YOKED TO A BILLIONAIRE BY VENNEH LISAH

"What are you looking at?" Martin walked over and asked.

"Nothing. Let's go." Violla furrowed her brows, feeling heavy-hearted.

'I'm disappointed in you, Franklin.Back then, you said it was your parents who wanted to cancel our marriage and that whatever happened between you and Leila was a moment of drunken stupor.So, what about now?Just the day before yesterday, you swore to protect me. But look at you, cheating with Barbra now.You're nothing but a scumbag!'

"What's wrong, Violla?" Martin asked, noticing how absent-minded she appeared. "Don't worry about Leila. She's always been a nutcase. I even told you back then not to hang around with someone as wicked as her."

The woman let out a sigh and turned to him. "You're the only one among all my friends who hasn't changed, Martin" she lamented.

'Yup.Franklin , Barbra and Leila,they were all different now.You're the only one who's as pure-hearted and kind as before, Martin.' she thought.

"But of course," Martin remarked as he ruffled her hair gently. "You haven't eaten much just now, have you? Let's go grab a bite."

The man drove them to the seaside and wound down the window. Then, while gazing into the night sky full of stars, he opened up to Violla.

He had been traveling the world on his own for the past four years, admiring every view and recreating them in his sketchbook.

Four years of living a simple and stain-free life felt like just one day to Martin.

Violla on the other hand, had long turned into a white sheet full of blemishes.

On top of her many dark pasts and ugly rumors, the woman was now being oppressed by others; she couldn't live freely.

Yet, she couldn't bring herself to tell Martin anything.She refused to be selfish and use him as a shield.It simply wasn't fair to him.

"Violla, I feel like you have a lot on your mind that you're not willing to talk to me about," Martin said as he held her hand. "I don't care what you've been through. All I want is to be your shelter and take care of you."

Violla's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the man's confession. But instead of giving in, she hugged him and put on a relaxed expression. "Why would you need to be my shelter? I'm doing pretty well on my own now."

"Violla…" Martin started.

"I think we've done enough for the day. Let's go home." She would have wanted to live happily ever after with Martin,if it weren't for Davon and the three children. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in this world.Her life was destined to be complicated.

The man didn't try to pursue the matter, for he knew she needed time.

Late into the night, he dropped Violla back home and watched her walk into her residential area until she disappeared completely. He kept his eyes on her the entire time while remaining in the car, slowly watching her leave.

Violla immediately sent Mrs. Blake a text when she arrived home: How's Eliana, Mrs. Blake? Has she gotten better?

Receiving that text, Mrs. Blake gave her a call, sounding particularly fatigued. "We just got back from the hospital, Miss. Eliana is asleep now. Ryan and Jason were waiting for us the whole time. They're now watching over Eliana while I cook up some noodles."

"Thank you, Mrs. Blake." Violla felt extremely guilty. She knew how difficult it was for her housekeeper to look after three children, especially when Eliana was such a sickly child. Whenever Violla thought of that, her blood pressure would spike because she felt anxious and worried.

She wouldn't have gotten this far if Mrs. Blake hadn't been by her side all those years.

On top of that, her three children had to put up with the cold gazes of others and could never live normal lives.She truly felt remorseful.

"Ryan is calling for me, Miss. I'll be hanging up now. Get some rest, and don't worry too much!" Mrs Blake ended the call.

After hanging up, Violla stared at her phone in doubt. 'If Martin really doesn't mind, maybe… just maybe…' As her thoughts began to wander, she suddenly received a call from Davon.

Violla immediately tensed up. She carefully answered the phone after clearing her throat. "Hello?"

"What are you up to?" The man sounded as frigid as usual despite being the one who made the call.

"I'm just spacing out." She lay down on the couch before she asked, "Is something the matter?"

"I'll come back and take care of your resignation," Davon remarked professionally.

"Oh. That's very kind of you. Thank you, Mr. Roman." she replied carefully.

"Do you not have anything to tell me?" The man asked .

She pondered for a moment before answering, "Good night."

The conversation fell silent, and the man hung up a few seconds later.

'She didn't know what to think. What should I have told him? Whether or not he's actually escort, he probably already knows what Leila did at the company.But so what if he does? Should I be complaining to him about it and asking him to help me? You're the one I'm most afraid of, Mr. Roman! I'd have so much less to think about if you weren't involved.'

Violla tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. A day had already passed, and she still didn't know how to deal with the mother-daughter duo who were trying to cause trouble for her.

'Should I really marry someone? Davon will kill me if I do, won't he?'

The night passed before she even realized it. Her phone suddenly rang while she was in a slumber. "Hello?" she asked, her eyes remaining shut.

"Violla! Have you seen the news?" Eunice sounded incredibly excited.

"What?" Still in a daze, Violla thought the woman was talking about yesterday's news.

"Pictures of you and Mr. Stanley are all over the Internet now," Eunice exclaimed. "There are even videos of your car sex. Oh, God! What a steamy couple you both are!"

That comment got Violla to freeze for a moment. "Car sex? What are you talking about?" she asked in bewilderment.

"The paparazzi took pictures of what you did in the car with Mr. Stanley last night! You were at the beach. It's all over the Internet now, and everyone at work has seen it."

Violla was dumbstruck. 'Could it have been Franklin and Barbra? How am I part of all this?'

"I just heard that the company might fire you, but that's fine. You have Mr. Stanley, so you won't have to worry about anything for the rest of your life!"

"That's not it, Eunice....."

"You're not bad at all, Violla! I blushed so hard watching that video. Hahaha! I just sent you the link. Have a look at it."

Eunice was in exceptionally high spirits as though she was talking about the best news in the world.

As Violla tapped on the link, her jaw dropped.

A secret hookup between Stanley Group president and his mistress!

The article included photos of a couple dining and being affectionate with each other inside a private room at The Dimitri There were even photos of them making out inside the elevator.

The strangest thing was that Franklin had been photographed clearly in every photo, whereas Barbra's face was completely indiscernible. All that could be seen were her hair, body, and clothes.

Moreover, the article stated that the woman inside the pictures was a minor secretary from Romans Corporation called Miss Milan.

'Who else could this be referring to?' Violla was at a complete loss for words. That woman is clearly Barbra! Why are they saying it's me? Even if no one else has any idea, whoever took the photos should've known!'

Violla frantically tapped on the next link.

Franklin Stanley gets steamy with his mistress in a car by the beach!

On top of more videos and pictures, the entire ordeal had also been described in detail.

The video showed Franklin sitting on the passenger seat with the female lead riding him on top. The two looked utterly intoxicated.

The man's face and body were clearly visible, but again, the woman's features were unrecognizable.

Only Violla knew it was Barbra.

Yet, all the news articles pointed to a little secretary from Romans Corporation.

Some even revealed the female lead's real name..... Violla Milan .

She immediately sat up at the sight of her own name. "Where did you get all this news, Eunice? Which outlet publicized it?"

"It's literally everywhere on the Internet. You're trending on Facebook too! At first, it was something like 'Romans Corp Secretary,' but now, your name's being plastered everywhere."

Violla clutched her hair in panic. 'How am I going to prove myself innocent? This will be nearly impossible…Besides, Martin has never made himself known to the media. No one's going to believe him, even if he acts as my witness.'

'I should've stopped those two while I had the chance last night. Why would they do it in the car at the beach, anyway? They could've just gone to a hotel!'

'They didn't even try to keep it low and ended up having their pictures taken. And now, I've been dragged into their disgusting affair.'

'Wait a minute. Why is Franklin's face completely visible while Barbra's isn't?Something doesn't seem right.'

"You can't hide your affair with Mr. Stanley any longer, Violla. It's all over the news now. I heard from the manager that an affair would have such a huge impact on the company's image. Even the shares will be affected! Do you think Mr. Stanley will marry you instead to protect his reputation?" Eunice began probing.

"That's not what's happening," Violla hurriedly explained. "There's nothing going in between Mr. Stanley and....."

"Oh, come on. Your videos are everywhere! There's nothing else to hide at this point. Besides, we're friends, aren't we? It's not like I'd go around telling other people about this. You don't have to worry about being honest with me!" Eunice insisted.

No..." Violla begun.

"Hang on. There's another article," Eunice cut Violla off before yelling in shock. "Oh, God! I can't believe it, Violla! So you were once actually a nightclub princess who even played around with an East Nation male model? You're full of surprises!"

"What did you say?" Violla asked, utterly taken aback.

"I'll send you another link. Have a look at it." Eunice began to sound grave.

"Now that the issue's been made such a big deal, all the media will start scouring your past. You'll have to take care of this ASAP, or it's going to affect your relationship with Mr. Stanley and leave a horrible taste in his family's mouths. If that happens, you won't be able to marry into a life full of riches."

Violla stopped paying attention to what her friend was saying. She hurriedly opened the other links the latter had sent her.

A peek into the messy private life of Franklin Stanley's mistress—nightclubs and one-night stands!

Franklin Stanley's mistress, Violla Milan, tangled with an East Nation male model at Empire Night four years ago.

Who on earth is Violla Milan? How did she captivate the a rich man in the City?

Violla Milan's background to be disclosed today at noon.

Mysterious man to reveal the entire process of Violla Milan's escort escapades. Live today at 1 p.m.

With trembling hands, Violla tapped onto each article. All the intimate photos of her and Kevin, as well as the video of her calling an escort, had been released.

With such concrete evidence, it was practically impossible to deny her involvement.

Leila's voice and figure had been removed, leaving only Violla and Kevin, who were both drunk out of their wits at that time.

Some news outlets even compiled all of today's articles and published a detailed timeline of the entire ordeal.

The timeline described how she had relentlessly seduced Franklin and manipulated him into abandoning his wife. It also recounted how Violla had enticed him into their little car adventure last night.

Not only that, but it even claimed that she was doing all this to force Franklin into marrying her.

In short, every article pointed to her as an instigator while painting Franklin as a lost sheep and Leila as a helpless, tolerant wife.

Tens of thousands of people scorned her in the comments, and some who personally knew her proceeded to expose more of her private life.

Among such individuals were her coworkers, previous neighbors, past friends, and even her schoolmates from kindergarten.

Now, Violla felt as if someone had stripped her naked and thrown her in the middle of the crowd; she was all exposed.

Everyone was a witness to everything she did wrong, and everyone threw all sorts of curses at her. In fact, they were even cursing at her parents, saying that they should not have brought a disgusting person like her to the world.

Even the ones who knew her were ashamed to be on her side; they felt that knowing her was a humiliation by itself as well.

At that very moment, Violla was someone who was collectively despised by the whole world.

She was a shooting target that everyone was aiming at, hoping that they could cut her into bits.

Violla's hand shook, and her heart was racing a mile a minute.She was at a loss, and her mind was a barren landscape.'What do I do now?'

"Violla! Violla!" came Eunice's anxious cries from the other end of the line.

"Hey." By now, Violla was on the verge of a breakdown as she choked out, "Eunice I am being framed. What do I do?"

"Violla, I'm sorry. When I saw your video with Mr. Stanley at the start, I really thought you did it to pressurize his wife. Now that things have turned serious, the situation is disadvantageous to you. If this continues, your reputation in society will take a turn for the worst. Hurry up and talk to Mr. Stanley. Don't delay a second more. Otherwise, those netizens are going to witch-hunt you and expose all your private matters and your past. When that happens, you're doomed. All right, I'm going to work now. Call Mr. Stanley quickly. You've got to let a man handle this." After that, Eunice ended the call.

Violla continued gripping onto the phone as thousands of thoughts raced across her mind. She could not possibly call Franklin, but neither could she call Davon. Of course, it was pointless to call escort either.

Hence, she was left with one choice, Martin.

Just as Violla was about to call Martin, she realized the number that he used four years ago had long been canceled.

It was then she recalled Martin had contacted her via Barbra's phone yesterday; she did not even know Martin's new number.Unless… 'Should I call Barbra? But will Barbra get Martin for me?After all, Barbra's the culprit.Regardless, I have to try.'

Violla then called Barbra's number.

No one picked up after a long while, and despair was starting to creep into her heart. 'That's right. Why would Barbra pick up my call at a time like this?'

Just as she was about to give up, her call suddenly went through.

Barbra's voice came through the speakers. "Violla, I…"

When she heard Barbra's voice, a myriad of emotions washed over Violla's heart.

The thoughts of what happened last night flashed past her mind, and worries surged in her heart.

For a split second, Violla wanted to ask her, "Are you involved in this?"

However, Violla dared not voice that question out, fearing that she would lose her last chance to be saved.

"What's the matter?" Barbra's voice was calm, friendly, and polite.

In fact, Violla could not hear anything wrong with that tone of hers. At that, she could not help but feel impressed by Barbra's strong psychological quality.

At the same time, she laughed at how ignorant she was. A while back, she still thought that Barbra was a simple-minded, sincere, and nice girl.

In reality, Barbra only hid her true nature better than Leila did.

"I'm looking for Martin." Violla tried her best to sound calm, not wanting to seem like she was in a panic in front of Barbra.

"Martin is sick," Barbra muttered sorrowfully. "He was feeling unwell since he came home last night. When my daddy came to get him for breakfast, he realized Martin had passed out with a high fever, so he sent him to the hospital right away. My daddy and mommy are taking care of him in the hospital now."

"What happened?" Violla was stunned by the news. "He was fine when we parted ways last night."

"That's what I wanted to ask you," Barbra retorted. "You should know that Martin has a weak heart since young, and he's allergic to certain food. Did you make him eat the wrong food? Is that why he's sick now?"

Violla felt silent.