Chapter 412 The Overall Situation


    James shot Maria an indifferent nce and asked, "Don''t you know why?"


    All she had to do was tweak her expression a little, act coquettishly, or shed tears, and all his sense


    of logic would go down the drain. How could he speak logically to her?


    However, he didn''t want to let her think that she would always win, so he pinched her chin tightly


    and pretended to look at her fiercely. "Do you really think that I don''t dare to hurt you?" he growled.


    The reason he hade back so soon was because he was eager to settle ounts with her.


    "I know you do. But... you only dare to hurt me in the bedroom, don''t you?" As Maria spoke, her


    eyes shed withcency, and a smirk yed at the corner of her lips.


    James felt his heart aching in his chest. There were so many words bubbling up in his throat, but in


    the end, he swallowed them all down and simply said, "From now on, stay away from all those


    indecent men!"


    Maria stared back at him fiercely. ''Indecent men? Is he talking about Norman, Lawrence, or Ethan?


    Humph. Whatever, did he forget that we''ve already broken up?'' "No way! I''m single now. I can meet


    whoever I want, it''s my choice!" she retorted.


    ''What did she say? She refused to listen to me, and even said that she''s single?'' A hint of danger


    shed through James'' eyes. Without thinking, he grabbed her wrist, dragged her to the bed, and


    threw her onto it. "Let me remind you who you are, and who I am to you."


    "James Xi!" Maria called out in protest. Panic shed through her eyes. Had he forgotten that they


    had just had sex in the car?


    Ignoring her protests, James began to unbutton his shirt.


    In the end, Maria had no choice but to give in to his advances. He didn''t stop making love to her


    until she became docile and kept calling him "honey."


    The next day was the anniversary celebration of HL Group, so James didn''t leave H City right away.


    As soon as Colby learned that James hade back to H City, he took action and arranged a small


    lunch gathering.


    When James received Colby''s invitation via Gary, he didn''t refuse, thinking that this would be a


    good opportunity for him to pry some information.


    That afternoon, he went to H City Hotel.


    Four people sat in a luxurious private room. Apart from James, Colby had invited only two other


    men, who were both government officials involved in the financial industry.


    At first, the four men mainly talked about the financial industry, but after a while, Colby began to lose


    his patience.


    Although James didn''t seem to be up to anything at the moment, Colby knew that he would take


    action against HM Group soon. The one who struck first would always have a better chance of


    winning.


    Taking a look at James, who was talking about environmental protection with the two government


    officials, Colby stood up and walked over with two sses of wine in his hand. "Mr. Xi, would you


    like a drink?" he asked with a smile.


    James didn''t refuse. He took the ss and clinked it against Colby''s.


    However, neither of them lifted the ss to their lips. Colby was thinking about how to start the


    conversation, while James was waiting for him to speak.


    A few awkward secondster, Colby decided to begin with cotton up James. "Mr. Xi, it''s been


    almost ten years since you took over HL Group, right?"


    "Yes," James agreed.


    "You know, your achievements really put mine to shame. I didn''t take over HM Group until I was


    nearly forty years old!"


    "Mr. Zheng, you''re being too modest," James said. Since Colby wasn''t going toe to the point


    directly, he didn''t mind beating around the bush, either.


    Colby shook his head. "Do you remember? When you first took over HL Group, you managed to


    cooperate with HM Group on a big project. At that time, I admired you very much. You were not only


    young and promising, but also a genius when it came to matters of finance!"


    James continued holding the ss of wine with an indifferent expression, and didn''t say anything.


    He remembered that project well. Colby was the one who had taken the initiative to terminate HM


    Group''s contract with its previous partner before signing a new contract with HL Group.


    So, Colby was now trying to say that since he had helped James back then, James shouldn''t do


    anything rash now.


    However, he seemed to have forgotten all about how he had framed Jamester.


    James had just taken over HL Group when he had fallen into Colby''s trap. It was only with


    Augustine''s help that he had managed to get out of it.


    At that time, he had decided that he would never be as insidious as Colby. Instead, he wanted to


    be much stronger and trample on Colby by using aboveboard means.


    Under his clever management, HL Group had climbed thedder step by step. Now, it had reached


    such heights that it outshone HM Group. However, there was no such thing as eternal enemies in


    business; only eternal interests.


    So, for the sake of interests, HL Group had signed a lot of contracts with HM Group. However, HM


    Group didn''t have a lot to gain from these projects. As time went by, Colby became more and more


    unwilling to cooperate with James.


    James had pushed HM Group into the perfect corner. Even if he destroyed HM Group now, the


    impact it would have on HL Group would be almost negligible.


    Colby downed the wine in his ss and continued, "There is no bad blood between me and you. At


    most, we''ve had a few misunderstandings because of the two women. James, since I''m older than


    you, I used to treat you as my younger brother. I hope these trivial matters won''t affect our


    rtionship. In the future, let''s put our interests first, like we used to. After all, fighting because of


    women is not worth it!"


    Colby treated him as his younger brother? James wanted tough. He flicked the ash off the end of


    his cigarette and said with a faint smile, "Mr. Zheng, you''re right, but it''s also important to consider


    the overall situation."


    Overall situation? For a while, Colby didn''t understand what he meant.


    Pouring another ss of wine, he said, "James, the cooperation project between HM Group and HD


    Group will expire in the second half of the year. Before that, let''s have dinner together and talk


    about that project in detail. What do you think?"


    As he spoke, he handed the ss to James.


    ncing at the liquid in the ss, James nodded. "Sounds good." The annual profit of the


    cooperation project between HM Group and HD Group was could go up to several billion dors.


    Obviously, everyone in the industry wanted to get their hands on it.


    However, James was not so stupid as to think that Colby was doing all this to win his favor. Colby


    had always been a cunning fox. He must have already figured out a way to set a trap.


    That was why James left the ss of wine untouched. Colby''s smile shrank, but he pretended as if


    he didn''t care about it and sat back in his seat, continuing the previous topic.


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    After the meal was over and all his guests left, Colby''s face changed drastically.


    ''James can''t even be bothered to show respect for me anymore. That guy doesn''t know what''s


    good for him!'' he thought to himself.


    After leaving the restaurant, James didn''t go back to thepany, but went to his manor instead.


    Maria was sitting in the bedroom and putting on some make-up. A flicker of confusion crossed her


    eyes when she saw James walk in, but she didn''t ask him why he had returned all of a sudden.


    James walked up to her and looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Free up your schedule tonight."


    Maria, who was drawing on her eyebrows, kept silent.


    "I need a femalepanion for HL Group''s anniversary celebration," James continued. Obviously,


    he didn''t want his femalepanion to be anyone other than her.


    Maria paused and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "You can find thousands of women to be


    your femalepanion in a minute. Why are you asking me?"


    The anniversary celebration of HL Group had been nned a long time ago, and Maria had already


    heard about it.


    James pursed his lips and said, "I don''t want to bother looking for anyone else. You''ll do fine. Where


    do you want Summer to send your dress to?"


    Upon hearing his words, Maria had the urge to smash the eyebrow pencil on his face. "Do you think


    I look like your femalepanion?"


    "You don''t."


    "It''s good that you know it!" Maria retorted, rolling her eyes at him.


    "But you look like my wife," James added slowly, tilting his head.


    Maria''s heart leaped in her chest, and for a moment, she was speechless. Finally, she replied, "You


    look like my husband. So what?" Even so, they still fought.


    "Nothing. Since we look like husband and wife, we might as well get married!"


    "I don''t think we look like husband and wife, nor do I think it''s a good idea for us to get married. Go


    and find someone else. I''m sorry, but I won''t be able to apany you tonight."