Chapter 354 The Civil Affairs Bureau
"Mrs. Zheng has no idea that Sean is our man. He has sessfully joined the foundation," said
Gary.
"Well, tell him to investigate Mrs. Zheng''s fraudulent donations. It would benefit us greatly if he
manages to find some evidence," James instructed.
"Understood, sir."
James ended the call and was about to put away his phone when Maria''s hand shot out to stop him.
He looked down at her, his eyes clouded with confusion.
Maria took his phone and pressed a button. The screen lit up, revealing the photo on the screen.
In the photo, she was holding the Starry Roses in her arms and smiling smugly.
She didn''t expect James to use her selfie as his phone wallpaper. ''So, he wasn''t indifferent when he
saw that photo, after all,'' Maria thought smugly.
When James realized that he had been caught, he immediately made a grab for his phone.
However, Maria refused to surrender the device. Instead, sheid her head on the man''sp and
studied his ufortable expression. "Mr. Xi, did you find it beautiful?"
He knew exactly what she meant. "Yes."
"So, without my permission, you used my photo as your wallpaper. That is in vition of my
portraiture rights. Now, you have two choices. Apologize to me in public or buy my portraiture rights
for this photo with a huge sum of money!"
James'' eyes twinkled in merriment. "I''m going with the third option."
"There is no third option."
"There is."
"What then, pray tell, is the third choice?"
He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "I could make you my wife, so everything you own
will be mine."
Maria blurted out, "Keep dreaming! In that case, I can take half of your properties!"
"Okay," he agreed readily.
Maria didn''t believe his answer. "Don''t lie to me. The only thing you capitalists care about is your
properties."
"Tom!" James called out.
The driver answered instantly, "Yes, Mr. Xi?"
"We''re not going back to the vi. Let''s go to the Civil Affairs Bureau."
"Yes, Mr. Xi."
"Why are we going to the Civil Affairs Bureau?" Maria asked in confusion.
"To apply for the restoration of our marriage. After our remarriage bes official, you will own half
of what I have. If you want all of my properties, I agree." He would transfer everything he owned to
her name if that was what it took to get her to marry him again.
Maria immediately eximed, "Tom, don''t listen to him! Go back to the vi. I won''t go to the Civil
Affairs Bureau!"
Tom was caught between a rock and a hard ce. "Well..." He knew that this would affect the future
remarriage of these two people, so he wasn''t sure whether he should listen to one or the other.
Anxious, Maria patted James''s hand and said, "Stop being troublesome. Let''s go back to the vi!
I''m not recovered yet." ''Remarriage is no small matter. How could he speak about going to the Civil
Affair Bureau so casually?'' she thought to herself.
"Let''s go back to the vi," James said with a sigh.
"Yes, sir." Tom shifted gears and made a U-turn in ordance with James'' order.
Maria rolled her eyes at the man. "Old man, I was just kidding."
"Old man?" His eyes shed dangerously.
Maria knew better than anyone else what was hiding behind those dark eyes. It urred to her that
he didn''t want to be called old, especially by her. She quickly covered her belly with her hands and
leaned against his shoulder, acting like a spoiled child. "Ah, my tummy still hurts.
Don''t piss me about." ''When did I ever do that?'' he wondered.
In the next moment, Maria became serious. "Can we trust Sean?"
"Yes." He had never employed questionable people, and he ced his absolute trust on everyone
he had ever worked with.
"How are you going to set a trap for Rosa?"
"Didn''t she always make fraudulent donations? We will catch her red-handed." Once she made
another fraudulent donation, she would be giving herself away.
"How can you be sure that she will fall for it?"
"I''m not a hundred percent sure."
Maria stared at him. ''How could he n something like this when he''s even not sure of the results?''
she wondered.
"It''s worth a try. Greed kills people." Greedy people would always be tempted.
James reassured her, "Don''t worry. All of the people I''ve selected to participate in this have worked
with her before. She will drop her guard for sure."
With a nod, Mariamented, "I had no idea that a mastermind was with me."
"Even so, I''m still a small frypared to you, Ms. Song." She had the uncanny ability of making
him bend to her will.
"You do have a sense of fun, don''t you?" How could shepare to him?
"Don''t be so sarcastic!" James warned in a low voice.
Stifling herughter, Mariamented, "Mr. Xi, you misunderstood me." Of course, she could not
admit it.
"Get up." He spared no expense in helping her, but she still mocked him like this. James feigned
displeasure.
Instead of getting up, Maria slipped her arms around his waist and cuddled against his abs. "I like
being close to you like this. I don''t want to get up!"
Not only did she keep her pose, she snuggled even closer against James.
It was incredibly nice to be held against him. He had an awesome physique, and he smelled
incredible.
Looking down dotingly at her, James grabbed her hand and leaned down to whisper, "When we get
home, you can touch me anywhere and in any which way you like. You''re the boss."
The deep blush that suffused her face amused him endlessly. She quickly pulled back her hand and
raised it in front of his face. "Is my hand beautiful? Would you like a print of it on your face?"
Without missing a beat, he grabbed the upraised hand and pressed a kiss on the back of it. "It''s
better for your hand to hold my..."
Before he could finish his sentence, her other hand flew up to cover his mouth. Blushing even more
furiously, Maria hissed, "Are you crazy? Tom is still here!" ''He''s absolutely shameless!''
With a faint smile, James calmly teased her, "Isn''t that more exciting?"
She said nothing after that remark.
Maria ended up not going to thepany for the next two days. James required her to rest at home
for at least three days before she was allowed to go out.
On her third day in the vi, a hot topic suddenly dropped on the Inte. "A woman used her real
name to expose sexual assault done by Colby Zheng, chairman of the HM Group."
"Colby Cheng seen dating a mysterious woman."
The news appeared out of nowhere and was spreading like wildfire. HM Group''s PR department
was having a hard time containing the scandal.
Out of curiosity, Maria clicked on one of the news links. Sitting up against the headboard, she
browsed the article, and her eyes widened like saucers when she saw the woman''s face.
It was not hidden under mosaic. With tearful eyes, she cried in front of the camera, "I''m thankful that
he saved my life, but I didn''t expect... He raped me and threatened me to not to tell anyone.
I''m just a powerless woman. After everything that happened, I don''t know what to do. I can only
reach out to the public for help..."
Before the video was over, Maria called up a certain number, but the other person''s phone was
powered off. She tried dialing it a few more times, but to no avail.
Maria walked into the walk-in closet and called her secretary.
Fortunately, she answered right away. "Ms. Song."
"Where is Peggy?"
"She didn''te to work today. I don''t know where she is."
Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.
Maria''s heart sank. "Okay, I see." She quickly changed her clothes and left the vi.
Her first stop was Peggy''s apartment. Apparently, she was toote—the door of the apartment was
wide open, but the woman was nowhere in sight.
With a sinking feeling, Maria realized that something was wrong.
-