YOKED TO A BILLIONAIRE BY VENNEH LISAH

Out of the blue, Davon uttered, "Since Mr. Stanley wants to meet you like crazy, you should go."

Violla had butterflies in her stomach. She looked at Davon, pondering over his intention. Perhaps he wanted to find out what Franklin was trying to do.

However, Violla wanted to avoid Franklin at all costs.

What if he said nonsense or did something stupid that would give Davon the wrong idea? That would put her into the deep water.

"You're such a gentleman." Barbra smiled at Davon then continued, "This way, please."

With a reluctant look on her face, Violla had no choice but to follow Barbra to the room.

Davon wrapped his arm around her shoulders, portraying them as a loving and intimate couple.

Taking a glance at the couple, Barbra sneered, "If my brother knows you have such a pastime, he'll probably drop his jaw."

"Well, if he finds out about your relationship with Franklin, he'll be dumbstruck," Violla retorted.

A flint of shock flashed across her eyes, yet she pretended not to know anything. "What are you talking about? Franklin and I are just friends. He has been in distress recently, giving up on himself. I've been comforting him as a friend. There's nothing wrong with that."

Violla raised her eyebrows and mocked, "By having sex in the car?"

"You…" Suddenly, Barbra was out of words as she didn't see that coming.

But right away, she recomposed herself and uttered softly, "It's just your baseless allegation."

The show she put on in the restaurant earlier was meant for Violla.

It was not surprising that Violla figured out the identity of the scandal's female lead. Indeed, it was Barbra in the car. However, Violla had no proof to support her claim, so it would remain a groundless rumor as long as Barbra denied it.

Violla gritted her teeth with anger. If it weren't for Martin, she would have exposed Barbra's hypocrisy to the world.

Davon couldn't care less about such politics between women.

However, he couldn't bear to see Violla being humiliated like that. "I can get you the proof at any time," he spoke.

Barbra stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him in shock. "What do you mean?"

"I meant what I said." Davon snarled.

Violla sneered coldly, then she grabbed Davon's arm and pushed the door.

The moment they entered the room, a wine bottle flew towards them. "Get out! Out!"

Davon grabbed Violla's waist in a wink and dodged it at the last second.

The bottle hit the wall and the glass shards scattered everywhere.

Barbra's arm was scratched by the glass shards, yet she didn't even take a look at it. Instead, she hurriedly walked towards the drunk man. "Frank, what happened to you? Stop drinking. You've had enough for today."

Franklin drowned his sorrow in wine, looking all haggard and miserable. He looked up and realized Violla was there. He froze for a moment, then immediately stood up and tidied himself up.

Looking at Franklin, Violla felt increasingly guilty by the minute.

'If it weren't for me, Davon wouldn't have halted the Stanleys family's project and Franklin wouldn't have ended up like this.'

Franklin was completely nonplussed. "Veeh, what… what are you doing here? I've been looking for you, but…"

He lowered his head and dared not looked into Violla's eyes although he wanted to.

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Seeing that, Violla's eyes reddened.

However, she dared not let out her emotions in front of Davon, so she took a deep breath and spoke in an indifferent tone, "Why are you giving up on yourself? For whom you put on such a show?"

"How could you say that?" Barbra bellowed.

Davon glanced at Barbra with a sharp look. The latter panicked and stopped saying further.

"Yes, it's my fault. It's all my fault." Franklin felt utterly embarrassed.

His words spoke his mind and feelings of the moment.

Violla was right. He made the wrong decision to call off the engagement with her. After that, he made another mistake by marrying Leila instead. Then, another grave mistake by holding on to Violla.Lastly, he shouldn't have left her for the company's profit. It was all his fault throughout.

Violla couldn't help but weaken her resolve when she saw Franklin's depressed face.

She said earnestly, "Franklin, no one has a perfect life. Hardships and obstacles are inevitable in life. Dealing with them is not scary. The real disaster begins when you go on a self-destructive path."

Hearing her words, Franklin sneered, "Hardships? It's Davon Roman who brought all these on me."

Violla unwittingly turned to Davon.

Davon leaned back on the couch in an arrogant posture, holding a glass of wine in his hand. He elegantly took a sip from the glass as if he heard nothing.

He didn't mind what Franklin had just said. Instead, he remained silent and looked at the latter with a smile of mockery.

"Franklin you're drunk. Stop saying gibberish." Barbra quickly stepped forward and held him down.

"What? There are no outsiders here." Franklin was indeed drunk. With unstable footsteps, he approached Violla and wanted to pull her close. "Violla, there's so much I want to tell you."

Before he could reach her, she was pulled backward and fell onto the couch.

"Who are you?" Right then, Franklin finally noticed Davon who was wearing a mask. The way he dressed looked nothing like the arrogant, domineering president whom everyone knew. Therefore, Franklin couldn't recognize him, nor could Barbra.

She sneered at the masked man, "You're asking a stupid question. He's a model at Empire Night. Just now, Miss Milan almost picked up a fight with a few wealthy women over this man."

"Violla…" Franklin gazed at Violla in disbelief.

"Do you not believe what I said? She was caught in a scandal with an escort four years ago." Barbra despised Violla from the bottom of her heart.

"Shut up!" Franklin cut her off, then asked emotionally, "Veeh, tell me it's not true. You're not a flirtatious woman, right?"

Having a cold smile on her face, Violla asked rhetorically. "Do you really know me? Do you really know what kind of person I am?"

Franklin froze and looked at her in surprise.

"You never know my true self. You didn't know me back then, and even now." Violla cruelly uttered those words that were supposed to be the most loving ones in the world. "You'll be my world when I'm in love with you. You're nothing to me when I don't love you anymore. It's just as simple as that."

"You let go of me four years ago when I needed you the most. From that moment onwards, there was nothing else left between us."

"If you were still as smart as what you used to be, perhaps you could still have a place in my heart as my first love."

"But look at you now. You're such a disappointment." Violla sized Franklin up with a cold-eyed gaze.

After hearing her words, Franklin's heart was shredded into pieces. He lowered his head in silence.

"Violla Milan! How could you say that to him? He is in this state because of you!" Barbra shouted at her.

"Because of me?" Violla chuckled, then continued, "Although I'm clueless about business, I'm not dumb. If Stanley Group had a solid foundation, why would they plead for Romans Corporation's partnership? The company couldn't survive without Romans Corporation's investment, and that was why they approached Davon Roman . He was the one who could decide the fate of the company."

Surprised by her words, Davon raised his eyebrows under the mask. He thought she was a silly woman that knew nothing. In fact, her mind was clear as crystal.

Franklin kept his head down and remained silent.

"When you decided to go to Davon, you should've known that he is an unpredictable man. Yet, you still did it, and that means it was a matter of life and death for Stanley Group, which left you no better options than that."

Violla pointed out the unspoken fact. She paused for a few seconds before she continued, "If that was the case, he had the absolute right to decide your fate."

"Even so, Davon Roman wouldn't have totally cut Franklin off if it weren't for you." Barbra still sided with Franklin.

"Davon is a successful businessman. He would definitely choose a great business opportunity over a woman, unless it was never an opportunity but a liability." After dropping her last word, Violla turned to Davon. Without hesitation, Davon gave her a look of assurance. So, she was right about it.

Franklin was overwhelmed by her words. He got emotional and questioned her, "Why are you voicing out for him? Is he really that good in your heart?"

"I guess so." Violla didn't want to compliment Davon in front of him. But judging from the situation, Franklin was indeed no match for Davon.

"You've changed. You would never commit yourself to anyone for any reason. But now, you're doing it for power."

Franklin paused as he couldn't bring himself to say further. Thinking of the intimacy between Violla and Davon, his heart ached so much.

"Everyone likes a powerful man. No one gives a damn to a useless man." Violla purposely said that to provoke him.

Davon was pleased by her words. He looked at her with faint smile.

"You…" Franklin couldn't believe what he had just heard. He was perplexed with her words. He never thought Violla Milan whom he knew would say something like that.

"Take care." Violla didn't want to talk to him anymore. She walked away with Davon.

" Violla Milan!" Franklin yelled at the top of his lungs. It was the first time he called her by her full name.Violla stopped in her tracks, waiting for Franklin to finish his speech.

He spoke slowly, articulating each word loud and clear, "I'll remember every single word that you said to me today. Just you wait, I'll make sure you regret it!"

Without saying a word, Violla strode away. Provoked by her hurtful words, Franklin grabbed the wine bottle and smashed it onto the floor. The bottle instantly shattered into a thousand pieces, just like how his feelings towards Violla finally crumbled to dust.

Violla walked at a fast pace as she wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible. She just wanted to disappear from Franklin's world forever.

At the moment, all the fond memories she had of Franklin faded away along with the broken glass shards. It was beyond repair.

Actually, Violla saw through Barbra's ploy of taking her over to Franklin. He was in need of a push to pull himself together, and Violla was the best person to do it. The cruel words she said could ignite his spirit and push him to recompose himself.

What happened in The Dimitri was also a foreshadowing. Barbra orchestrated all that to break the bond between Violla and Franklin for good.

Finally, her wish had come true.Perhaps she was overjoyed inside.But none of that mattered. Most importantly, Franklin was provoked and had gained motivation to rise again.

Besides, Davon would set aside his enmity towards Franklin after seeing the scene in the room. He wouldn't give Franklin a hard time anymore.

"How thoughtful of you." Walking alongside Violla, Davon uttered the words suddenly.

"What?" Violla felt uneasy.

"The act that you put on, it was not bad." Davon played with his car keys while walking towards the car.

"I meant every single word that I said." Violla quickly followed after him and explained herself, "I misunderstood you. Now that I think about it, you're always serious about work. Perhaps the project of Stanley Group was not profitable, and that was why you…"

"You're wrong." Davon interrupted her mid-sentence. "Every project that comes to Romans Corporation is not profitable. They come to me because I can make it profitable for them."

"Actually, I could've given the Stanleys a chance. However, I don't like Franklin Stanley. He wanted to portray himself as a gentleman, yet tried to earn a killing from me. His hypocrisy disgusts me, so I took it back.

"Of course, you're right about one thing. When Stanley Group came to me, I had the absolute right to decide their fate. It all depended on my mood whether to save it or let it rot.

"And the mood…" Davon lifted Violla's chin and bit her soft, red lips. "That depends on you," he whispered.

The slight pain on her lips reminded her that she had also given herself to Davon so he had the right to decide her life and death. It all depended on his mood.And his mood depended on her performance.

They sped off in his Aston Martin. Davon had one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the window, with a cigar between his fingers.

Violla kept quiet as she had mixed feelings on the episode earlier.After all, it was dangerous to stay so close to a man like Davon Roman.He could see through her every move and every thought.

She was completely naked in front of the man, unable to hide anything from him.It was almost impossible for her to have any secrets unless he wasn't interested. He was able to figure everything out if he wanted to.

Therefore, she had to protect the secret of her father's belongings and make sure he never found out.Luckily, Davon was not interested in it, so he wouldn't put any thought into it.

Right when she was lost in her thoughts, her phone rang. It was Mrs. Blake.

After taking a glance at Davon, she answered the call. "Yes, Mrs. Blake."

"Miss, it's late at night. Are you on your way home? Is everything alright?" Mrs. Blake was concerned.

"I'm fine. I'll be late tonight. Please go to bed…"

Violla stopped mid-sentence as the triplets were shouting on the other end of the phone.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!

Her heart skipped a beat and she unwittingly glanced at Davon. Then, she turned around and covered her mouth to lower her voice. "Why are you still up?"

"Mommy, Eliana wants to listen to stories. When are you coming back?" Eliana's soft voice came from the other side of the phone and melted Violla's heart instantly.

"Mommy will be late tonight. Please go to bed now, the three of you. It's already eleven." While speaking over the phone, Violla peeked at Davon from time to time. She was afraid that he would find it annoying.

However, the man focused on the road. Although his face was expressionless, his pressuring aura made the atmosphere become tense.

"Mommy, are you still working at this time?" Jason grabbed the phone over and asked in a serious tone, "Is your boss holding you back? Tell me his name. I'll talk to him."

Violla was panicked upon hearing that. "No, that's not it. Jason, be a good boy, alright?"

"Give me the phone." Ryan had the phone and continued asking, "Mommy, where are you now? Are you safe?"

"I'm safe." She noticed Davon's expression had changed into a somber one, so she quickly replied, "Ryan, be a good boy. Go to bed with your siblings. Mommy has to work."

"Alright, Mommy. Don't worry…"

"Ryan, Mommy has to go now. Love you." Violla ended the call in a hurry and looked at Davon timidly.The latter didn't say anything. He put out the cigar and closed the window.

The atmosphere was rather tense in the car. Both of them remained silent.Violla's heart was beating fast as she felt suffocated.

On a special day like today, she shouldn't intimidate him, especially when he was not in a good mood.Things had become better earlier, but now...

Suddenly, the car got onto the highway, speeding off. Violla's heart was pounding rapidly. After stabilizing her breathing, she dared not make a move and stayed put on the seat.

"Where are we going?" After staying quiet for some time, Violla finally broke the silence.

Ignoring her question, Davon kept silent.

"Don't be angry. It was just a call…" Violla tried to talk to him.

"Your kids should be three by now, right?" Finally, Davon responded.

"Yes," she replied.

"Before me or after me?" Davon continued asking.

"What?" Violla's mind was in a mess. She didn't know how to respond to the question.

"It should be after me, I guess. Four years ago, that was your first time. That couldn't be fake," Davon kept talking.

She bled a lot that night. Although she was drugged and behaved enthusiastically, her innocence was real and it was something that couldn't be disguised.