A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Alina suddenly stopped talking because of the sight that met her eyes.

Maria and James both were all too familiar with the voice. Maria didn't stop kissing James. In fact, she hugged him tighter.

Maria's eyes flashed with malice. The next moment, she let go of him and said, "Ouch! Honey, be gentle. It hurts!"

"What are you doing?" Alina yelled. She heard rumors about them and believed that they had sex, and she tried to be cool about it. However, when she saw what was going on with her own eyes, she couldn't keep her calm.

Watching Maria hang all over James like that, Alina was incensed. Rage boiled inside her, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Maria looked at Alina with a scornful smile. She kept up the act. "Mr. Xi, your girlfriend's here, but I don't think she gets it. Maybe you can make her understand. I wasn't feeling good, so you gave me a massage."

James didn't say anything. He never thought Maria could be so mean.

He disengaged from her arms and straightened his suit. He seemed subdued, totally different from the arrogant, savage man who kissed her moments ago.

Maria got off the desk, flipped her long hair indifferently. Then she walked over to the weeping woman. She still had that evil look. "Alina, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. My bad. I should have locked the door."

Ever since she got back in town, Alina had been a bitch to her. Maria just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.

No woman could keep calm when she saw the man she loved in another woman's arms. Neither could Alina. Besides, Maria kept provoking her. Alina raised her hand to give her a good slap.

But she missed.

Maria ran back to James. She held him in her arms and complained to him in an exaggerated childlike voice, "Oh, James! She's so mean! You're my ex. We're not together. Tell her!"

Knowing what she was doing, James felt a headache coming on. He peeled her arms from him and said, "You should leave now."

"All right! I'll take off. Remember our

appointment tonight! Love you!" Maria stood on tiptoe and wanted to kiss James again, but he held her at bay with one hand. He cast a warning glance at Maria, but she didn't mind. She smiled as she walked

out.

While passing Alina, Maria smiled enchantingly and arrogantly at her. Alina glared back at her.

'Hey, when you seduced my husband and

showed off years ago, did you think of what

might happen?' Maria's inner voice asked.

After Maria left, the office fell into an awkward silence. Neither James nor Alina spoke. After a while, Alina couldn't hold it in anymore. She wiped her face and asked the man desperately, "James, we agreed you could fool around with anyone. Anyone but Maria." Standing in front of the French window, James turned and looked at the crying woman.

Somehow, he felt a little annoyed. He strode back to his desk, took a document from the drawer, and placed it on the desk. After thinking for a while, he said, "It's all my fault. You did nothing wrong. This is an important contract. Give it to your father."

Alina was only confused for a few seconds, and suddenly had a bad feeling about this. She wiped her tears and asked in a trembling voice, "James, what are you doing?"

James looked her in the eye and said, "Maria and I have a long history." Unfortunately, that history got in between him and Alina. He hurt her without meaning to. He had sent Maria back to her hotel room. He had raped her. And he had kissed her moments ago. If Alina hadn't barged in, he was pretty sure he would have gone all the way with Maria. He underestimated how much of a hold Maria had on him. It was unfair to all three of them if it went on like this.

James believed the problem should be solved ASAP.

Alina's heart sank fast. She shook her head and tried to deny this was even happening.

In case it wasn't obvious, he decided to just come out and say it. "The engagement is off!" Short and to the point. Like always.

He was always a man with few words, and he meant every word he said. His style in love was the same.

"No, no, James..." Alina ran to him like a lunatic and held him tightly. "If you want to be with Maria, I can handle that! Please, don't abandon me, okay?"

James neither pulled her away nor held her back to comfort her. "We can't go on like this," he said in a flat tone.

Arms wrapped around him, Alina said between sobs, "You told me a long time ago you didn't love me. I get that, and I'm fine with it. But don't leave me. If you really don't want to hurt me, you should keep away from Maria. You can't let her get between us, James!"

The man said nothing. He couldn't help thinking of Maria. He wondered how a simple woman like her could destroy his engagement to Alina.

"Don't worry about me," she continued. "I'm more worried about you! She killed Arthur! You can't forget that she did that. It's so unfair to your kid. James, I was heartbroken too when Arthur left. It was all Maria's fault! If she hadn't screwed up like that, Arthur would be seven now..."

Alina's words hit him like a bolt of lightning. James' eyes widened as if he had just been jolted awake from a nightmare. 'She's not wrong. What the hell am I doing?' He couldn't believe he let Maria do this to him.

Pulling away from the woman in his arms, he said, "Go home, please." He needed to think it over-alone.

Alina knew that her words worked. She nodded obediently and said, "Okay, James. I know you have a lot to chew on. Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'm here with you!"

"Thank you," replied James with a slight nod.

After Alina left, James sat at his desk and went through a litany of things that had happened since Maria blew back in town.

Finally, he made a decision. He would never let a woman who had made a huge mistake keep him from moving on.

But James didn't know how deep Maria had her claws in him.

He made an executive decision then and there. He would never let her get close to him again. The next day he went out looking for hookers, to prove that his loss of control when Maria seduced him was because he had been horny for too long. But Maria showed up and ruined those plans.

In Room 666 of Leopard Club

Wearing a pair of white sneakers, Ethan walked out of the room, hands in his pockets. He looked as if he was lost in thought.

"Mr. Nan, what can I do for you?"

A manager approached him. Ethan pulled him aside, casting furtive glances around the hallway. Sure that no one was listening, he said, "Find some hot looking whores. They need to be good and they need to be clean. Can you do that?"

"I got it, Mr. Nan. May I ask who wants them?" He'd have more luck if he knew what the customer wanted.

As a frequent patron of the Leopard Club, Ethan had never ordered women before. The manager was sure it was not for him.

Ethan looked around again and then whispered in his ear, "James Xi!"