A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Hearing Maria's string of curses on the other end of the line, Lawrence fell silent. It seemed he had interrupted them being intimate. He was amazed and amused all at the same time. Holding back his laughter, he said to James, "I'm so sorry! I'll...uh...let you get back to what you were doing. Bye!"

He was worried James wouldn't go to take care of Maria, so he made the phone call to prompt him. But his timing was so bad. He didn't do that on purpose. After hanging up, he burst into laughter.

James put his phone back into his pocket and looked back at the woman on the bed. He was stony-faced as always. "I'm out of here. Don't bother me again unless it's urgent." He realized he was close to losing it. He almost fell into Maria's trap.

Before leaving, he blocked her on WeChat while she watched.

Maria glared at him and said nothing.

"I think you need a man. I can find someone to help with this, if you want," he offered.

"Fuck off!" Maria threw a pillow at him. "You fucking asshole!"

The atmosphere was arctic, and the temperature actually seemed to drop. "Come again?"

"You heard me! So what now? Are you mad? Go ahead. Try and hit me."

The ceasefire had been broken, and now both sides squared off, ready for renewed conflict.

James stepped toward her menacingly. Maria threw off the quilt she used to cover her body and sneered. "Mr. Xi, you haven't gotten your rocks off either. Do you want to continue?"

He stopped. And he stared at her. Every inch of her naked body was exquisite. He couldn't hit her if he wanted to.

Finally, he turned and strode away in a hurry. She could tell the man was embarrassed.

It was over and things were back to normal. Maria threw herself on the bed, pulled the quilt over her face, and cursed Lawrence inwardly thousands of times.

She had almost managed to get James in bed, and failed. Now that he knew what she had in mind, he'd be on his guard. He wasn't dumb. He would keep his distance. Maria failed, and it was time for Plan B.

When she was completely calm again, Maria knew the only way things would work was if she could keep her emotions in check. Now that James knew her plans, he would be even more heartless and determined to keep her from getting her way.

The first step was to keep calm, not let him rile her up. That way she could continue to get close to him again and she would have another chance.

But sadly, she seemed to have no other choice other than to use her womanly wiles. If she had to, she could. Maria had nothing to lose.

She'd made it through many times before; she'd do so again.

So what if the past was a loss? She could make the future better.

At least she had breakfast. She could at least be grateful to James for that. After her meal, Maria called Lawrence. "Are you busy now?"

"That was quick! So are the rumors true?" The rumor about James' premature ejaculation had spread throughout H City. At first, Lawrence couldn't believe it. But now...

"What are you talking about?" Maria was dumbfounded for a second, and then realized what he was referring to. She rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah. My plan failed, thanks to you, Mr. Lu. Your call ruined everything. Now I'm back to point A."

"I'm sorry." Lawrence made a sincere apology. He really believed what she said.

Maria chuckled, "You're so trusting. I'm just kidding. Your best friend is really a tough nut to crack. I haven't made any progress yet, so I need your help."

How could she blame Lawrence for that? If James really wanted her, he wouldn't be thrown off by a phone call.

"What can I do for you? How about I give James a roofie and deposit him in your bed?" The simplest and the most direct way.

"

"That would knock him out. How would that help?" Under the influence of rohypnol, it would be extremely unlikely he could get an erection. Even if he could, he might not remember anything. Lawrence was really eager to help her. "So that's out. What do you need?"

"No hurry. Why are you anxious? When will you be back in town?"

"In about ten days."

Maria thought for a while and said, "Sounds good. Say, are you seeing anyone right now?"

Lawrence didn't know how to answer that. She was quite blunt, and it threw him for a loop. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't worry. It's all part of the plan! I don't want to screw up your personal life, though." She couldn't afford the consequences. "In that case, no, I'm not seeing anyone," Lawrence answered straightforwardly. He was not interested in falling in love with a woman. He didn't have the time for it. When he imagined chasing a woman, buying her gifts, and dealing with her mood swings, it gave him a migraine. 'Shoot me now,' he thought.

"That's good. Well, I won't take up too much of your time. Call me when you get back!"

Maria hung up. Staring at his phone, Lawrence realized he still didn't know what her plan even was, or how he could help her.

Lawrence wasn't overly inquisitive. But Maria asked him when he would come back and if he had a girl he liked. He thought carefully, and finally he thought he might have it all figured out.

He sighed. He remembered how he and Maria became close friends.

It was a rainy night. She stood there in a red dress, surrounded by men lying on the ground, whining and groaning in pain. Her eyes had a glint in them, a glint of confidence and power. Like a great cat, sated after a kill.

She was totally different from the woman Lawrence had seen at James' wedding. She used to be an introverted and gentle wife, and now she was a deadly foe.

At that time, she could only take down at most four men with difficulties. Now she could take down more than a dozen without help. Every time she attacked, her aim was true. She was like a human fighting machine. They were destined to lose.

And he was pretty sure he knew who had changed Maria so drastically.

But he wanted to know for sure.

James was confused by what Maria did next. He sometimes felt creepy and other times confused.

Once, he was having dinner with a client at a restaurant, and Maria was sitting near his table. She had ordered a quite a bit but she hadn't taken a single bite. Elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand, she smiled at him the whole time. He had to try his best to ignore her and continue to talk to the client.

After he was done with his business dinner, Maria started to dig in. She was starving. Seeing him leave, she didn't go after him as if she really did come to the restaurant to eat.

James wondered about the incredible coincidence, seeing Maria at dinner like this. He would have suspected Summer of doing this, leaking his calendar to Maria. But she was in another country, working on a project that he assigned her.

He'd seen Maria several times now. This couldn't be by accident.

One day, several brand-new sports cars were parked at the gate of an old run-down community in the west of the city. A man stood near the first car, wearing a blue patterned shirt and shorts. He looked at the entrance of the community leisurely, waiting for someone.

Soon, a woman with a ponytail trotted over, holding something in her arms.

The man put on a big smile and said hi to her. "Hey Marsha. You took long enough!"

Gasping for breath, Marsha stopped in front of him. She shoved her load into his arms. "Ronald Tang! We're done!" One of the limited edition stuffed animals slipped from Ronald's arms and fell on the dirty ground.

There were three luxury cars behind Ronald's, all of which belonged to his friends. Watching this, they were startled as they left their cars.

The pile of toys reached his head, and Ronald had to keep some of them from falling by squishing his chin down on top of them. Giving him a load like this was highly disrespectful.

The smile on Ronald's face disappeared instantly. "Marsha Zhao, what are you doing?"