The Lotus And The Billionaire

Chapter 77: Meeting With The Devil

I already knew that personally meeting with Zenon Leviste would be futile, but I might as well say that this is the dumbest thing I have ever done. There really was no way I could convince him to stop.

The only thing I did was step inside the studio while they were setting everything up, but the thing is, I was pretty creeped out by the entire thing. This was sketchy even before we came here, but I’m only realizing that now that we are actually here, being played.

As we sat on the couch with Zenon right in front of us, tension continued to fill the air. This whole farce is getting on my nerves, but I was worried that one of the cameras was already rolling.

Alvarez, on the other hand, seems a lot calmer than I am. This is why I’m planning to leave this whole interview in his hands. He’s very capable of handling this, while I am not.

Even if I tried to answer properly, I am pretty sure that it would end up seeming rude. That was how it has always been, but I don’t feel guilty anymore. Alvarez would make sure that I wouldn’t go out of control even if I didn’t tell him that we couldn’t take turns speaking.

“You two…” Zenon muttered all of a sudden, earning him hostile looks from us, which made him chuckle. “Calm down.”

“Just say what you want to say?”

He raised a brow, grinning. “You two don’t seem married at all. That was what I was gonna say.”

I raised a brow, amused by what he said. That’s right, Alvarez and I are simply married on paper. Honestly, I’m sort of surprised that someone as dumb as Zenon noticed that. He’s somewhat perceptive, huh.

Ah, it doesn’t really matter to me. Even if he accuses us of having a farce of a marriage, it wouldn’t mean anything. Alvarez and I were married on paper, after all. Nothing can disprove that, not when I witnessed the very process.

“Anyone could tell you two weren’t really married because of your so-called long-term relationship.”

“Uh-huh…” Alvarez trailed off, chuckling. “We didn’t come here for your opinion on our marriage.”

Zenon grinned, one that looked so evil. “I know, but why not chat for a bit, right?”

“We don’t have time for idle chatter, Mr. Leviste,” Alvarez replied.

“Then, what are you here for…if not for that?”

I let out a sigh as I tried to remain silent. I’m glad Alvarez can hold his emotions in because I was afraid that if I chose to speak, I would end up ruining everything.

There was a brief silence after Zenon posed that question. It was awkward, especially for me. The tension in the air was palpable, almost enough to make me lose my breath.

I pursed my lips as I stared at Alvarez, waiting for him to speak up. But he was just…staring at Zenon as if he was trying to understand what the latter was doing or, perhaps, thinking.

“You know, I still don’t understand your reason for doing all this. Why are you even going through such a hassle just to make things difficult for us?”

Another brief silence followed. Zenon looked amused by what Alvarez said, but he didn't seem fazed. It was as if he knew the latter would ask such questions.

Meanwhile, all I did was remain quiet and listen in…

“I’m doing this because something was taken away from me,” Zenon replied as he shot me a glance.

My brows furrowed. “What are you—”

“You were supposed to be mine, Sapphire. We’re both aware of that fact.”

I gritted my teeth as I stared at him, furious. My body was trembling with rage at the thought that he genuinely believed I belonged to him.

I looked at Alvarez, waiting for him to say something before I snapped. Much to my dismay, he was simply looking at me, as if he was urging me to let it out. But…doing that would defeat the purpose of coming here.

“It’s fine,” he told me, nodding.

I looked at Zenon with eyes burning with fury. “I never belonged to you, you asshole. You talk as if you owned every bit of me—”

“Because I did,” he cut me off angrily. “At least until this man right here bought you from your father!”

“No, you didn’t! I wasn’t supposed to marry anyone!”

“I have proof, missy. One word from me and everyone would know what kind of farce marriage there is between you two!”

“How dare you—!”

“No, how dare you?! f*****g traitor!” he exclaimed as he tried to come near me. “Listen here, I’m doing this so that I can get you back. Come on, you know you’re much better off with me.”

“You would have made me miserable. I’d rather die than be with a pig like you.”

“What did you say?”

He stopped right in front of me, looking angrier than ever. His fists were clenched as if he was prepared to punch me right in the face anytime now.

And so I repeated what I said, with more emphasis this time. “I said I would rather die than stay with a pig like you.”

He tried to punch me, but before he could do so, Alvarez stepped in front of me and punched Zenon. That was when everyone else in the studio finally stepped in.

Zenon was basically rampaging, so his family immediately held him down. He kept shouting at us, at me specifically. I was afraid of what he could have done if Alvarez hadn’t moved immediately.

Damn.

“I never should have provoked him…” I muttered as I looked at Alvarez, regretful.

Alvarez shook his head and pulled me closer. “It’s fine. I’m sorry I let that happen.”

I shook my head and stayed as close to him as possible. I was afraid of what could happen if things got out of hand.

“I’ll talk to them when they’re ready. The media covering this is on their side, so what happened earlier won’t be shown on television.”

“Yeah, I expected that already,” I replied, chuckling.

He snorted and pulled me by my waist. “You don’t have to listen to what we’re going to talk about. We’re just going to pretend that we’re settling everything. That way, the media would follow us less.”

I nodded and simply followed him. Nothing is impossible for the privileged, especially if they have a wide range of connections. It would be easy enough to edit those videos out or have them leaked.

The part where he mentioned that I was supposed to marry him could get aired. What’s worse is that he might actually have proof of my father contacting the Levistes for a marriage proposal.

Dad and Papa used to be close with their family. It wouldn’t come off as a surprise if they really had something to use as proof. If that happens, there would be more inconveniences for Alvarez.

“Hey,” Alvarez called, trying to get my attention. “Don’t think too much.”

“How can I?”

Not thinking about what happened is impossible, especially after Zenon straight-up shouted all of that information when the media was there. I mean, they would have something to use against him if the scene from earlier were caught on camera, but why would they? They’re getting along pretty well, after all.

I shook my head, dismayed. It would be tough trying to find media companies that would help us overturn the situation. All I can do at this point is pray that no word comes out in public.

“Here, Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez.”

“Thank you.”

I looked up to see the woman who led us to the conference room, where some of the Levite staff were. They will be interviewing us, and then the negotiations for settlement would follow.

Honestly, I have no idea what this is for. There is no money involved, anyway. It’s all just our reputations at stake, most especially Zenon’s. That’s why…I don’t understand.

The people within the room were familiar to me, probably because I have either worked with them or seen them on several sites I visited. They look really serious about this whole situation, which means that the whole interview thing was just a disguise…

They really are negotiating. But they were talking in riddles, so I didn’t try to understand anymore. It was as if they actually meant something different from what they were saying.

I don’t understand…

Ah, this is all making my head hurt.

Oh, wait.

Are these really Zenon Leviste’s people? They don’t seem that way to me. In fact, they seem different than how I expected them to be. They weren’t fussy at all. In fact, they only asked questions that seemed…pretty typical to me.

“My wife and I meant no harm to Mr. Leviste. All we wanted was to talk about the accusations we have received over the past weeks.”

“We understand, Mr. Alvarez. As evidence is presented, proving that both of you are innocent, we are going to be dealing with the damage we have caused.”

No, they wouldn’t.

The Levistes play dirty, and that was something I have learned after dealing with them for years. And Zenon? That man would rather lick the floor than play fair.

So, what is this…

As I was thinking of the possibility that the other party was also stalling us, I felt my phone vibrating against my bag. Someone is calling…

But they said we are not allowed to answer phone calls while we are here. If I did that, they would tell me to go out. I can’t do that, not when they’re talking about something important.

Oh, I can’t hear them anyway…

Should I just wait?

“We would like to know where your people ended up accusing us of the attack? My wife and I had been very busy with projects, so it was surprising that all of a sudden, we got caught up in a scandal like this.”

Oh, right.

There must have been a reason that the two of us were immediately pointed out as the culprits. I mean, why would they suddenly accuse us? They aren’t that dumb, are they?

Zenon was attacked while he was out for a walk with his dog, I think. That was what the news said. Apparently, he was out for a morning walk around their subdivision, and then he was almost shot in his shoulders. I don’t know much about the details because I didn’t care, though.

“Oh, there were suspicious people who entered the building that morning. And according to Mr. Leviste, he felt that there were people following him. After the incident, the security cameras were checked, and they found people wearing the same uniform your men wear.”

What…

“That’s all?” Alvarez asked, shocked.

Well, I am as well. It felt so made up, there was no substance at all. I thought they wouldn’t disappoint me with this kind of thing, but they did. I mean, I had higher expectations…

“Yes, Mr. Alvarez,” the woman holding a clipboard said. “That uniform is unique to your men, and they were wearing nameplates that had the carvings of the Alvarez logo.”

“You do understand that it’s easy to replicate those, right?”

They nodded. “Yes, we do. That is why we are sorry.”

Then…

Why did we come here to apologize and settle this if they were the ones at fault?

My brows furrowed as I stared at the woman, unable to believe that we actually exerted effort to negotiate with them. It should have been the other way around! And they have the guts to try and frame us again because they failed the first time, huh.

It was proven that those men weren’t Alvarez’s men. Their clothes matched with the people working under us, but our men vouched that recently, their uniforms had gone missing.

And to top it all, it was our subordinates that identified the people who attacked Zenon Leviste. And they were the workers he fired a month ago!

This is annoying.

As the conversations progressed, I simply sat quietly and refused to pay attention. I was much too furious to join in because of how much they had inconvenienced us.

I swear I’d love to put them in place when I get the opportunity.