Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

The alley stank, and the soundproofing was terrible. Next door, someone was yelling at their child, and a couple was fighting.

Simon Lockwood’s expression remained unchanged as he parked his bicycle in front of his door and locked it.

He pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door, revealing the cramped room inside. The furniture looked old; even though it was kept spotless, its shabbiness was impossible to hide.

His phone was still vibrating incessantly. Simon Lockwood frowned and pulled it out, just as a loud pounding suddenly echoed on his front door, accompanied by a woman’s shrill voice.

”Simon, it’s your aunt! I have something to talk to you about. Open the door.” The knocking grew progressively louder.

Annoyance flashed in Simon Lockwood’s eyes. He opened the door, his tall frame blocking the middle-aged woman from coming inside. His voice was distant yet polite, ”Aunt, what is it?”

”I called you several times, but you wouldn’t pick up,” the middle-aged woman said, a shrewd look she couldn’t hide on her face. ”Your cousin has his high school entrance exams next year, and you know how Kyle’s grades are...”

She declared with utter self-assurance, ”You’ll have to help tutor him.”

”I don’t have time.” Simon Lockwood had no fondness for his mercenary aunt and rejected her outright.

The woman’s face immediately darkened. ”What do you mean you don’t have time? You have the weekend off, don’t you?”

Simon Lockwood said coolly, ”I have to work.”

”I thought so,” the woman said, crossing her arms, her initially warm and friendly demeanor gone. ”Look, it’s not that I don’t care about you. How about this: you tutor your cousin on weekend afternoons, and I’ll pay you for it. How’s that?”

She spoke as if she were suffering a great loss over something that was perfectly natural and expected.

Simon Lockwood stood perfectly still and was silent for a moment, neither agreeing nor refusing. In the woman’s eyes, this was as good as an agreement. She turned and walked away with a look of contempt.

*

The weekend arrived quickly. Following the address 166 had given her, Joanna Kennedy found Simon Lockwood in the seating area of a boba shop, helping someone correct their test answers.

Simon Lockwood had his usual cold and lofty expression, while across from him, Kyle Aldrich was working on a test paper with a look of complete impatience.

’Is Simon Lockwood... tutoring someone? I thought he was a loner with no friends.’

[The male lead’s cousin,] 166 replied.

’That’s still surprising. Didn’t the book say he had a bad relationship with his aunt’s family?’

Joanna Kennedy didn’t dwell on the question. She walked up to the counter, ordered a light fruit tea, then went over to Kyle Aldrich and tapped him on the shoulder. ”Excuse me, mind moving? I want to sit here.”

Kyle Aldrich, who had been glaring at the test paper as if it were his mortal enemy, shot up an eyebrow and turned with a menacing look. But upon seeing her stunningly beautiful face, he swallowed all his curses and stammered, dazed, ”O... Okay.”

”I ordered a boba,” Joanna Kennedy said, lifting her chin and handing the receipt to Kyle Aldrich. She ordered imperiously, ”Go wait for it, and bring it to me when it’s ready.”

Joanna Kennedy’s gaze never left Simon Lockwood, whose expression remained indifferent.

Kyle Aldrich’s head cleared a bit, and he realized the beautiful girl wasn’t there for him. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her. He shot his cousin a glare and went to wait resentfully for the boba.

Joanna Kennedy moved a chair next to Simon Lockwood and plopped down, her hand mischievously reaching to snatch the black pen he was holding.

Simon Lockwood’s fingers paused for a moment, then he simply let go, allowing her to take it.

Joanna Kennedy’s smile deepened. Emboldened, she moved even closer, their breaths mingling.

Simon Lockwood shot to his feet, his chair making a piercing SCRAPE across the floor. He strode out of the boba shop, and Joanna Kennedy followed him.

He didn’t stop until they reached a corner. He stared down at Joanna Kennedy’s stunningly beautiful face, his voice devoid of any emotion. ”I’ve told you before. I don’t like you.”

Joanna Kennedy’s brows knitted together, but then quickly relaxed. ”So what?” she said dismissively. ”As if I care who you like.”

”I don’t think I’ve said this before...” Joanna Kennedy began, her tone haughty. ”Simon Lockwood, I like you. You have to be with me.”

Simon Lockwood’s face hardened.

Joanna Kennedy tilted her head up, playing the part of a spoiled heiress to perfection. ”Don’t be ungrateful. With my looks and my family background, do you know how many people are begging me to like them? And I don’t want any of them.”

The implication was clear: he was the one getting the better end of the deal.

Simon Lockwood’s grip was like iron on her wrist as he pinned her against the wall, keeping an arm’s length of distance between them. ”Then go find whoever’s begging you. What you look like, how powerful your family is...” The chill in his eyes was piercing. ”I don’t care.”

He flung Joanna Kennedy’s hand away and turned back toward the boba shop to pack his things.

Kyle Aldrich was gingerly holding the boba. Seeing Simon return, he looked past him, but didn’t see the person he was hoping to. Just as he was about to ask, he flinched, startled by the dark aura emanating from Simon.

’What happened? Where’s the pretty girl?’

’Wait, what am I supposed to do with this boba?’

Kyle Aldrich was still bewildered. Seeing Simon start to wheel his bike away, he couldn’t hold back any longer. ”At tutoring tomorrow... is she coming back?”

It was obvious who ”she” was.

Simon Lockwood’s gaze was as cold as the dead of winter. ”I’ve clipped my notes inside your book. There will be no more tutoring.”

”What do you mean?!” Kyle grew frantic. ”Didn’t you promise my mom? You even accepted the tutoring fee!”

Simon Lockwood didn’t know how his aunt had spun the story, nor did he care. ”I never agreed. I came today to give you my notes. That’s all I’m willing to do.”

His words sounded like an attempt to cut all ties with their family, and Kyle flared up. ”You think some stupid notes can repay the debt of us feeding and housing you when you were a kid?! No wonder Mom always says you’re cold-blooded! You deserve to be alone for the rest of your life!”

Simon Lockwood had been about to leave, but at those words, he turned back to look at Kyle, his gaze cold and placid. ”I suppose it runs in the family.” He paused. ”Did you enjoy spending my parents’ compensation money?”

It was asked so casually, yet Kyle was so shocked he froze on the spot.

A set of fair, slender fingers waved impatiently in front of his face, and he finally snapped back to reality. He realized it was the ”boba girl” he’d been thinking about nonstop.

”Where’s Simon Lockwood?!” Joanna Kennedy demanded, beating him to the punch.

Kyle hesitated, his expression shifting. ”He left...”

’Gone! He’s gone again! What’s so great about having long legs?!’ Joanna fumed internally.

Then an idea struck her. Her expression softened as she asked Kyle Aldrich, ”You’re Simon Lockwood’s cousin, so you must know him pretty well, right?”

As Kyle Aldrich hesitated, debating whether to shake his head, Joanna pressed on tentatively, ”Do you know what kind of girls he’s into? Or has he ever mentioned anyone to you?”

”...No,” Kyle said.

’Tch, how boring.’

Joanna Kennedy was a little disappointed not to hear the name Serena Sutton.

”Well... you at least know where he lives, right?”

”...I do.”

After getting Simon Lockwood’s address out of Kyle Aldrich, Joanna Kennedy had a new idea.