Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

On the screen, under the dim light, the man’s handsome features were soft, his dark eyes calm and focused. His short black hair was damp, and a droplet of water trickled down his well-defined neck...

Joanna Kennedy patted her cheeks, shaking herself out of her daze over his good looks. ”Alright, I’m going to read for a bit, then get ready for bed. Tomorrow’s my first day on set, and I can’t be late.”

”Hope the shoot goes well,” Simon Lockwood said.

Joanna Kennedy nodded with a wide smile and was about to hang up when she noticed the man on the other end was still staring at her, his brow slightly furrowed.

?

’What’s this about...?’

Joanna asked tentatively, ”So... I’ll hang up now?”

”...Mhm.”

The man’s voice was somewhat reluctant. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then pressed his lips shut, his expression awkward.

A sudden thought struck Joanna, and her tone softened. ”Simon Lockwood, good night...”

...

”Mhm.”

The man’s brow smoothed out, his eyes filled with a smile, and his voice was low and pleasant. ”Good night.”

’Hahahaha...’

After hanging up, Joanna hugged her phone and rolled around on her bed, giggling like a fool.

’Oh my god, how can Simon Lockwood be so cute!’

Describing Simon Lockwood as ”cute” was downright horrifying—no less shocking than watching a horror movie. If anyone else heard her say that, they would definitely think there was something wrong with Joanna’s head.

But aside from that word, she honestly couldn’t think of a more fitting adjective at the moment.

’Time to study!’

Joanna scrambled up from her bed, turned on her night light, and felt a new surge of motivation!

Meanwhile, in a villa, inside a modest attic on the third floor, a man sat quietly before an ebony desk under the dim light.

The surrounding walls were completely covered with photo frames, and all the pictures were of the same girl.

Beautiful, clear, almond-shaped eyes; a bright, dazzling smile—she was like the March sun, and like a pure, tempting rose...

The photos seemed to be candid shots or screenshots from videos, showing the girl with different expressions in various settings.

Happy, defiant, dejected, distressed, pitiful...

Only her clear eyes remained ever-bright, piercing through layers of mist to gaze directly into the depths of one’s soul.

In the center of the ebony desk, beneath a pendant light and inside a transparent glass dome, a single, vibrant and lovely rose shone brightly, forever in bloom...

The king had built his own kingdom to devotedly guard his one and only rose, willingly using the surrounding picture frames to trap himself in a world that contained only the girl.

He didn’t need freedom. He only needed her.

*

”This is a question from a fan online: As the actress playing Cheryl, if you, Jojo, were asked to rank freedom, life, love, and living, how would you order them?”

This was during an interview before filming began, part of a formal Q&A.

”If I had to rank them, I would probably...” Joanna Kennedy thought for a moment, then said with a smile, ”Love, freedom, life, and living.”

A crew member sounded a little surprised. ”Jojo, you put love first?”

For this question, most of the highly-upvoted answers online put freedom first.

Choosing love... always seemed a bit cheesy.

But Joanna simply smiled and replied, ”And why not?”

’No one can dictate what the right choice is. The majority opinion isn’t necessarily the absolute truth. This was her choice.’

The late autumn sun felt gentle and warm. Joanna was dressed in simple, casual clothes. A staff member handed her three incense sticks, and with practiced movements, she bowed to the four cardinal directions before placing them in the incense burner.

The opening ceremony involved bowing to the four directions, setting up the incense burner to pray for a smooth production, holding up a banner for a group photo, covering the camera lens with a red cloth, and finally, the actors running through their blocking.

During the group photo, Joanna stood to the right of the main lead. It was crowded, and she was suddenly jostled, a sharp pain shooting through her arm.

She turned to look and saw a vaguely familiar face with a very haughty expression. She felt like she’d seen her somewhere before.

Joanna thought back carefully and finally remembered. A few days ago, after her audition, she had kindly helped another actress pick up her script, but the woman had been incredibly rude.

It was this woman right in front of her.

’She was cast in the show, too?’

Joanna was confused for a moment, but she never liked to pay much attention to other people’s business, so she quickly forgot about the small incident.

But just because she didn’t meddle in others’ affairs didn’t mean other people would mind their own business.

The group photo was released, and the director immediately posted it on Weibo. The cast members all reposted it, and the initial reception was overwhelmingly positive.

Then, out of nowhere, a wave of marketing accounts suddenly appeared, claiming that Joanna’s role as the second female lead had been obtained through improper means—that she had stolen it from someone else.

Combined with the recent exposure of her wealthy family background, many people started saying she was just a spoiled rich girl who must have used her connections to push Nora Nash out of the role.

Nora Nash?

’Who’s that?’

The marketing accounts laid out their story so convincingly, even including details of how Joanna had supposedly bullied Nora Nash, that as Joanna read on, she almost started to believe it herself.

Joanna opened the comments section and saw that a netizen had posted a photo of Nora Nash. Only then did she realize it was the same woman she had encountered at the audition and who had just bumped into her.

At first, the comments section was flooded by haters and paid commenters, but it wasn’t long before her rational fans caught wind of it and completely took over.

[What’s with her? Is Nora Nash addicted to being second best or something? She sees a second female lead role and automatically thinks it’s hers. Can’t she aim higher?]

[Our Jojo has the acting skills, the looks, and the credits. She worked her way up from being an extra. What’s wrong with her playing the second female lead?]

[I can’t believe this. So now we can only cast older, more ’experienced’ actors? The main lead is a young starlet too, so why aren’t Nora Nash’s fans attacking her?]

[Do you people even read? The character, Cheryl, is a young, delicate princess! Nora Nash is over 30, right? I’m not trying to be ageist, but can she really pull off that ethereal vibe?!]

[My heart goes out to her. A fallen heiress trying to make it in showbiz, and she still gets bullied. This is like some cliché, dramatic novel plot. *Sob sob sob*...]

[...]

The fans were so sharp-tongued it was as if their mouths were coated in honey. Joanna couldn’t help but smile as she read, a warm feeling spreading through her chest. For a moment, she was transported back to her days as a top-tier celebrity, with her darling fans fighting the haters for her sake.

Many fans sent her private messages, telling her to focus on filming and not let the negativity affect her. Joanna picked a few to reply to.

She knew that an actor’s true repayment to their fans could never be just a few words. She had to work hard to stand on an awards stage one day; trophies and accolades were the best way to thank them.

The smear campaign didn’t end up making any waves. Instead, it brought Joanna Kennedy to the attention of even more people. Overnight, her Weibo follower count grew by several hundred thousand.

It also inadvertently served as publicity for *The Awakening Petals*, much to the director’s delight.

However, there was one person who was not happy. As Nora Nash finished her scene and walked off set, she could feel the gossipy glances of the crew members landing on her.

Nora Nash didn’t have the power to mobilize that many marketing accounts. If she really had such powerful backing, she wouldn’t still be stuck lingering in the fourth or fifth tier of the entertainment industry.