Right after those words came out, Draven slapped Vespera hard across the face, knocking her whole body down onto the floor.
Vespera covered her swollen, red cheek, not even having time to react to what had happened.
“How dare you put on Violetta’s clothes? That outfit is what she wore the first day she met me. Do you really want to ruin my only memory? You heartless, crazy woman!”
Draven gritted his teeth, wishing he could immediately tear off Vespera’s dress.
Brielle, standing close by, looked at Vespera’s painful condition, and a moment of quiet satisfaction passed through her eyes.
She traded a look with the woman who had earlier brought Vespera to change clothes, and nodded.
Vespera quickly realized what was going on.
She pointed at Brielle in extreme anger. “It is her! She is the one who had someone set me up…”
Before she could finish speaking, Draven interrupted, his face full of disgust.
“Enough! You even want to push the blame onto Brielle? She knows nothing at all about Violetta!”
“I already spared you earlier because of Dad, but you keep provoking me. It looks like I no longer need to be kind to you.”
After he said that, he waved his hand behind him.
“Men, strip the outfit off her body! Make sure the dress stays fully undamaged. As for Vespera, handle her however you like!”
Vespera stared at him in shock. “Draven, are you insane? I am your wife. This is the Vaughn Corporation’s annual meeting. You want me here naked?”
Draven didn’t even look at her, only shouted impatiently, “Hurry up!”
The bodyguards who had been hesitating rushed forward right away.
Vespera struggled desperately, yet she was unable to break free from the arms and legs that were forcing her down.
She looked at Draven hopelessly, her voice broken as she yelled, “Draven! I told you it was not me. Tell them to stop, or I will hate you for the rest of my life!”
Draven stopped for a moment, then seemed to remember something and replied coldly, “Whatever.”
Upon saying this, the bodyguards worked even faster.
Vespera helplessly looked to those around her for help, but received only avoiding eyes and mocking looks.
Brielle watched everything happening in front of her with intense excitement, quietly shaping words toward Vespera.
“You lost. He won’t believe you.”
In the end, Vespera was stripped naked and pushed out of the annual meeting venue.
She curled up her body, trying to find some fabric to hide herself.
But she realized that her phone was broken during the struggle.
She could only wear the remaining underwear, shaking in the cold wind as she walked three kilometers back to the villa.
When Vespera reached home and got a new phone, she found that the internet was covered with leaked pictures of her.
Many people mocked her for having strange fetishes, saying Draven’s betrayal had driven her mentally unstable.
And everything that took place at the annual meeting was fully blocked by Draven, leaving only the best photos of him and Brielle.
Vespera shook as she shut off her phone, wrapping herself in the blanket while tears kept falling.
When she woke later and went downstairs, she saw Draven tossing a stack of very familiar pictures into the fire.
The second she clearly saw what the pictures were, she suddenly ran forward, ignoring the heat and trying to grab them, but she was strongly stopped by Draven.
“Draven, are you out of your mind? Why are you burning pictures of my mom?”
Vespera shouted with all her strength.
The pictures that Draven tossed into the fire were the last few images of Vespera’s mother still left in the world.
They even included family photos of the three of them, from childhood to adulthood.
After Draven burned them, the only things she had to remember her mother were completely gone.
Draven kept stopping Vespera until the pictures were fully burned into ashes, and only then did he let go.
Staring at the ashes on the floor, Vespera collapsed to the ground, tears pouring out and soaking the carpet.
Draven only watched her coldly and mocked, “You ruined the keepsake from the first time I met Violetta, so I burned your mother’s pictures. That is very fair.”
That was not fair at all!
Vespera wanted to shout, wanted to cry out, wanted to tell him everything Brielle had done.
Yet when she saw the mocking look on Draven’s face, she only tightly closed her eyes.
She understood that no matter what she said, Draven would never trust her.
Finding her response boring, Draven walked away after tossing out one last line.
“I am more generous than you are. New jewelry will be delivered to you later. You can keep selling it to help pay for your father’s hospital bills.”
Even after Draven’s footsteps slowly disappeared, his mocking voice still echoed inside Vespera’s head.
She gathered the ashes, set them inside a small box, and stayed awake through the entire night.
