Chapter 13 I''m The Landy


    In the early morning, the employees rushed to work, and so did Maria. With her long, wavy hair


    loose, she ran towards the HM Group''s elevators on the first floor.


    As she saw that the doors to one of the elevators were about to close, she eximed, "Hold on!"


    She pressed the button in time to stop it from going up.


    There were three people in the elevator. A man in his forties, standing in the front, and two others in


    the back who seemed to be his assistants. All three of them were staring at Maria, but she didn''t


    seem to notice their gazes or the awkward atmosphere in there. With an apologetic smile, she said


    to them, "Please excuse me, or I''ll bete for work."


    Stepping into the elevator in her high heels, she turned around and pressed the button to close the


    doors.


    The next moment, she proceeded to press the 22nd-floor button, where the secretary department


    was located.


    Breaking the silence, the woman standing behind her asked sternly, "Which department are you


    from?" Maria turned to her in confusion. "Are you asking me?"


    The woman nodded nkly.


    Maria smoothed her long hair and answered politely, "Oh, I''m from the secretary department. I''m


    new here."


    The woman''s suspicions were confirmed, and she said, "No wonder. Miss, be careful next time. This


    is the CEO''s exclusive elevator. You can''t take this one."


    "Oops! I''m sorry for that. Thanks for letting me know!" Maria brought a hand to cover her mouth in


    shock. As the elevator got quiet again, she thought about it for a while and then looked at the man


    standing in the front before saying gently, "Excuse me, sir. Are you Mr. Zheng, the CEO of our HM


    Group?"


    With a trace of amusement in his eyes, the man nodded. "It''s okay. You didn''t know. Just pay


    attention next time."


    Maria put down her hand, revealing her lovely red lips once more, and looked at him with


    admiration. "Mr. Zheng, this is really nice of you! By the way, I didn''t expect you to be so young! I


    always thought that someone who manages such a bigpany would be in his fifties, but you look


    as if you''re in your thirties at the most. How amazing!"


    Everyone could tell that she was intentionally ttering Colby Zheng, but the point was that she


    sounded as natural as if she was telling him the truth. Moreover, Maria was an attractive woman, so


    her words were quite pleasing to Colby''s ears.


    Colby chuckled. "Thank you. I''m so ttered. You should consider working in the PR department


    instead!" Out of the corner of his eye, Colby scanned her up and down and noticed that she had


    nice curves and, overall, was really good looking. It was a pity that she wasn''t working in the PR


    department indeed.


    Maria nodded, her cheeks blushing. She wanted to say a few more words, but as they were almost


    on the 22nd floor, she tried to sum all up as fast as she could. "Mr. Zheng, thank you so much for


    giving me a ride. I hope I didn''t waste too much of your time. I promise I won''t make such a mistake


    again. I''ll work hard to contribute as much as I can to ourpany! Nice meeting you."


    Colby nodded dly at her sincere words. "Good! Keep up with your hard work!"


    On her high heels, Maria left the elevator elegantly, soon disappearing from the three people''s sight.


    Once the elevator doors closed again, the smile on Maria''s face gradually faded. Rumor had it that


    Colby''s current wife was in her twenties. Why would such a young woman be willing to marry an


    ugly, old man if not for his money?


    ''Is it true love? Oh, please! I don''t buy it!'' Maria''s lips curled up into a sneer.


    Maria had already experienced the so-called true love from the wealthy families'' perspective and


    got burned. Therefore, she reminded herself, ''Maria, the one you should love and cherish the most


    in the world is yourself!''


    After two failed meeting attempts with thendy of the shop she wanted to rent, Alina didn''t


    request to meet her for the third time in Miracle Cafe. Instead, she wanted to see her at her house.


    However, thendy told her to meet her at HM Group, where she worked in the secretary


    department. In H City, the Tang Group and the HM Group were equally influential. Hence, it wasn''t


    hard for Alina to figure out thendy''s position and sry. She couldn''t help feeling confused.


    Why would a woman who owned a shop in the central business district not live on its rental? For


    what purpose would she endure such a low-wage job?


    Despite not making sense of it, Alina went to HM Group with her assistant as scheduled. If she got


    stood up again, she would definitely make thendy suffer.


    In the secretary department''s reception room, the employees brought tea and desserts to Alina as


    soon as she sat down. It happened that everyone knew who she was and, therefore, wanted to


    pamper her.


    Fortunately, thendy showed up on time. A couple of minutes after Alina was settled, her


    assistant came in and reported, "Ms. Tang, thendy is here."


    Alina heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, she could meet this person. However, the next moment, the


    anger of getting stood up twice resurfaced. ''I must teach this woman a lesson!'' Alina thought.


    Soon, the door of the reception room was pushed open, and a woman in a suit walked in. Alina''s


    assistant followed her and closed the door. The instant Alinaid eyes on her, she gaped.


    Next, she blurted out, "Maria Song, what are you doing here?" Alina wondered when Maria came


    out of the hospital.


    Maria walked in with a smile and didn''t say anything until she was sitting down across from Alina.


    "I''m here to discuss the rent with you, dear cousin."


    "The rent? Who are you? I''m here to speak to thendy herself!" Crossing her arms over her


    chest, Alina stared at Maria in confusion.


    Maria looked into Alina''s eyes and stressed each syble. "I am thendy."


    "Impossible!" Alina''s confusion soon turned into utter shock. "How could you afford to buy a shop in


    such an expensive location? It''s impossible!"


    Maria was d to see her astonishment. "You heard it right, Alina. The shop is mine!" At that


    moment, Maria pulled out her cell phone. As she scrolled down the screen, she found a picture of


    the real estate certificate of her shop and showed it to Alina''s assistant.


    Zooming in the picture, the assistant put it before Alina''s eyes. Now she could clearly read Maria''s


    name as the property owner.


    Alina lost herposure. "How could a poor woman like you afford this? Oh, wait! I got it! Did


    Norman Shen give it to you?" Alina did the quick math in her head. The averagemercial


    property price in the central business district of H City was 22 thousand dors per square meter,


    and that shop had 500 square meters, which meant that it had cost her at least 7.5 million dors in


    total.


    Alina looked at Maria with disdain. There was no way she could have afforded it. It must have been


    Norman who bought it for her.


    Maria stood up and walked to her, taking her phone back. Calmly, she reminded Alina, "It doesn''t


    matter if Norman gave it to me or not. The point is that I''m thendy of the shop you want to rent.


    Now, it''s up to me whether I''ll allow you to or not."


    Alina looked Maria up and down again. Although she was wearing an ordinary suit, she acted as a


    legit businesswoman, totally different from the woman she used to be six years ago. At that


    moment, Alina started to take her theory more seriously that Maria wasn''t as innocent as she


    seemed and that the real purpose behind her return wasn''t so obvious. "So, you deliberately stood


    me up twice?" Alina asked knowingly.


    Leaning against the desk next to Alina, Maria bent over and whispered in her ear, "You can bet I


    did!"


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    No one had ever dared to provoke Alina in this way. Moreover, the person defying her was Maria,


    who she had always deemed as a coward. Alina''s face darkened as she stood up, raising a hand to


    p her cousin across the face.


    Yet Maria held Alina''s arm before she couldy a finger on her and casually advised, "If you want to


    rent that ce, you''ll behave yourself and talk to me respectfully. Don''t dare to touch me, or you can


    leave!" Then she shook off Alina''s arm, releasing her rather forcefully.


    Alina staggered, losing her bnce. The assistant was too far away to get to her on time. If she


    hadn''t held to the chair beside her, she would have fallen to the floor. Embarrassed and angry, Alina


    rubbed her sore arm and yelled, "Are you out of your mind, Maria?"


    In the past, Maria was the least favored member of the Song family. After she married James, his


    stepmother never liked her. She had always been so obedient and gentle; never had she been so


    disrespectful to Alina before.


    Noticing that Alina was at a disadvantage, her assistant stood in front of her protectively and


    warned, "Ms. Song, if you don''t stop, you can''t me us for being rude!"


    Maria ignored the assistant and straightly asked the embarrassed woman behind him, "Alina, what


    do you n to do with my shop after you rent it? Let''s see if theyout meets your requirements."