Chapter 407 Destruction
Before he arrived at DS Group, the man was intercepted by several armed men who appeared out
of nowhere. The men blindfolded him, tied up his hands, and gagged him with a length of duct tape
taped over his mouth.
Maria heard that Mr. Xu had been taken away, but she couldn''t figure out who would do so.
She made a phone call to the restaurant to ask about the situation. "Ms. Song, I''ve asked already
asked our staff. That dish wasn''t supposed to go to your private room in the first ce. However,
someone asked the waitress to bring it to your room."
"Who was it?"
"The waitress said it was Mrs. Zheng. I verified her testimony by checking the surveince footage
and found that it was indeed her."
Rosa?
After going around in circles, the clues finally led back to Rosa. Maria finally realized that she had
fallen into the indirect trap Colby and Rosa hadid out for herst night.
"Send me the surveince videos in the restaurant. I want all of them."
"Yes, Ms. Song."
However, before she could get the surveince footage, she was told that there was a sudden
problem with the restaurant''s monitoring system and that all of the surveince videos recorded
before tonight were gone.
Maria sneered to herself.
But it didn''t matter anymore. She only needed to find and ask Mr. Xu and Mr. Zong.
In T Country
The sickening thump of a whip hitting flesh and a continuous stream of piteous moans resounded
from behind the room''s closed door. The door was pushed open, and several armed men escorted
a man into the room.
A persony on the floor, his clothes ripped in ces and his face and body ck in blue from
being beaten.
"Mr. Xi!" the bodyguards greeted him one after another.
James sat down opposite the unconscious dying man, his face a cold, unreadable mask. "What did
he say?"
Gary put down the whip in his hand and stepped forward to report to him. "He said that he did put
the drug in the dish, but it was originally meant for Miss Ye, whom he wanted to pursue. He
momentarily excused himself to go to the bathroom once he had finished his deed. However, Miss
Ye waspletely fine when he came back, while something happened to Ms. Song in another
private room."
James took out a cigar and cut off the uneven end using a sharp knife. A bodyguard stepped
forward and lit the cigar for him.
After taking a long drag from his cigar, he asked slowly, "What about the surveince videos in the
restaurant?" "Yes, it was indeed Mrs. Zheng who asked the waiter to send the dish to the private
room she was in. The waitress also told us that Mrs. Zhengined of the dy in serving the
dishes to their private dining room."
"What about Mr. Zong?" A cold light glinted in James'' dark eyes.
"Ms. Song asked the others to pour alcohol down Mr. Zong''s throat. He is in the ICU at the moment
and hasn''t woken up yet. Mr. Zong has never been able to behave himself and always goes crazy
once he''s drunk. The man has a serious alcohol addiction. However, his assistant told me that it
was the vice general manager of LJ Group who called Mr. Zong and asked him to attend the dinner
party."
The smoke wafting from the all-natural, additive-free cigar was pleasant and full-bodied, carrying
with it a hint of coffee.
James threw the knife that he used to trim the cigar to the floor. As the knife slid towards the bound
man, he said simply, "His little finger."
Then, he stood up and left, his ears deaf to the cries for mercy behind him.
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Once he was back in his own room, he told the man behind him, "Make some trouble for HM Group.
Get Summer to provide Maria evidence that thepany''s ounts are being manipted. Ah,
and tell Summer to remind Maria not to report it by herself." He was afraid that Maria would butt
heads with Colby this time around. It was the ultimate goal, but for the sake of her safety, they had
to wait until the timing was right. Now was not the time.
"Go back to H City and invite Mr. Lu of LJ Group to dinner. Doesn''t he want to borrow money from
HM Group? Let him continue to apply."
Gary was well aware that ever since rumors about Maria and Colby''s affair had started to spread,
James had been secretly setting up a trap for the HM Group.
Unlike otherpanies, HM Group had their roots so firmly nted in the business world.
After all, the group was one of the top five hundred enterprises in the world, as well as one of the
biggest conglomerates in H City. Destroying such a well-establishedpany would take more than
one blow and require a huge amount of effort. However, as long as James had set his mind on it, it
was only a matter of time before HM Group was toppled to the ground. Anything else was
inconsequential.
Peggy''s incident and Rosa''s false donation charges had already dealt big blows to thepany.
If James struck now, not only would Colby lose his position, but HM Group might also go bankrupt.
"Yes, Mr. Xi."
James puffed out a cloud of smoke and continued, "Arrange for several female bodyguards to
discreetly follow Maria, and deploy a few of them in herpany. It would be better if they can go
out with her."
"Understood!"
"Onest thing-Maria wants Chandler''s mistress to rece his wife, doesn''t she? Help her get
ine Wen to sign the divorce agreement."
Gary stared at his boss, overwhelmed. "Yes, sir!" ''What a good man Mr. Xi is!''
In the evening, Maria returned to the Golden Mansion and weed a distinguished guest.
She opened the door of the apartment and swept a hand in a weing gesture. "Mr. Shen, please
come
in."
Norman, who looked quite well on the surface, casually strode in.
Maria handed him a pair of slippers to change into. "James usually wears these. Please make do
with them."
Norman took a look at the slippers beside his feet and snorted, entering the apartment d only in
his socks.
Maria shrugged her shoulders helplessly. She knew James and Norman disliked each other.
She put away the slippers and then went to pour a cup of tea for him. "What brings you here?"
Notably, he came here all by himself.
"I heard that the media outlets have been hounding you these days."
"Huh? Why are they following me?" ''Why didn''t I notice them?'' she wondered.
Norman took a sip and ced the cup on the coffee table in front of him. "James has been away on
business for quite some time now. They want to dig up dirt on you."
If she looked closely at him, she would see that he was moving in small, careful motions because
his wounds had yet to healpletely.
"So what?"
"So I came here. To irk James." Maria knew that he would never miss any opportunity to piss James
off.
At this moment, the reporters hiding within the gatedmunity had already taken photographs of
histe -night visit.
Maria rolled her eyes. "You must have a lot of free time. Don''t you have anything better to do?"
"Well, I''m quite busy." He was telling the truth.
Norman leaned back against the sofa and identally touched his wound. His face grew taut, and
he closed his eyes to somehow ease the pain.
Seeing the change in his expression, Maria asked with concern, "Are you okay? I thought you were
already better."
"I don''t think I would recover soon. After all, I don''t have anyone who takes care of me." He didn''t
open his eyes.
Maria was lost in thought.
She knew what was on Norman''s mind-he wanted her to go to Mildred and ask her to take care of
him.
She was about to say something when the doorbell rang. The two people in the apartment looked at
each other. Confused, she stared at the door. ''Who else woulde to me at thiste hour?''
It couldn''t possibly be James, since he was still abroad. Even if it were him, he would have just
barged inside. Why would he ring the bell so politely?