A Vengeful Ex-Wife novel Chapter 276

Maria nodded. "I'll wait for him here then!" There was a reception room on the floor of the CEO's office.

Summer ushered them inside. "All right, I'll find a chance to let Mr. Xi know that you're here."

"Okay."

Once the assistant left, Peggy moved closer and muttered, "Is your ex-husband always so ruthless to you? To actually require you to make an appointment first? Why didn't you slap him?"

Maria looked at her helplessly. "I haven't seen him yet, have I? At this rate, I might never slap him no matter how much I want to."

"Oh, that's right. Well, you'd better hit him when you see him later."

"Let's just stop talking about it, okay? If I know him, and

I do, he won't see me at all." If that jerk decided to make things difficult for her, she was sure that he wouldn't meet her.

Peggy took a deep breath. "So I guess it's safe to say that you love each other just as much as you want to kill each other."

Maria didn't answer. While the part about loving each other was pretty doubtful, it was rather certain that they wanted to kill each other.

An hour later, an assistant pushed through the door. "I'm sorry, Ms. Song. Mr. Xi has gone to see a client. If you have something urgent to discuss with him, please make an appointment first."

According to the assistant, even if there was something urgent, she still needed to make an appointment and wait, didn't she? Maria stood up. "It doesn't matter. Since Mr. Xi is quite busy, I'll talk about it to him later."

The word "appointment" had just effectively become taboo in her vocabulary.

After leaving HL Group, Maria went straight back to her company. She had made up her mind to forget about the project since it had already been taken away. Retrieving it would be impossible at this point. More importantly, she didn't want to have anything to do with James.

She might have been able to bear it once or twice, but she refused to do it over and over again.

"The project was bidden by another company at a high price," Peggy reported.

"Which company?"

"HL Group."

Maria fumed.

This was just too much. She became furious.

She grabbed her purse and stormed out of her office in her high heels with Peggy in tow.

"Where are we going?" Peggy asked, tugging at Maria's arm.

Maria turned around, eyes full of anger. "To put up a fight with James Xi."

"But he refused to see you, didn't he?"

"I'll meet him today no matter what!"

Peggy shut up and followed Maria.

At HL Group

As per her usual, Maria managed to reach the CEO's floor without a hitch. Summer blocked her way to James' office. "Maria, Mr. Xi said—"

"Summer." Maria shot the assistant a pointed look.

Summer sighed helplessly. "I'm sure you understand..." 'Mr. Xi did it on purpose.' She didn't want to be involved in this matter either, but James had been clear about not admitting Maria inside.

Maria narrowed her eyes. Understand? Of course she did. It was exactly because she understood that she was so pissed off.

She nodded subtly at Peggy's direction, and a silent message passed between the two. Peggy walked up to Summer and pulled her in an embrace, effectively getting her out of Maria's way. "Maria tells me that you're good friends! Since I'm also good friends with her, what do you say we go grab some drinks?"

Unbeknownst to the two uninvited guests, Summer used Peggy's interference to her own advantage. The moment she was hugged, she purposely stepped aside to let Maria pass. Then she whispered to Peggy, "You should follow her inside. Those two are bound to get into a fight."

"All right then, I'll treat you to a meal some other time." Then Peggy planted a kiss on Summer's cheek.

James, too, was rendered speechless.

The atmosphere in the office became awkward.

Peggy surveyed the room once and instantly regretted her words. 'Oh my God, did they misunderstand? I just wanted to prod Maria.'

In order to prove her innocence, she pushed Maria into the man's arms and said, "Go sleep with him, or such a handsome man will be taken away by someone else!"

Taking advantage of this opportunity, James wrapped his arms around Maria and whispered, "Throwing yourself at me?"

The faint scent of roses wafted from her hair to his nose. She might have indeed grown plumper, and he liked it. She felt so soft against his body, so nice to hold.

Maria was furious. "Didn't you see that she pushed me?"

"No. You are the only person in my eyes."

His sweet-talking was unwarranted, and while it surprised Maria, her next thought was that James was lying through his teeth.

She took a deep breath and said, "Let go of me first."

He didn't budge. "Under these circumstances, I'm afraid I have to return the enthusiasm."

"James Xi, I dare you!" He had stolen her projects, and now he intended to take advantage of her. This man was truly full of himself.

And Peggy was still there, too! Was there no end to his shamelessness?

"Get out!" James bit out tersely, and everyone knew he was talking to Peggy.

Peggy hesitated for a moment, wondering if leaving was the right thing to do.

She shifted slightly, and Maria immediately reacted. "Stop, Peggy! If this man dares to lay a finger on me today, we're going to fight him to death!"