Chapter 93 Freeloader


    There were hundreds of employees in HL Group''s finance department. James was in a generous


    mood —he would treat the entire finance department out for coffee today, the design department


    tomorrow, and the secretory department the day after that, etc. All of that would be done at Miracle


    Cafe.


    Summer was a little surprised. She was not sure he meant Maria''s cafe. She asked tentatively, "Mr.


    Xi, shall I make arrangements with your favorite coffee shop?"


    "No need," James replied without hesitation. "Talk to Miracle Cafe."


    Inwardly, Summer gave Maria a thumbs-up sign. She knew that Maria could handle James well.


    "Yes, Mr. Xi. I''ll go and buy coffee there."


    Before Summer left to do just that, James said, "The coffee should be free. Just tell them I said


    that."


    Summer gaped. She couldn''t believe her ears. ''Mr. Xi is such a freeloader!''


    When she thought about it a minute, Summer had to admit it wasn''t his usual style. Maybe he had


    an agreement with Maria.


    When Maria heard that James ordered coffee for the finance department, she did some quick math.


    From what she could calcte, that was roughly six hundred cups of coffee for takeout. That would


    rapidly blow through her stores of coffee. Though she was always calm, she went crazy quickly.


    Her eyes wide open, she stared at a helpless Summer and asked in a hushed voice, "Is this James''


    attempt to collect on the three mil I owe him?


    I''d rather sleep with him."


    "You should tell him that!" Summer would be delighted to see the two remarry.


    "Humph!" Maria rolled her eyes at Summer and curled her lips. "You wish!" ''James Xi is such a jerk!


    I''m so done with that guy,'' she thought to herself in disdain.


    However, Maria couldn''t deny James had just helped her piss off her sisters. She thought it over


    and ask Summer to pass on a message to him. "I can only do three hundred cups today. I can get


    him the rest of the order tomorrow."


    "Okay." Summer would definitely agree.


    Hearing her report, James seemed to be okay with it. As long as Maria was busy, she wouldn''t


    come bug him.


    James had made a wise decision this time. Maria had been busy with the coffee shop and had no


    time to make trouble for him. At least she wouldn''t have time to think about anything else, and Alina


    would stay quiet as well. James was quite happy to have a break from it.


    However, this situation onlysted three days. On the fourth day when Maria received the order


    from HL Group, she stopped and leaned against the bar counter, lost in thought. She had been


    making coffee all the time in the past few days and she was so tired. Looking at the coffee machine


    that had been going non-stop, she came to an idea.


    A momentter, she entered the HL Group building, a cup of coffee in hand.


    Miracle Cafe had been filling coffee orders for the nearby office building every day. All the security


    guards got to know all the shop assistants, including Maria.


    Therefore, it was easy for her to get in and walk straight to James'' office.


    Getting to his floor, Maria didn''t see Lorenzo or Summer when she stepped out of the elevator. Only


    two young assistants remained in their seats.


    Maria was almost a regr visitor here, so all James'' assistants knew her by now. Seeing Maria


    walk out of the elevator, the two assistants exchanged nces and let her in.


    Maria winked at the two girls. "Thanks, you two. If you have time, pleasee to Miracle Cafe.


    Mention my name and there''ll be free coffee for you!" "Thank you very much, Ms. Song," they


    chirped happily. They liked Maria much more than Alina.


    "You''re wee. I''m here to bring coffee to your boss. I''ll go find him now."


    "Please go ahead, Ms. Song!"


    "Okay!"


    When Maria pushed the door to James'' office open, to her surprise, the man didn''t ignore her in


    favor of his documents this time, but sat on the sofa, seemingly deep in thought, eyes closed.


    Hearing the sound of the door, James slowly opened his eyes and saw the woman in a pink pants


    suit.


    "Hello, Mr. Xi! Would you like a cup of coffee? I just brewed it."


    James had been busy all night and hadn''t gotten a wink of sleep in that time. He just closed his


    eyes for a nap but was interrupted. He pressed his temples, his eyes full of fatigue. "Put it down and


    leave."


    Noting his lethargy, Maria put the coffee on the desk and stayed put.


    Contravening his orders, she walked to the back of the sofa, put her hands on his temples, and


    began to massage him. "You know what, I''m pretty good at this. Let me see what I can do." James


    was about to turn her down, but when the woman''s cold fingertips gently touched his temples, he


    fell silent.


    It was very quiet in the office. She was right; she was pretty good at this. He went with the flow.


    Leaning his head against the sofa, James soon surrendered to sleep.


    Maria looked down at the man''s sleeping face and smiled slightly. It seemed James trusted her so


    much. Wasn''t he afraid that she would kill him? If she hit his temples on purpose, he might faint or


    even die, depending on the hit strength.


    James had a good sleep. Although the position he leaned against the sofa was not cozy, it was


    enough to relieve his tiredness that he hadn''t slept for the past two days.


    It had been an hour before he finally woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw the woman


    ying with her phone on the sofa, sitting next to him.


    As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Maria looking at him. Their eyes met. She raised her


    eyebrows and asked, "Are you awake?"


    James stood up and stretched. He was no longer tired. "Why are you still here?"


    "Well, I did get you to take a nap. That means I''m responsible. What if you fell off the sofa when you


    were sleeping?"


    James didn''t think he was that stupid. Then he recalled her words. What did she mean by getting


    him to take a nap? Did he need to be coaxed?


    Before he could correct what she said, Maria put away her phone, stood up, and walked up to him,


    pretending to straighten his tie. "We need to talk."


    The man sneered, "That''s why you brought coffee to me."


    The woman didn''t deny it and nodded.


    She never imagined that James would really fall asleep, wasting an hour of her time. She could


    make a lot of coffee in that time.


    Since she had given him a massage, James gave her a chance and said, "Go ahead."


    He walked to his desk, picked up a document, and opened it.


    Maria followed him and sat down opposite him. She got straight to the point. "I want to run a


    company."


    The man looked at her and raised an eyebrow. If it weren''t for her coffee shop across the street, he


    would have taken her as a superficial woman getting by on her beauty.


    Now she not only opened a coffee shop, but wanted open apany as well. He really had to look


    at Maria with new eyes. But he asked, "Why should I care?" "Because I need financial backing.


    From you or HL Group. You may have fifty-one percent ownership under HL Group, enjoying a


    controlling interest in thepany itself."


    N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    As she spoke, Maria took out a document and pushed it in front of him.


    The HL Group had enjoyed favorable conditions with otherpanies they partnered with, so


    James remained unimpressed.


    Maria continued exining. "Excluding the purchase price, rebate settlement, advertising support,


    sales performance rewards, and other costs, I will give you three percent of rebate. I must be the


    one to operate thepany. And I get five percent of the profit..."


    After listening to her for a while, the man finally raised his head. He stopped her. "You better stop


    this empty talk."