Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

Joanna Kennedy never expected that instead of finding Anna Yates, she’d end up sitting on a curb chatting with Serena Sutton.

“Where’s Simon Lockwood?” Serena Sutton tilted her head to look at her, her voice laced with a malicious guess. “Did you two break up?”

Joanna Kennedy didn’t answer, just raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“I guess not.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” Joanna said, not missing Serena’s faint sigh.

A year wasn’t a long time, but it felt like a lifetime since she had last seen Serena Sutton. So much had happened in between, so many twists and turns. Now, sitting here calmly while Serena took jabs at her, Joanna felt an unexpected wave of nostalgia.

“What about you? What are you doing at a bar?” Joanna asked. “Looking for some fun?”

“…Picking up a student.”

Joanna froze for a second. “…Picking up a student?”

Serena Sutton was brilliant; that much was undeniable. Joanna hadn’t paid much attention to her, but she had to admit she vaguely remembered Serena interviewing for something after resigning from Southland. She thought it might have been for a university lecturer position.

“You really became a university professor?”

“Mhm.” Serena Sutton nodded, then sighed again.

Serena Sutton had been holding this in for a long time. For years, she had thrown herself entirely into a hopeless, illusory love, only to discover it was all a fleeting fantasy. Not only had she failed to get what she wanted, but she hadn’t made a single true friend either.

Watching her vibrant, young students, she saw a reflection of her past self for a moment. ‘If I hadn’t had that “dream,” if I hadn’t been so obsessed with Simon Lockwood, what would my life be like now?’

“Joanna,” Serena Sutton said with a laugh. “You probably don’t know this, but sometimes, I’m really jealous of you.”

“They’ve all forgotten you, but I still remember. Sometimes I wonder why I was the one who had to remember, especially when I hate you so much…”

“…I’m surprised, too.”

Running into Serena Sutton at a bar was not something Joanna had anticipated. The fact that Serena still remembered her and Simon Lockwood was even more unbelievable.

Liam Valentine wouldn’t lie to her for no reason. The cause of the “bug” had to lie with Serena herself. Maybe it was because of who Serena was, or maybe… maybe it was because Serena truly hated her that much.

Joanna gave a bitter smile. ‘If it’s the second reason, that’s a hell of a joke.’

Serena Sutton didn’t ask why she had suddenly appeared. Instead, she started talking, recounting many of the things that had happened after Joanna “left.”

“Charles… Charles Jennings was sentenced to two years for economic crimes. He came to see me the night before he went to prison.” Serena Sutton let out a soft, ironic laugh. “Do you know what he wanted?”

Joanna frowned.

“He asked me a question.” Serena looked at Joanna, her tone complex. “Joanna, do you want to know what he asked?”

Joanna didn’t want to know. Her brow furrowed reflexively at the mention of his name, but it was clear Serena was eager to tell her.

“He asked me… ‘Do you remember Joanna Kennedy?’”

“…”

“I’d never seen him like that before. He was so calm he was almost like a madman. He said he couldn’t find you.” Serena’s voice faltered, and it took her a few seconds to continue. “He asked a lot of people around him before he finally came to me.”

“What did you say?”

“I lied to him.” Serena smiled like a child who had just pulled off a successful prank. “I told him I didn’t remember any Joanna Kennedy, and I didn’t remember Simon Lockwood either. That it was all in his head.”

Joanna was silent for two seconds. Serena expected her to voice an accusation, or perhaps shock and confusion, but Joanna simply gave her a detached look.

That one glance seemed to see right through her, to perceive the sluggish emotions she had buried deep inside and deliberately ignored.

As Serena’s expression grew increasingly stiff, Joanna looked away. “I see.”

“That’s good. No one was supposed to remember anyway,” Joanna said.

Joanna still remembered how Charles Jennings had shielded her with his own body when the mine collapsed. Charles had done many terrible things, but in the end, he had truly risked his life to save hers.

People were just that contradictory. Never completely good, never purely evil.

Joanna was the same. She still detested Charles Jennings, but knowing he hadn’t perished in that disaster brought her a sense of genuine relief.

Serena Sutton clenched her fists. “He loved you so much. Don’t you want to go see him?”

Joanna shook her head without a moment’s hesitation. “No.”

A hint of condemnation and an almost imperceptible resentment flickered in Serena’s eyes. Joanna pretended not to notice. Changing someone’s way of thinking was too difficult, and she had no interest in trying.

“Weren’t you here to pick up your student? If we keep chatting, the school will be closed.” Joanna stood up, stamping her legs to shake off the pins and needles.

A few young women with brightly colored hair emerged from the bar not far away. They seemed to notice them and hesitated, debating whether to walk over.

Serena saw them too. She took a couple of steps before stopping again. Meeting Joanna’s questioning gaze, she said, “Joanna, sometimes I wonder if I just had a long dream. As if when I woke up, you, Simon Lockwood, and even Charles Jennings were all just figments of my imagination.”

“If thinking that makes you happier, then go ahead and believe they were.”

“No.” Their eyes met in the darkness, and Serena’s voice was earnest and clear. “I will remember you.”

‘A reminder to myself that greed knows no bounds, lest I end up just like Charles Jennings.’

Joanna just assumed Serena was still nursing some resentment and gave a noncommittal shrug.

On her fifth day in Aethelburg, Joanna finally managed to track down Anna Yates. Coincidentally, she had been craving the salt-cured duck from Riverbend. As she was eating, she heard an all-too-familiar voice.

Riverbend was known for its privacy, with flower trellises separating the tables. Joanna could only make out a silhouette and couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly.

An argument seemed to have broken out, ending with the man across from her storming off in a huff. Joanna saw the woman stand up, revealing a familiar, lovely face.

Joanna stared, blinking hard. When she opened her eyes again, the scene was the same. She wasn’t hallucinating. It really was Anna Yates.

‘I don’t know if this counts as fate or not,’ Joanna thought, shaking her head and laughing out loud.

She forgot all about her meal and followed the woman out, tailing her like some kind of stalker.

“An… Anna.”

Anna Yates stopped and turned around, momentarily stunned by the other woman’s beauty. “…Do I know you?”

Joanna hesitated, unsure of what to say. Anna didn’t seem annoyed, instead watching her with keen interest.

Anna Yates was no fool. The girl’s beauty was unforgettable; you couldn’t just forget a face like that. She was certain she didn’t have anyone like this among her friends.

Though she was sure they had never met, looking into the girl’s sparkling, almond-shaped eyes, Anna felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. She chalked it up to the innate sense of mutual appreciation beautiful women share.

“Why so quiet?” Anna Yates joked. “Still trying to figure out what to say?”