a woman standing near the back, regaling him with an enchanting smile. James knew it was her.

The elevator doors closed. Maria got few steps closer to him.

She reeked of alcohol. The whole elevator smelled like it. It got almost overpowering as she inched closer. James frowned and wondered how many drinks she had.

Her cheeks were red and she wore an enchanting shade of lipstick.

No matter how good she looked, he wanted to create some distance, so he took a step back.

Maria countered with a step forward and finally cornered the man in the elevator.

Staring at him drunkenly, she threw herself into his arms and acted like a spoiled child. "I drank today."

James looked at her with disgust. He wasn't blind, and his sense of smell worked just fine. He could tell she was drunk.

The elevator soon arrived at the twenty-sixth floor. She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips. Before he could push her away, she let go of him.

The elevator doors opened and she walked out as if nothing had happened, leaving the man standing there.

James didn't know what to say.

He didn't get out of the elevator. Outside the elevator was a long hallway where all the guest rooms were. Maria's intention was too obvious.

When the elevator doors closed again, his phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he knew it was Ethan. As soon as he swiped to answer the phone, James heard Ethan exclaim, "James, help me!"

He was still frowning. "Where are you?"

"Room 303 on the twenty-sixth floor. Didn't you agree we'd meet here? Where are you?"

James kept silent. He thought it was Maria trying to get him alone.

The elevator had reached the first floor. He had to press the button for the twenty-sixth floor again. "I'll be there soon. What's wrong?"

"Maria Song tied me up!" Ethan yelled in horror.

Closing his eyes, James rubbed between his eyebrows and asked, "So where's Lawrence?"

"He's standing there watching. He won't help!"

James wondered what kind of hijinks were taking place.

Soon enough, he stood at the door of Room 303 on the twenty-sixth floor.

As soon as he rang the doorbell, Maria answered the door in a heartbeat.

After he went in, Maria closed the door and locked it from inside.

Hearing the click, James didn't panic. He looked around the room but didn't see Ethan or Lawrence.

Half an hour later, the man looked as ready for business as ever.

The woman in the bathrobe said shyly, "That was incredible, Mr. Xi. But...why me?"

James glared at her icily and said, "Miss Qin."

"Yes?" Stella looked at the man with admiration and desire in her eyes.

"Shut up or I'll hit you!"

He was very irritable now and urgently wanted to get even with Ethan, Lawrence, and Maria.

The man's ruthless words startled Stella. She asked anxiously, "Where do I send the bill? I might be pregnant."

James put on his watch and strode away without looking at her.

Last night, no matter how out of it he was, he knew who he had sex with.

So what if Stella was in the bed with him? That proved nothing.

Seeing that things weren't going as smoothly as she hoped, Stella ran to the door to block the way out. "Mr. Xi, last night, Maria told me that you wanted me. And now you're trying to weasel out of it?"

Ignoring her, James took out his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and ordered, "Yeah, it's me. I need you to do me a solid and buy out Qin Group!"

Things didn't go as Stella planned. She doomed Qin Group. She was completely flustered and struggled to explain. "It's all Maria's fault, Mr. Xi. She asked me to come here! Nothing happened between us. Please don't do this to Qin Group!"

"All of you need to be punished. You, Qin Group, and Maria Song!" The man squeezed each word out. He would get even with them.

James walked past the woman in his way and left the room.

Maria knew something would happen, but she didn't think the ruse would be revealed that quickly. She lay in the bed, recuperating from last night, and was disturbed by the buzz of her phone. It was Lorenzo. He said in his most professional tone, "Ms. Song, Mr. Xi wants to see you. Please come to the Leopard Club now."

Ophelia