A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 23 Mature And Enchanting

If Alina hadn't used Arthur to insult her, Maria wouldn't have used her son to get any sympathy from James.

Five years ago, if Norman hadn't helped her, Maria would have gone with Arthur already.

Alina went to the hospital for treatment after leaving the parking lot of Miracle Cafe.

Then she returned to the Tang family villa.

She climbed the stairs, as the only people on the first floor were servants. As soon as she reached the second floor, she saw her younger brother, Ronald Tang, who just woke up. He whistled happily as he got ready to leave.

When he spotted her, he stopped whistling. "Holy shit!" Ronald exclaimed in surprise. "Alina, what happened to your face?"

It was the first time in his life he had seen Alina so disheveled.

Alina narrowed her eyes, hatred evident in every inch of her. "Maria Song did it!"

"Pardon?" Ronald was blown away.

Norman and Maria showed up late to Alina's birthday party. By that time, members of both the Song and Tang families had left, so they didn't get a chance to meet Maria in person.

After the party, Ronald heard that Maria was back in H City. He never thought she had the guts to mess with his sister.

"Maria Song!" Gritting her teeth, Alina uttered the name of the woman she hated most.

"She hit you? What the fuck?" Ronald still couldn't believe it. He remembered Maria as a decent- looking, weak woman. She was a pretty tame, acquiescent girl. Almost no one liked her. Maria was a nobody in the Song family. Even Ronald treated her like a maid.

Alina gave him a cold look and said, "That's enough. Do you have to be so loud about it?"

After making sure that he wasn't hearing things, Ronald got angry. "What was she thinking, hitting you like that? She doesn't take our family seriously, does she? Don't worry, Alina. The city's not that big. When I see her next, she'll pay!"

Ronald was young and aggressive. As the only heir of the Tang family, he was usually quite arrogant, and his riches shielded him from consequences.

And it was Maria that made him mad. Plus she was little more than a servant. Ronald couldn't let this go. Alina was still in her Maria-induced rage, and she wouldn't be happy until everyone in the world hated that woman. Hence, when Ronald said he would teach Maria a lesson, she didn't object. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Ronald had a lot of fun outside the confines of the villa. He hung out with a group of rich young men who liked fooling around with women and driving luxury cars all day long. With luck, one of them might hook up with Maria. Then he'd get his revenge.

"She knows martial arts. My bodyguards weren't able to beat her up. Be careful," Alina warned.

"She's just one woman. Who cares how much she knows? Men are stronger. And don't wait up for me. I'll be out with the boys tonight. Got to go!" Ronald didn't take it seriously. He would bring a few more bodyguards with him to teach Maria a lesson.

Alina stopped him. "Ronald! Remember, you're the sole heir. Maybe you should get James to show you the ropes, so you can step into the CEO role at-"

"Save it!" He rolled his eyes impatiently. "You have a serious case of James-on-the-brain. I get it. You think he can do no wrong. I admit he's popular, and knows how to run a business, but I'm not him!"

'I'm smart, just in different ways. Besides, I'm the guy who gets all the girls,' Ronald retorted inwardly. Alina was used to her brother being like that, and didn't say anything more. She went back to her bedroom while her brother headed out.

Maria felt far more relaxed nowadays. James had stopped his relentless pursuit of her real estate. She could go ahead and continue with her original plan of opening a salon. She even got the go- ahead from someone the day after she clashed with Alina and Stella.

After Alina had caused all that drama at Miracle Cafe, James immediately halted the acquisition. Apparently, he wasn't happy with Alina.

Maria guessed that Alina probably had her own problems to deal with. She would need to try to salvage her image with James, so she might not have time to bother Maria at all.

Maria was quite happy with the result. She now had time to deal with her own business and try harder to keep in contact with James.

She knew that it was impossible for him to take an active interest in her, so she had to make the first move.

And it looked like she was right. She hadn't seen Alina in more than two weeks.

Days later, the shop that Maria planned to open a beauty-salon changed to a high-end bath center. And Maria wasn't its legal owner.

No one knew what was going on there. Maybe she rented out the shop. Recently, the temperature in the city had hit 40 degree Celsius. Almost no one was walking around outside.

A black Porsche rolled a stop in the parking lot of a five-star hotel. Two valets trotted over and opened the door. An exquisitely dressed man in a suit and leather shoes stepped out. The valets greeted him warmly. "Good day, Mr. Zheng! How are you?"

Colby got out of the car and nodded with a smile. "Howdy!"

"Mr. Zheng, please follow us."

"Okay!"

Colby entered the hotel with his assistant. The hotel manager then led them to the reserved private room.

A woman suddenly rushed out from a side corridor. Before anyone could react, she bumped into Colby.

"Oops!" the woman screamed. Then she apologized in a hurry, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to do that. Oh! Hi, Mr. Zheng!"

Colby was in a bad mood after the sudden bump. He tidied up his suit and looked at the woman. "Oh, it's you!" His tone was full of surprise.

He remembered this woman, an employee of HM Group. One morning, she rushed into his exclusive elevator, trying to get to a particular floor.

The woman was not in her uniform today. She wore a white lace coat and braces skirt, showing off her hot curvy figure. Because of the collision just now, the coat slipped off her shoulder to the crook of her arm, exposing her snow-white neck.

Her eye shadow was skillfully applied, almost appearing natural. Add to that her flaming red lips, wild-looking earrings, and a necklace in the same style.

Her seven-centimeter silver high-heels were studded with diamonds. She looked mature and enchanting, drawing the eyes of every man there.

"Yes, it's me," she said in a flirtatious tone. "How have you been, Mr. Zheng? I'm sorry for bumping into you. I just came out of a dinner, and I ran too fast. Please forgive me!"

As she spoke, she put her hands on Colby's arm and shook it, pretending to be innocent and playing at being cute.

A mature man would always be more generous to a fascinating woman than to anyone else. Colby looked at the fair hands on his arms and smiled knowingly. "It doesn't matter. What's your name?"

He had met her twice, but still didn't know her name.

"Maria Song. Mr. Zheng, are you going to a dinner party?"

"Nice to meet you, Maria! And yeah, I have a dinner party to go to. 'I like her name,' Colby thought.

Maria flipped her long hair over her shoulders, looking enchanting and gentle. "What a coincidence. I just happen to be free. Mr. Zheng, do you have a date? If not, please take me." She winked at him.

Ophelia GSmSB