The frown on James' face deepened upon hearing what Lorenzo just said. His first reaction was to scan Maria's face for some clues that she had something to do with it. However, she was really good at hiding herself. When he gave her a tentative look, what he saw was her confused look.
On the other end of the line, Lorenzo was wiping the sweat on his forehead while he explained, "Mr. Xi, it was because of the Mercedes-Benz of our company. I didn't notice that the plate number was covered when I was driving it." He was so surprised when a few minutes after he drove out of HL Group, he was stopped by a traffic police. It was only then that he found out that the plate number of the car was covered. As a result, he was charged with deliberately hiding the plate number, and his driver's license was confiscated at once.
And since he didn't have any evidence to prove that he didn't do it on purpose, he also had to pay a fine of two hundred dollars. Worse was, he had to go to the driving school for seven days to attend some driving lessons before he could take his license back. For such a busy man like him who had so many things to do every day, it was very troublesome.
Lorenzo had actually regretted that he wasn't able to quickly think of a solution when he was in such a predicament. He had only realized the severity of his situation when the traffic police asked for his driver's license. He thought that he could have used someone else's driver's license for the point deduction. But he only realized it after he had handed his own driver's license to the traffic police. It was too late for him to cheat.
James suddenly felt that his temples throbbed. Based on Lorenzo's words, it was very obvious that he couldn't pick James up.
But then, James realized that he really didn't need to worry that much. Aside from the other drivers in HL Group, many people in H City also wanted to drive for him. It wouldn't be difficult for him to find another driver. So he opened his phone again and checked his phonebook for the next person to call.
He was about to call John when Maria suddenly rushed to him and held his hand. She then asked, "James, can you just stay here tonight?"
"No!" James firmly refused. "Ms. Song, please keep your distance."
Maria was stunned. "But you've kissed me just now. It's too late for us to keep a distance from each other," she countered.
James shook off her hand and ordered harshly, "Stand still!"
But she didn't seem to hear him. She kept rubbing her body against his intentionally.
However, when she saw his expressionless face, she curled her lips and thought inwardly, 'Humph! James Xi, you're such a jerk!' Maria wanted to keep on teasing James. But when he seemed not affected at all, she decided to pretend that she didn't care about him either. "Okay. You can leave if you want. But I have one condition."
James had finally understood why she had asked him to come tonight. "It seems that I've really underestimated you. Your next condition has something to do with all the efforts you have exerted for this dinner tonight, am I right?"
"You're right."
"Spit it out. I haven't got all night for you."
Maria put away her frivolity and said in a flat tone, "Hand over HL Group's charity project 'Helping Children with Cleft Lip and Palate' to HM Group."
"Maria Song..." James uttered calmly. But deep inside him, fury had already flared up.
Maria looked up and met his eyes fearlessly without saying anything.
"You want to use my money on another man?" he asked sarcastically. James was not even confident that HM Group had the resources and abilities to work with HL Group on the said project. He didn't expect that Colby would need a woman to back him up. Was HM Group on the brink of bankruptcy?
What annoyed him more was that Maria had even tried to seduce him for Colby.
It was so ridiculous.
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