A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 386 Swallowing Jealousy

"Humph!" Rosa snorted, looking at Maria. "You just rely on James to come save the day, don't you? Do you really think you're that important to him? There have been so many rumors about your relationship. But why hasn't he remarried you yet?" 'How dare this bitch say that he loves her?' she thought, curling her lips in disdain.

There were a lot of people coming in and out of the meeting room. When they heard what Rosa said, they couldn't help but glance at Maria.

At this moment, a low and magnetic voice came from behind them. "Mia, is this what you want?"

Maria turned back in confusion.

James was walking towards her. Dressed in a dark suit, he looked sharp and handsome. He was also wearing a dark purple tie to match her outfit. He strode over, stopped next to her, and slipped his arm naturally around her slender waist.

James looked into her eyes and continued, "I've mentioned remarriage to you so many times, but you refused me again and again. Look, people have misunderstood the situation and are laughing at you. Why don't you just accept my proposal already?"

Rosa's face changed, making her look like she had swallowed a fly.

Maria pulled away from James, pretending to be professional. "Mr. Xi, please behave yourself in public. I'm here today as a representative of DS Group. I can't be too friendly with someone from another company."

James smiled. "Okay, let's go inside." He grabbed her hand and led her towards the meeting room.

When he passed by Colby, he paused, as if he had just noticed the man. "Mr. Zheng, what happened in the past between you and Maria was because she was angry with me. She

deliberately said things that made you misunderstand her. Please don't mind."

Colby stiffened. 'Huh? How dare James mention the past?' He suppressed his anger and smiled. "Why would I mind? You must be kidding, Mr. Xi. It's my honor to help Maria."

Maria blinked her eyes innocently and leaned her head on James' shoulder. "I'm glad you think so, Mr. Zheng. I was afraid that you would misunderstand

N me.

"I wouldn't," Colby assured. It was obvious to him that they were preparing to fight him head-on.

As the two of them disappeared into the meeting room, Colby's smile disappeared along with them. "Maria is a cunning little fox," he said in a low voice.

Trying to suppress the jealousy rolling in her heart, Rosa said, "It's good that you know that. She has teamed up with James to deal with us. We must be careful." In fact, James and Maria had been against the two of them for a long time now. It was just that they hadn't made it clear.

Most of the attendants had already arrived at the meeting room when James and Maria walked in. When they saw James, they stood up from their seats and greeted him politely. And, thanks to him, many of them took the initiative to greet Maria as well.

Clayton and Carolina were also present, representing

Tang Group and Song Group respectively. Clayton greeted James first. Then, while he was hesitating about whether to greet Maria or not, he saw that she had gone to talk to Carolina. In the end, she sat next to Carolina with her assistant.

When James saw Maria sitting here, he ignored the seat that had been arranged for him, and sat next to her instead.

His original seat was in the center; it was the most important seat in the meeting room, reserved for the most powerful person in attendance. Therefore, even though he had occupied another seat, no one else dared to take his original seat.

Maria leaned over to him and whispered, "Take your own seat. Don't you see how embarrassed Mr. Zhang is?"

"It's just a seat." James didn't take it seriously. He glanced at Mr. Zhang, who was wiping the cold sweat on his forehead while standing awkwardly. Then, he looked at Gary behind him and said, "Gary, take Mr. Zhang to my seat."

"Yes, Mr. Xi."

Led by Gary, Mr. Zhang finally took the central seat, but he was trembling like a leaf. He didn't feel worthy of sitting in such an important seat at all.

Soon, the meeting began. Today's meeting was the initial selection, so many companies that did not meet the basic requirements were eliminated.

Even with the capital that James had given her, Maria could barely stand her ground among the rest of the companies that had been selected.

The companies that remained in the running were HL Group, HM Group, Song Group, Mu Group, Tang Group, and DS Group.

Three hours later, the first round of the conference was over. The government official in charge of the project invited everyone to have lunch at H City Grand Hotel.

Of course, no one wanted to miss this lunch, because they knew that, one way or another, some inside information would be leaked during it.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Everyone headed to H City Grand Hotel in their own vehicles.

At James' insistence, Maria traveled with him in his Harkim.

Sitting in the back seat next to him, she asked, "James, have you gotten any substantial inside information about the project? Can you tell me about it?"

James glanced at her with a smile. "I have, but I'll tell you everything when we get home tonight."

Maria stared at him suspiciously. When they got home tonight? Wasn't he just trying to leverage the information to get something in return? She rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "Who is the person representing Mu Group today? Is he a relative of Ethan's?"

"Yes. Mu Group is now under the control of Ethan's cousin."

"I see." Maria didn't think she knew Ethan well.

Once the Harkim arrived at the hotel, James walked in, holding Maria's hand. When the crowd saw them walking in like a couple, they started to tease them.

Maria put on a calm face the whole time, even though she had tirelessly tried to persuade him to maintain a distance before they came in. This was a business dinner with big shots, not a place for him to show off

his love with her. But no matter what she said to him, he didn't listen.

Coincidentally, Colby was arranged to sit next to Maria.

However, in order to avoid arousing suspicion, Rosa took his seat instead and sat next to Maria.

Soon, the meal started, and everyone began raising a toast to each other.

Thanks to James, Maria didn't have to drink. No one present dared to propose a toast to her after James told them that she was having a stomachache. They all asked her to drink tea instead.

In contrast, Rosa downed several glasses of liquor, mocking Maria's thoughtlessness in her heart.

By the time they were halfway through the meal, most of the people at the table were drunk. One of them began to praise Maria's beauty and even said that he would marry a woman like her in the future.

Maria just smiled silently, gracefully accepting the praise, while Rosa was so angry that her stomach ached.

She felt that Maria was getting more and more skilled at pretending to be pure.

Looking at the plate in front of her, she angrily picked up a piece of fish meat and stuffed it into her mouth.

But a split-second later, she let out a low cough. A fish bone had accidentally gotten stuck in her throat.

She quickly ate some rice, trying to push the fish bone down.

In fact, Maria, who was sitting next to her, noticed what was going on. She just secretly observed the scene with a slight smile. Rosa let out another low cough and ate even more food, but to no avail. In the end, she secretly asked the waiter to fetch her some vinegar.

Maria sneered as she watched Rosa down the small cup of vinegar.

How could it be possible? In the twenty-first century, someone was still trying to soften a fish bone with vinegar.

Instead of giving Rosa advice, she just quietly watched her hurt herself, knowing that things might get worse.

She didn't tell Rosa to stop eating as soon as the fish bone had gotten stuck in her throat, nor did she stop her from drinking the vinegar.

"What are you looking at?" James asked Maria in a low voice.

LARK COLE

Author