A Vengeful Ex-Wife

Chapter 135 Daniela's Comeuppance

Maria ignored her, took the basin from the secretary and stared coldly at the woman struggling in front of her.

"Where are the guards? Call someone! Why are all you just standing there?" Daniela kept screaming.

Maria raised the basin and poured the ink on Daniela's head. Everyone gasped.

The ink Maria poured started at the top of Daniela's scalp and gathered in her hair, before cascading down her face in black rivulets.

The conference room descended into chaos.

Daniela's long lavender dress was drenched in black ink, and her face and hair were similarly soaked.

This was in sharp contrast with how she was just moments ago. She shone like a star when she first arrived, now she resembled a black, starless void.

Maria returned the basin to the secretary, walked back to her seat, and fished her wallet from her purse. She took a wad of cash from the wallet and handed it to the secretary. "Sorry for the mess. This should cover it. If you need to replace the rug, let me know."

The secretary who watched the farce was still in a daze. She took the money from Maria without thinking about it. "Okay. Sure. Ms. Song."

After this, Maria left Qi Group with her stuff, as proud as she was when she first came to work there.

She proudly continued walking, ignoring the gazes her tank top attracted.

Maria got back to the car and allowed her rage to wash over her and finally dissipate. She threw her ink-stained coat aside and stared out the window, lost in thought.

Daniela insisted on annoying her the same way Stella did. She had planned to get even with all of them anyway, so she started with Daniela.

Maria pulled out her cell phone, unlocked the screen, and scrolled till she found Daniela's latest vlog. Then she sent it to someone.

After everything was set up, she was in a better mood.

She called Colby first to report what she knew about Qi Group. When Colby heard she finalized the negotiations and signed the contract, he praised her warmly. "I'll ask the financial department to give you a bonus at the end of this year.”

"Really? Thank you, Mr. Zheng! I didn't expect this would go that well, either! I would love it if you keep me in mind for future projects, Mr. Zheng. I'll do my best on anything you throw my way." Maria's voice was full of surprise and expectation.

"Sure. Got any ideas?" Colby asked.

His question gave her some hope her plan might work.

This gave her a great idea. With a hint of loss in her voice, she asked, "Mr. Zheng, you know I cut ties with the Song family, right? It's no great secret. Everyone in the city knows."

Colby nodded and said, "Yes, I just found a few days ago."

"I have an elder sister, Daniela Song. She's a professional tourist and has tons of followers on social media. We got in a fight. I'm so embarrassed. You know I have a short fuse, right?" She

paused for effect and bowed her head in respect. This was going better than she thought. "Mr. Zheng, could you make sure she's okay if you run into her? For me?"

They were, after all, still sisters. Colby didn't think it odd at all. He'd been expecting her to ask a favor like this.

Colby nodded, "Don't worry. If I can help her, I will."

Maria was overjoyed. "Thank you, Mr. Zheng. If you need me, please let me know!"

"Okay."

After the call, the smile on Maria's face totally disappeared. She lit a cigarette and took a couple puffs.

She rubbed her temples and went back to work afterwards.

That afternoon, Daniela's latest vlog went viral. It was the top trending video, and all the comments on it were flattering.

"What a beautiful girl!"

"Every time I see her, she gets even hotter!"

"Pretty scenery, pretty girl! What's not to like?"

While all this was happening, she got 3 million more followers.

Daniela had still been in a bad mood. But when she saw the comments, her search engine ranking, and saw her subscriber count explode, she forgot about this morning's unpleasantness.

She double checked and confirmed that it was indeed her vlog. She made the video last night. Daniela was traveling in P City, taking in the incredible sights, and visiting charming local businesses. It was all professionally packaged. She found some cool background music on AudioLove, an open community of independent artists and music lovers. People usually liked what she posted, but this was unexpected.

Daniela was so happy she could hardly contain herself. She wondered if this was the break she needed to truly become rich and famous.

Not long after, she received a call from her agency. Several companies wanted her to push their products, and the price was right. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

Daniela jumped at the chance. She'd worked hard to become a travel blogger and get noticed in a crowded field.

Ethan wanted to hang out with his best friends more often when Lawrence was on vacation. He believed that they should always be in touch so their friendship would remain. So he called the other two friends and invited them out for drinks.

Ethan had no idea Lawrence would bring Maria along.

After walking in, the two sat next to each other, talking and giggling from time to time.

Ethan and James sat opposite to them-one was smoking with a frosty expression, and the other didn't look happy either.

Ethan couldn't help but complain to himself. 'I asked you guys out to drink, but I'm not here to watch you make goo-goo eyes at each other.'

Maria poured herself a glass of wine and wanted to clink glasses with Lawrence. When he raised his glass, he remembered something. "Let me drink it. You have a stomachache. You should stay

away from liquor."

Maria smiled sweetly. "Okay."

All of a sudden, Ethan shivered. He glanced at the air conditioner. The room temperature was twenty-two degrees, just as pleasant as usual, not too low. Why did he feel so cold?

He pushed the man sitting next to him and said, "Why are you like that? This is supposed to be fun. You can call Alina over. Don't mind me. I'll just sit here, alone, watching you showing off your affection."

James cast a cold glance at him and uttered, "Fuck off!"

"Fine! Fine! I was just kidding." Ethan was used to his attitude. Suddenly, he changed the subject. Patting James' hand, he said, "I’m going to get you some tangerines. Stay here. Don't move around, okay?"

'Why did that sound so familiar?

Oh!' It suddenly occurred to Maria that these words were from the conversation from the father to his son in "Retreating Figure" by Zhu Ziqing. Was Ethan taking advantage of James by calling him his son?

Just when Maria thought James would yell at Ethan, the CEO replied, "I'll eat only two and leave the rest to you."

Maria was the first to burst into laughter. There was also an obvious smile on Lawrence's face. James did unto Ethan what he did to him.

James replied with another line from a famous novel. This time it was a grandfather talking to his grandson in "Rickshaw Boy."

Ethan collapsed right away. He yelled, "Fuck! Why did you have to go and ruin it?"

Lawrence chimed in, "Did you expect anything else?" James wasn't one to play along. He had to win.

"My fault." Ethan agreed. James had always been cold and domineering.

Shortly, Lawrence's phone started ringing, and he took it outside. When he came back, Maria was engrossed in a mobile game. "Something came up," he said. "I have to go now." Then he turned to James. "Could you give her a lift home? Thanks."

Maria didn't know what to say, watching him stride out of the room. 'Bravo, my so-called boyfriend!' she thought to herself.

As soon as Lawrence left, Maria stood up from the sofa and said, "Mr. Xi, you don't have to do that. I'll find my own way home. Have fun, you two!"

Hearing that, James didn't respond. Ethan followed her and stood up. He said, "What a couple of party poopers. We'd better leave, too, James."

Eventually, the three left Leopard Club together. When they reached the exit, they saw it was quite wet outside. The rain had finally arrived. The city lights were reflected in the puddles forming on the sidewalk.