YOKED TO A BILLIONAIRE BY VENNEH LISAH

Davon was obviously torn. To be honest, he had always viewed marriage as a useless institution.

Marriage was merely an act to maintain social order.The commoners got married to procreate, remain warm in the winter and reduce living costs.

On the other hand, the upper class got married to benefit their businesses.Marriage had nothing to do with love.If Violla hadn't come to his life, he wouldn't mind marrying anyone.

Hence, he couldn't be bothered when D'barl interfered and chose his future wife. To his dismay, this led to the old man overstepping his boundaries.

Right then, he could change nothing.Most importantly, as D'barl used to be involved in shady businesses, he was a decisive and cruel man.

'If I offend him, Violla might be in danger.' At that thought, Davon caved in.

"Good." D'barl's lips curved up smugly. He gave Tarique junior a signal.

Delighted, Tarique exchanged glances with his daughter, Laura.Soon, everyone on the stage was beaming in delight, except for Davon, of course.

"Quiet down, everyone! Quiet down!"

The emcee started appealing for the media to quieten down. He then announced the start of the event before inviting D'barl onto the stage.

Rounds of applause erupted in the hall.

Meanwhile, Violla sat in her seat, unmoving.

The other secretaries were asked to leave, so she was left alone with Douglas and his men.

Douglas greeted her with a polite smile. "Miss Milan we meet again."

"You...."

"As Mr. Old Roman wishes to discipline his grandson, please cooperate with us." Douglas was smiling, but he was giving off a horrible vibe. His polite request caused Violla to tense up in fear.

A chill ran down her spine as she realized the Romans were no pushovers.

When they wanted to treat you well, they'd indulged in your every wish.

She had seen how D'barl adored the triplets and Davon showering his love on her.

However, the moment one got on their bad side, they'd change drastically and descend like a devil who had just risen from hell, making their target lose it.

"I'm just someone insignificant. I can't change anything," uttered Violla, her heart thumping rapidly.

She forced herself to calm down. "You think too highly of me."

"Mr. Old Roman has never thought highly of anyone except his wife. It is Young Roman who loves and adores you!"

Violla had a feeling there was an underlying meaning in his words.

"You should go to Davon," Violla retorted with a frown. "Why are you targeting me?"

"You're the root of the problem. We need to get rid of you first!" Douglas was still all smiles although he was practically threatening her.

Violla finally realized how deadly the butler was. No wonder Clyde and Cruze were full of respect for him. Even Davon had to treat him politely.

Although she was seething with reluctance, Violla remained silent and sat there, waiting for the event to end.

"Mr. Tarique Junior has something to announce," declared the emcee.

Rising to his feet, Tarique junior spoke humbly. "The Romans family and the Tariques family have been friends for at least three generations. Thanks to them, we could achieve this much. My daughter, Laura Tarique, has admired Davon for years. Today, I will...."

"Hey!" D'barl cut him off impatiently. "Tarique junior, stop beating around the bush. Just get straight to the point.

He banged on the table and announced, "My grandson, Davon Roman, will get engaged to Laura Tarique on the tenth of next month."

"That's right!" Tarique junior let out a hearty laugh.

D'barl guffawed along with him. He secretly squeezed Davon's hand under the table to remind the latter to smile.

Davon couldn't bring himself to smile. His silence was an act of consent.

Delighted, Laura planted a kiss on Davon's cheek before she hugged his arm and leaned onto his shoulder intimately. She was clearly overjoyed.

The crowd broke out in loud cheers and thunderous applause. Cameras flashed around the hall as everyone recorded the announcement of the grand engagement.

Violla gazed at Davon blankly as her heart shattered into pieces before sinking into a deep abyss. This heart break was worse than that caused by Franklin.

'Isn't this what I have always wanted? Why does it hurt so much to see Laura leaning into his arms?'

She stared at the ground and told herself to smile.

'Yes, I should be laughing out loud to show Davon I never cared about him. I should be congratulating him so he'd get disgusted with me and let me off.'

Alas, she couldn't make herself smile.

"You can leave now," declared Douglas before he left with his men.

Violla knew she was safe now. After all, she was of no use to them.They wouldn't use her to threaten Davon anymore.

Right then, they had discarded her like trash.

Standing up, Violla made her way backstage to leave the noisy hall. It was so noisy as everyone gave their blessing to the couple. 'I should give them my blessing, too.'

When Davon's gaze landed on Violla, she was halfway to the exit, like this had nothing to do with her.

'Yes, she doesn't care at all. She can't be bothered!'

His expression clouded over as fury rose in his heart. He stood up, ready to leave.

"Davon!" Laura reached out to grab him, but she was no match for the man. He had barely taken a few steps when a loud thud sounded from behind.

Turning at his shoulder instinctively, the sight of Laura lying limply on the ground greeted his sight. She was spitting out blood and moaning, "It hurts…"

"Laura....Laura…" Tarique junior rushed over to carry her. "What happened? Why are you acting this way?"

"Hurry, summon the doctor," ordered D'barl.

"Yes!" Douglas immediately left to arrange for a doctor.

Cruze and Clyde dismissed the surrounding reporters and deleted the photos of Laura fainting . They warned the reporters not to report about this incident.

Davon dashed over and picked her up before striding toward the lounge.

Violla was walking to the stairs in a daze when someone suddenly bumped into her. Losing her balance, she toppled onto the ground.

Looking up, she noticed Davon rushing into the lounge with Laura in his arms.

Shocked, her heart clenched tightly at the sight.

"Move!" A group of people ran up to her, nearly knocking her down again.

Luckily, someone pulled her away in time. It was Molly.

"We're in trouble. Don't stay here. Go upstairs," Molly commanded, her brows furrowed up.

"Oh," came Violla's weak reply. She didn't know what was going on, so she limped slowly toward the stairway.

Meanwhile, the hall was in an uproar. The reporters were asking around about Laura's condition. "Why did Miss Laura faint suddenly? It doesn't seem like she's sick. Was she poisoned?" one reporter inquired.

"Which media outlet are you from?" Clyde roared. "Do you want to get fired?"

"No, I'm sorry." At once, everyone promised they wouldn't report about the incident or take photos.

Violla felt uneasy at the sight. Something happened to Laura. 'Why would she be poisoned out of a sudden?'

It had nothing to do with her, but she had an ominous feeling.

Indeed, soon after Violla returned to level 68, Douglas arrived with the bodyguards in two. "Please come with us!"

"Huh?" Violla was puzzled.

Douglas made a gesture with his hand, and the bodyguards immediately dragged her out as instructed.

"What are you doing?" Violla demanded. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Soon enough, she was taken to the conference hall on the sixty-sixth floor.

D'barl was seated on the president's chair with his cane in one hand while staring daggers at her.

"Why did you bring me here?" Violla demanded angrily.

"I never minded if you were born in a lowly family. I can't believe you're this wicked!" D'barl uttered icily. "How dare you poison Laura?"

Violla's eyes widened in shock.

It took her a while to regain her composure. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed. "I never did that!"

"Stop trying to defend yourself." D'barl didn't want to waste time. "If you come clean, I might consider letting you off!"

"I didn't do that!" Violla panicked instantly. "Do you have evidence pointing it at me? Don't frame me for something I didn't do."

D'barl's brows puckered up in annoyance.

Douglas replied on his behalf. "Miss Laura ate nothing else except for the coffee you prepared for her earlier. Half an hour ago, she collapsed and is now unconscious."

Violla froze in her tracks. 'Yes, I should've known it when Laura told me to prepare a cup of coffee for her today. She didn't make things difficult on purpose and even thanked me.'

'I was wondering why she was being nice today. Turns out she had set up a trap for me.'

"You have nothing else to say?" Douglas asked.

"Are you pinning the blame on me just because she drank the cup of coffee I prepared for her?" Violla retaliated in a state of panic. "Any excuse will serve a tyrant. No one is sure whether she ate something else after that. Besides, she went to the seventeenth floor at noon for lunch."

"We won't arrest you without reason." Douglas snapped his fingers. The bodyguards whipped out a coffee mug wrapped in a sealed package with the remains of the coffee.

"I sent someone to pick up this coffee mug from Mr. Young Roman's office and ran a test. The coffee was indeed poisoned," he announced, pointing at the sealed package.

Violla's eyes went round at the shocking piece of news. 'Did Laura seriously poison her own coffee to frame me?'

"Let's stop wasting our time with her," ordered D'barl. "Call the police and hand her along with the evidence to them."

"Yes!" Douglas nodded and proceeded to carry out his order.

"I didn't do it!" Violla pleaded. "Think about it. If it was me, why didn't I dispose of the mug after she finished it? Why would I leave it there for you to discover it?"

Refusing to hear her explanation, D'barl dismissed her with a wave.

The bodyguards took a step forward, about to drag her out.

"Wait a minute!" Right then, Davon rushed in. He had taken his blazer off, leaving his shirt on. There were bloodstains on his shirt which he hadn't managed to wipe away.

"Grandpa, since it happened in my company, let me investigate the incident," he suggested.

"Douglas has found out everything," declared D'barl coolly. "Why? Isn't the evidence enough to pin her to the incident?"

"The evidence proves nothing." Davon glanced at Violla. "I know her. She's foolish and cowardly. There's no way she'll poison someone."

"Then,tell me. What about this cup of coffee?" Douglas pointed at the coffee mug with his cane. "Did someone try to frame her?"

"That might be a possibility." Davon narrowed his gaze.

"Tell me who tried to frame her then?" D'barl arched a brow in question. "Douglas went over the surveillance cameras. She was the one who ground the coffee beans, brewed the coffee, and brought it to your office. No one else was involved in the process."

After a pause, something occurred to him.

"Oh, She bumped into Cruze in front of your office," he sneered.

"Are you saying Cruze poisoned the coffee and framed it on her?" Douglas questioned.

"Oh!" Cruze exclaimed in shock. "I did nothing."

"After taking the coffee from her, Cruze entered your office. We don't have access to the surveillance cameras inside your office," explained Douglas as he gave Davon a polite bow.

"Of course, Cruze should be a suspect as well. If you think my decision isn't fair enough, I can send both Cruze and Violla to the police so the police can decide for themselves."

Cruze glanced at Davon sheepishly and said nothing.

"Otherwise, you can give us access to the surveillance cameras in your office to see whether Cruze was the culprit," suggested Douglas.

"No need," Davon sat down on a chair and declared. "There isn't any surveillance camera in my office!"

"Then..."

"It wasn't Cruze." Davon was sure about it. "He has worked with me for ten years. I have total control over him, so he wouldn't have done something that silly."

D'barl immediately gazed at Violla. "So

...."

"It wasn't her, too." Davon cut him off. "She went to my office again after the incident. If it was her, she would've retrieved the cup and destroyed the evidence. She might be a fool, but there's no way she'd be foolish enough to leave the evidence there."

"You're defending her!" D'barl roared. "Laura is your fiancee! Someone poisoned her, and she's unconscious. Her life is in danger. How dare you defend another woman right now?"

"I am only stating the facts.Besides I am not engaged to her yet. And she is definitely not the woman I love." Davon snarled.

Violla gazed at him. 'Luckily, he trusts me. I'm glad he's still trying to defend me.'

"That's enough!" D'barl was impatient by now. "I need to give Tarique an explanation."

"What are you doing? Take her away!" D'barl roared.

"Yes!" Douglas moved to carry out his order.

"No!" Violla was flustered.

"How dare you touch my woman?" Davon bellowed.

Douglas immediately came to a stop.

"Are you trying to go against me?" D'barl hit the ground with his cane in fury.

Fed up, Davon made a gesture.

Cruze and his men surrounded Douglas and the rest promptly.

"Sorry, sir," he spoke meekly.

Frowning, Douglas glanced at D'barl.

"Y-You!" D'barl shook in anger. His hand gripping the cane was trembling slightly. "How rude of you to…"

"Mr. Old Roman, please calm down," Douglas hurriedly consoled him. "Mr. Young Roman isn't going against you. He just wants to investigate the matter himself."

"Douglas is right. But until then my woman is innocent." Davon nodded. "Grandpa, I'll investigate the matter thoroughly. Don't you worry. But now, I won't allow you to take them away, especially not Violla."

"I insist on punishing her right now." D'barl refused to give in. "Otherwise, she might do something worse in the future!"

"Grandpa...."

"Calm down, Mr. Old Roman!" Right then, Tarique junior hurried over to them. "Laura has regained consciousness. Dr. Immaculate said she's in a stable condition now."

"Laura is awake? Good, good." D'barl heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's go and visit her."