Chapter 87 No Progress


    Ignoring his anger, Maria asked in confusion, "James, honestly, I don''t get why you''re trying so hard


    to marry a criminal. There are so many nice women in town. Don''t you like any of them? Did you


    really leave me for Alina? You left our wedding reception to see her, from what I heard.


    If she could convince James to leave Alina, then that would save her a lot of trouble.


    She wouldn''t do anything to an innocent woman, but this was Alina.


    Alina, the woman who wanted to destroy her family. The woman who destroyed her vocal cords with


    a vicious concoction.


    James saw it differently. True, he did leave the wedding early. He admitted that, but it wasn''t to meet


    a woman. He had to deal with a crisis at HL Group.


    But it didn''t matter anymore. Everything was in the past. He didn''t want to dredge things up and


    exin it to her. "So, will you give it to me or not?" He was running out of patience.


    "No way!" This was her leverage. If she held Alina''s fate in her hands, then Maria could use it to her


    advantage. She needed a backup n in case things went south. So she wouldn''t hand it over


    easily, even if it was James who asked for it.


    James didn''t have much time to waste. He took two hundred dors from his wallet and pped the


    bills on the table. Then he stood up and left without saying anything more.


    N?velDrama.Org ? content.


    Obviously, no one was happy. James didn''t get what he wanted, and neither did Maria.


    After he left, Maria went to the police station to check on the vandalism case. She hoped against


    hope that there was some kind of lead on whoever trashed her cafe.


    But the policeman still said, "We can''t do anything without the surveince records."


    Then she was asked to go back home. They said they''d contact her if they made any progress.


    Maria thought maybe she was too anxious. After all, it was only two days after the incident. She


    thanked the policeman and left the police station.


    That night, James and Maria saw each other again at a dinner party.


    Maria was there with Mr. Qin, Ste''s father.


    During the dinner party, she was socializing happily with the other guests. She didn''t even spare a


    nce at James.


    Listening to theirughter, James sat in his seat and smoked silently. He had to hand it to her. Maria


    was a uniquely charming woman and had these business tycoons wrapped around her finger.


    When the dinner party was over, the guests filed out of the private room. Alina and Ste were in


    the hallway, talking.


    When the two women saw Maria in the crowd, one of them breathed a sigh of relief, and the other


    red at her fiercely.


    After all, Maria was holding a particr man''s arm. An arm belonging to none other than Ste''s


    father.


    In turn, Alina didn''t think it was a big deal as long as Maria stayed away from James. That was all


    she cared about.


    At once, Ste trotted over and asked Maria sharply, "Why are you with my father?"


    Instead of letting go of Mr. Qin, Maria drew him closer and looked at Ste like the cat who ate the


    canary. "Is there a problem with that?"


    Mr. Qin patted his daughter on the shoulder and scolded her quietly, "Ste, stop it!"


    Ste totally misunderstood their rtionship. She was so angry that she was seeing red. "Dad, this


    woman is a tramp. Stay away from her!" she yelled at her father.


    "Ste! Go home!" Mr. Qin was a little embarrassed. He didn''t expect his daughter to be so


    disrespectful.


    He heard that Maria was a lovely, charming woman, so he asked her to be his date for the dinner


    party.


    Ste was spoiled by Mr. Qin. She wouldn''t act like this around James, but she could make a fuss


    over her father.


    When the other guests in the party saw what was going on, they did their best to ignore it. They


    weren''t going to interfere in Mr. Qin''s family affairs. They all said farewell to him right away. "Mr. Qin,


    it''s gettingte. We''re gone. Good night."


    Before she grabbed James to walk him out, Alina gave Maria a disdainful look.


    Soon there were only three people left in the corridor. Immediately, Ste stepped forward and


    separated Maria from Mr. Qin. "You homewrecking bitch! Get a job instead of sponging off rich


    men!"


    First, Maria targeted James, then Colby, and now it was her father''s turn.


    "Ste! You''re embarrassing me! Stop it!" Mr. Qin chided again.


    Maria kept smiling graciously. She addressed her date, "Mr. Qin, don''t you have another dinner


    partying up? Go on ahead! I''ll catch up!" Indeed, Mr. Qin was on the way to his next dinner


    party. Time was running out. He had nned to show up with Maria, but he didn''t think Ste would


    throw a fit like this. Atst, he had to take off. "Thank you, Maria."


    "You''re wee, Mr. Qin. See you!"


    After Mr. Qin left, Ste red at Maria. "So what do you want with my father? Are you trying to piss


    me off?"


    "Qin Group is failing because of you, and you still act like this! I don''t know about you!" Maria said,


    shaking her head and looking at her polished fingernails. James had punished Qin Group because


    of how Ste behaved at the jewelry exhibition. But she still hadn''t learned her lesson.


    Ste blushed out of fury and shame. "What do you care? I''m warning you. Stay away from my


    father, or I''ll rip your face off!"


    Maria took two steps forward.


    Ste immediately took two steps back. "What are you doing?"


    The woman smiled enchantingly, a malicious glint in her eye. "Scared? Good. A word of advice:


    don''t mess with pretty women. You might be disrespecting your future stepmother!"


    Maria learned quickly. Men were animals driven by desire. Their brains weren''t in their heads, but


    their private parts. James taught her that. Control their desire, and you could lead them anywhere


    you want.


    "You!" Ste raised her hand to p her.


    Maria grabbed her wrist and made Ste p herself.


    "Ouch! Maria Song, you bitch!" Ste was angry beyond words. She almost exploded. If she had a


    knife in her hand right now, she would gut Maria like a fish without a second thought.


    No wonder every time Alina mentioned Maria, her eyes zed with hatred. Ste now knew exactly


    why.


    Heedless of the mor behind her, Maria left the hotel elegantly, her high heels clicking on the


    pavement.


    Maria went back and forth to the police station several times regarding what happened to her coffee


    shop, but there was no progress in the case. The police handling the case were quite curt with her.


    They just sat on the case and told her nothing.


    Maria was annoyed by their attitude.


    Realizing she wouldn''t get anywhere with the rank and file, she stopped a higher-up climbing the


    stairs to his office. "Excuse me, are you Mr. Li, the deputy chief?" She heard someone talking to


    him, and took a chance. Chuck Li stopped, looked back at her, and nodded.


    "I''d like to talk to you about a particr case. Do you have a minute?" Maria thought he looked


    familiar, but she couldn''t remember where she had met him before.


    She didn''t think the man knew about her cafe, so she was about to exin it to him, but Chuck Li


    nodded. "Yes. Isn''t Wace in charge of this case?"


    "Then what has he done? I''ve been here several times and got nothing. Is this the way you normally


    deal with cases?" Maria''s tone was firm, with more than a little outrage. She was determined to get


    an exnation now.