Chapter 421 We Were Tricked


    In the Zheng family''s house, Rosa hung up the phone.


    Then, she hurried to the study where Colby was. His hair was turning grey because of all the


    problems he had been facing recently. "Colby, I have a suspicion."


    "What is it?" Colby asked tiredly, looking up from hisputer.


    "Do you remember hearing that Augustine Xi picked up a random child before?"


    "Yeah." Colby nodded slowly in confusion.


    "Well, did you ever hear that the Xi family were searching for the child''s parents?"


    "I don''t think so."


    Rosa nodded triumphantly. "Exactly. What if that child is actually the son of James and Maria, and


    they just said that they found him randomly in order to hide his true identity?" In the past few weeks,


    Maria had tortured her again and again, especially using Ines. She wouldn''t be able to rest until she


    found Maria''s fatal weakness.


    Colby thought about it for a while, but still looked uncertain. "I don''t know. Maybe Augustine just


    likes the boy and wants to keep him by his side."


    "That''s possible, but they''d still have to report it to the public security department if they want to


    adopt a child that they have picked up. Otherwise, it''sparable to kidnapping. I asked someone


    to investigate the matter and found out that they didn''t follow any such procedures."


    Colby took a deep breath and put down the documents in his hand. "So you think that the child is


    actually Maria and James'' son?" "Yes!" Rosa''s face hardened.


    Colby didn''t say anything, lost in thought.


    There was a moment of silence in the study before Rosa said, "Maria has used Ines to deal with me


    twice. I want to give her a dose of her own medicine!" Rosa was so scared that she had secretly


    sent Ines away from the US and temporarily hidden her in a safe ce.


    Colby had also been driven mad by James recently, so after a few moments, he agreed with Rosa''s


    proposal. A touch of hatred shed through his eyes as he said, "Fine. I''ll arrange some people to


    do it."


    "Okay!"


    Maria didn''t get off work until past ten o''clock that night. When she walked out of thepany, what


    she saw was not her own car and driver, but the Harkim that she was unfortunately familiar with.


    Gary came over and opened the car door for her. "Mrs. Xi, please get in."


    Maria stood rooted to the spot. Looking at the man sitting in the back seat, she asked, "Where is my


    car?"


    "It has been sent away for maintenance."


    It was sote at night. What service shop would do maintenance at this time?


    Knowing that she couldn''t escape, Maria reluctantly climbed into the back seat and closed the door.


    As she turned to face the front, a brocade box came into her view.


    She made no movement to take it. Looking at the man next to her, she said coldly, "If you have


    anything to say, just say it. Don''t think you can bribe me with gifts. There''s no way I''ll raise your


    illegitimate son."


    For a moment, James was stunned; he had no idea what she was talking about. Then, realization


    dawned on him as he remembered the unidentified child in Augustine''s house.


    Shaking his head, he opened the box and revealed a woman''s watch sitting inside. The watch had a


    Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial, lined with diamonds around it. As for the strap, it was made of rose


    gold.


    Despite her refusal, James took out the watch and put it on her wrist. "I''ve asked someone to find


    out the identity of that child," he exined.


    "To find out the child''s mother?" Maria sneered.


    James didn''t get angry. Instead, he softly said, "Yes. And his father."


    After putting the watch on her wrist, he didn''t let go of her hand, but instead intertwined his fingers


    with hers.


    Maria nced at the watch, but her expression didn''t change at all. "I''m very tired. Drop me at the


    Golden Mansion."


    "Okay."


    She was surprised that he didn''t argue.


    Then, realizing what must be on his mind, she added, "I''m really tired. Don''t follow me there." The


    more herpany grew, the busier she became. With all the work she had had to deal with


    recently, she was exhausted to the bone.


    "You just go to sleep. I won''t disturb you," James


    said.


    "What will you do?" Maria asked suspiciously.


    "I''ll lie next to you without disturbing you."


    Maria scoffed in disbelief. "Men won''t be well-behaved as long as they can breathe. They''ll only be


    well-behaved when they are six feet under."


    James'' eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You have a big prejudice against men," he pointed out sourly.


    Why was she so distrustful?


    "Yeah." Maria didn''t even try to deny it. "Chandler, yton, Jonathan, Colby...They all have


    mistresses. As for younger men like Kent and Ronald, they also sleep around with random women.


    Basically, all men are bad."


    "I don''t sleep around," James said seriously.


    A sarcastic smile spread across Maria''s face. "Mr. Xi, you might not sleep around, but you don''t


    refuse women. I''m tired of seeing those women around you."


    "I''ll make it clear to them from now on," James promised. He would never let such a thing happen


    again. There was nothing he hated more than the silent treatment Maria gave him.


    Maria didn''t respond, and stayed silent for the rest of the car ride. As for him staying the night at her


    ce, she had no strength to refuse him anymore. Besides, he was the one who had given her the


    apartment.


    Nevertheless, she was surprised when James really didn''t make any advances that night. He just


    gave her a goodnight kiss, and then held her in his arms and slept peacefully.


    Maria had a good sleep. The next day, she got up early at the same time as James. Then, she had


    breakfast and went to thepany with him.


    When the Harkim arrived at DS Group, Maria got down. Looking at her, James said, "I''m going to


    pick up Bob tonight and take him to my manor."


    His meaning was self-evident. After all, he knew that Maria also wanted to spend time with Bob.


    As he expected, Maria didn''t say that she wouldn''te to the manor that night. She simply replied,


    "I see," before turning around and entering thepany.


    In Tang Group, Ronald hurried to the CEO''s office with a document in his hand.


    As soon as he pushed the door and walked in, he said, "Dad, Dad, something bad has happened!"


    yton, who was on the phone, shot him a disapproving nce, motioned for him to calm down,


    and turned his attention back to the call.


    Ronald, however, mmed the document on the table in front of him, not caring about the phone


    call at all. "Dad, we were tricked!"


    Pursing his lips impatiently, yton picked up the document and said on the phone, "Okay, that''s all


    for now. I have something to attend to. Let''s talk about it face to face another day. Bye."


    As soon as he disconnected the call, his eyes fell on the division of profits specified in the contract,


    and his face changed abruptly. He quickly looked at the beginning of the contract again. At the


    beginning, it was clearly stated that DS Group was Party A, while Tang Group was Party B.


    The profit split was 9:1.


    yton pounded the table and stood up in a mixture of shock and anger. "Didn''t you say that the


    rate would be 6:4?" He remembered this project well. Since DS Group was involved, he had paid


    special attention to it. He hadn''t even let Ronald sign the contract until he had personally made sure


    that there was nothing wrong with it.


    "Yes, Dad. I wrote the rate with my own. I don''t know why it says 9:1 here." The reason why he was


    so agitated was, of course, because DS Group would take most of the profit while Tang Group


    would only be given ten percent.


    Moreover, DS Group had earlier agreed to supply products to Tang Group at the wholesale price,


    but now, the wholesale price had tripled, and was on par with the market price.


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    Strangely enough, there was no trace of alteration on the contract. Ronald''s and Maria''s signatures


    were also there, proving that it was a genuine document.


    "How did you find out?" yton asked, trying to calm down.


    "DS Group called and told us to pay the pending bill, saying that they wouldn''t extend any credit to


    us. Our finance department quoted a number to them, but they said that it was wrong. That was


    when we found out," Ronald exined anxiously.


    yton''s face darkened, but he couldn''t figure out what had gone wrong, either.


    "Call Maria right now and ask her toe here. I''ll talk to her. Tell her that if she doesn''te, she


    won''t get a single penny."


    "I''ll ask someone to call her," Ronald said hesitantly. He was still afraid of Maria.


    Seeing how cowardly his son was, yton finally lost his temper. His face turned livid, and he


    shouted, "You call her! She is just a woman. Why are you so afraid of her? Do you think she''ll eat


    you?" "Okay, okay, I''ll call her," Ronald agreed reluctantly. Summoning up his courage, he took out


    his phone.


    He didn''t know Maria''s personal phone number, so he called her secretary. To his dismay, the


    secretary told him that Maria was not in the office, and asked him to call another day.


    When he ryed the conversation to yton, thetter snorted. "The secretary''s lying! Maria knew


    we would call her, so she refused to answer your phone call on purpose!"


    "Dad, what should we do now?"


    "What should we do? You go and talk to her face to face!"


    "Me?" Ronald asked in disbelief, pointing at the tip of his own nose.


    yton felt a headacheing on. Shaking his head slightly, he said, "Let Mr. Guo go with you."


    "Okay." Ronald was relieved to hear that at least he would have someone apanying him.