Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

Thomas Warren lowered his voice. ”Lately, I keep feeling like someone’s following me. Squatting in my yard. At night, when I get up to use the bathroom, I’d just pulled down my...”

”Get to the point!” Joanna Kennedy couldn’t take it anymore and cut him off.

Thomas Warren pouted, reluctantly skipping over the part he was most eager to tell. ”After I used the bathroom, I went to the windowsill for a smoke. That’s when I saw a dark figure in my yard. It vanished when I went out to look. This has been happening for days.”

”Isn’t that terrifying? Scary, right? So, you need to be careful. Everything I’m saying is true.” Thomas Warren’s expression was a little more serious than before.

Joanna Kennedy, who had been skeptical at first, was now about seventy or eighty percent convinced. After all, this wasn’t their home country; anything could happen here.

”So how many people have been taken so far?” Joanna Kennedy asked, her brows furrowed.

But Thomas Warren replied with a straight face, ”I have no idea. I never asked.”

Joanna Kennedy: ”...” ’And you told it so convincingly.’

Joanna Kennedy regretted it. She shouldn’t have believed him. What a waste of emotional energy. Here they were in romantic Parix, Francia, and he was pulling this whole suspense act. ’He’s nuts!’

For the rest of the meal, no matter what else Thomas Warren said—whether he was telling horror stories or dishing celebrity gossip—Joanna Kennedy kept her head down and ate, never once looking up.

The afternoon shoot was on location. The romantic and elegant Francian architectural style wasn’t just about simple harmony but a beauty born from striking contrasts—rigorous in form, yet rich and colorful in its interior decoration. A white, floor-length gown complemented the architecture perfectly.

Joanna Kennedy wore a white, floor-length gown, its hem hand-studded with several hundred diamonds. Two staff members had to help hold it up.

The group came to a stop at the shooting location.

”Ms. Joanna, could you please stand still for a moment? We need to arrange the hem,” a staff member said.

”Okay.” Joanna Kennedy stood obediently, letting the staff fuss over her. Arranging the dress took a while, and she started to space out from boredom.

At some point, on Thomas Warren’s signal, the crew behind her stepped away. The camera aimed at the girl, its focus sharpening.

”Joanna Kennedy.”

Lost in a daze, Joanna Kennedy heard someone call her name and instinctively turned her head.

CLICK. A brilliant flash of light. The photo was captured.

Beneath the magnificent Francian architecture, the girl in the white gown turned back slightly, her dewy, almond-shaped eyes filled with a touch of confusion, like a lost fawn.

The white skirt was fully spread out. The golden light of the setting sun shone through a gap in the buildings, casting its glow upon her. The diamonds radiated a soft brilliance, as if she were draped in a celestial gown of sunset clouds, making her very skin appear luminous and radiant.

Thomas Warren stared at the camera, a satisfied smile in his eyes, like an artist gazing upon his muse.

After the outdoor shoot, Joanna Kennedy sneezed from the cold. Julie immediately ran over to put a coat on her and brought her a prepared ginger soup to drink.

Joanna Kennedy closed her eyes and drank it all in one go. Just as she was about to rinse her mouth with some warm water, Thomas Warren quickly stuffed something round into it.

A sweet strawberry flavor filled her mouth. It was a strawberry candy, not something weird. The curse Joanna Kennedy was about to yell got stuck in her throat. Still, she was annoyed. ”...Stay away from me.”

’We’re not even close. That kind of behavior shows a complete lack of boundaries.’

”Ungrateful, are we?” Thomas Warren raised an eyebrow, shamelessly leaning in closer. ”Hey, I just took the most stunning magazine photos in the world for you...”

”Don’t even.” Joanna Kennedy wasn’t buying it, cutting straight to the point. ”This is your job. You’re shooting for the magazine, not for me.”

’As if he did it for free,’ Joanna Kennedy thought, rolling her eyes.

Thomas Warren: ”...”

He was actually speechless. Thomas Warren chuckled, and just as he was about to shamelessly say something more, he caught sight of a figure in the bushes behind him out of the corner of his eye.

”Who’s there?!”

Joanna Kennedy jumped at his sudden shout. Following his gaze, she saw a petite figure scrambling away in a hurry.

’That person’s build... the way they run...’

A glint flashed in Joanna Kennedy’s eyes. Without a second thought, she grabbed Thomas Warren, who was about to give chase and investigate. Meeting his confused gaze, she explained, ”Don’t bother chasing. It’s probably just paparazzi.”

”Paparazzi?” Thomas Warren stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. After a while, as Joanna Kennedy’s face remained tense, he broke into a wide grin. ”Probably. It couldn’t possibly be some disgusting stalker.”

He deliberately emphasized the words ”disgusting” and ”stalker.”

Joanna Kennedy frowned slightly but said nothing.

The shoot was over. Joanna Kennedy went back to change. With the help of Julie and another female staff member, she finally managed to take off the gown, which was worth tens of millions.

Changing into her own clothes, Joanna Kennedy let out a deep sigh of relief. She could finally stop being so careful.

’The gown was beautiful, but it was just too heavy, and the hem was covered in diamonds. If I’d accidentally lost one, I probably would have had to pay for it. My own clothes are so much more comfortable.’

After saying goodbye to the magazine’s director, Joanna Kennedy didn’t go back to the hotel. Instead, she had Julie accompany her back to the photoshoot location.

”Jojo, did you forget something?” Julie asked, puzzled.

Joanna Kennedy shook her head without speaking, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the people coming and going. She saw a few Asian faces, but none were the one she was looking for.

’Maybe... I was mistaken?’

Joanna Kennedy smiled to herself, thinking she was really getting nosier by the day. Just as she was about to tell Julie ”Let’s go back,” and as she was getting into the car, she caught sight of a figure sitting on the riverbank.

Parix not only has magnificent and grand architecture, but also the sparkling Cerulean River. In the afterglow of sunset, people strolled along the riverside bookstalls with their dogs, and couples whispered sweet nothings.

Shirley Shepherd stared blankly at the couples walking past, then slowly lowered her head.

This was her seventeenth day in Parix, but it felt as long as a lifetime...

A pair of white sneakers suddenly appeared in her field of vision. Shirley Shepherd froze for a second, then slowly raised her eyes, following them up from the shoes to the clean, beautiful, fair face of the girl standing before her.

”You, how could you...” Shirley Shepherd murmured, her face a mask of bewilderment and confusion, mixed with an emotion Joanna Kennedy couldn’t quite decipher.

”I was just passing by. You looked familiar, so I came to check. I didn’t expect it to actually be you,” Joanna Kennedy explained casually, not admitting that she had come looking for her specifically.

Joanna Kennedy had actually recognized her from the fleeing back view, she just hadn’t been certain. It wasn’t because she knew Shirley Shepherd that well, but because Shirley had a very distinctive way of running—swinging her arm and leg on the same side.

On set, Shirley Shepherd had caused her fair share of retakes because of it, a fact Joanna Kennedy was vaguely aware of.

Combining that with what Thomas Warren had said, Joanna Kennedy instantly thought of Shirley Shepherd.

Thinking back, she realized she hadn’t seen Shirley Shepherd in a very long time, nor had she heard about her taking on any new shows. So, it turned out she had run off to Parix.