The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 116: Caring

"Ian, are you going to watch it now?"

Vincent Summers asked in confusion.

It’s known that Ian Rowe would never waste a single moment at work.

Ian leaned back slightly on his office chair, his knuckles tapping on the desk slowly, and said casually, "There’s nothing important to handle right now, search for it."

Vincent could only nod. However, he himself seldom watched dramas, especially idol dramas, so he was a bit rusty in operating things.

"App... website, a website works too, right?"

Vincent fumbled for a while, sweat dripping from his forehead, until he finally found the show that Maya Monroe was in and even signed up for a VIP streaming subscription.

"Turns out, if you don’t do something for a long time, you do get rusty, but I finally found it! Ian, here, watch..."

Vincent shifted sideways a bit, trying not to block Ian’s view of the screen.

Ian, who appeared to be napping, suddenly opened his eyes, revealing his long and deep-set eyes.

"Is this it?"

"Yes, yes, it’s called ’Wandering Beyond the Horizon’! That’s the one!"

Vincent moved aside further, being sensible enough not to disturb Ian’s drama-watching.

He didn’t turn off the bullet comments, so as soon as the screen lit up, a flood of comments washed over.

Ian slightly frowned but didn’t say anything.

Vincent watched the radically absurd scene unfolding before his eyes— Ian was seriously focused, his aloof and inscrutable aura still intact; no one would think he was engrossed in a soap opera.

Ian watched for a while before losing patience: "When will Maya show up? Isn’t this her scene?"

Ian had even less drama-watching experience than Vincent, who said, "Ian, Maya plays the second female lead, it’s not her solo show, there are definitely other characters, she probably hasn’t appeared yet."

Ian impatiently tapped the desk twice and suddenly spotted a familiar figure on the screen, his eyes darkening: "Leo Lancaster..."

Vincent’s gaze followed: "Oh... you mean Leo? Hasn’t he always been in the entertainment circle? The Lancaster Family tried convincing him many times to go back and take over the family business, but he refused. Seems like he’s really passionate about acting!"

"But it’s quite a coincidence that Leo and Maya are in the same show, in this drama, Leo is the male lead, and Maya plays the second female character."

Toward the end, Vincent started fast-forwarding the show because the beginning was all about Jackie Foley, and Maya’s character ’Luna’ hadn’t made an appearance yet.

"Can’t deny that Leo’s acting skills are top-notch!"

Ian’s gaze was fixed on the screen; it was his first time seeing such a Maya, different from what he had known, as if all her sharp edges had been softened and she had become gentle.

Ian was amazed by Maya’s transformation, astonished at her different side.

From the moment he saw her, his heart seemed to genuinely calm down a bit.

Vincent was also dumbfounded: "Is this still Maya? I have to say, the makeup artist’s skills are impressive! Ahem, of course, Maya’s acting is beyond my expectations!"

Ian’s attention was soon drawn by the constantly rolling subtitles on the screen, his tone slightly cold: "What is that?"

Vincent leaned closer to see what Ian was looking at on the screen, where some bold words stood out.

The bright red subtitle was scrolling: Babe.

It wasn’t just one bullet comment like this; many comments were praising Maya’s beauty and calling her ’Babe.’

Vincent focused and realized many were from young girls, which relieved him: "That’s how fangirls do it now; it’s a way of expressing liking, doesn’t mean anything special, don’t overthink it, Ian."

Ian paused for a moment and then irritably said, "Turn off the bullet comments."

Vincent complied.

Not long after, Vincent regretted letting Ian watch the drama.

Maya’s scenes increased gradually, but Vincent didn’t feel relieved as most scenes were of Jackie and Luna interacting.

In the drama, they play childhood sweethearts, and as the plot progresses, the atmosphere becomes increasingly ambiguous.

As the cold air around grew stronger, Vincent really wished for a fireplace for warmth.

What was he thinking by letting Ian watch a drama where Maya acts alongside others romantically?

Vincent explained, "Jackie and Luna are childhood sweethearts, these scenes are all written by the scriptwriter, Maya and Leo are just acting..."

At some point, Ian took out a cigarette, exhaling light smoke, his expression cold, "Turn it off."

Ian’s voice was calm enough, but Vincent just knew that he might be extremely furious right now.

It’s known that Ian never smoked in the office; in fact, he didn’t smoke much at all.

It has to be said that Maya and Leo’s acting skills were indeed impressive, but even seeing it from this perspective gave Vincent the absurd feeling that Ian was wearing a cuckold’s hat.

Ian slowly closed his eyes, his chest rising slightly.

His mind was filled with images of Maya talking intimately with someone else, extreme irritability filling his chest, leaving only frustration with nowhere to vent.

He never knew her voice could be so soft, her expression gentle as water...

Ian thought he was Maya’s only love, her softness and coquettishness belonged solely to him. But at this moment, he realized that his treasure was being taken away to some extent by someone else.

This feeling was almost driving him insane.

Besides the unbearable agitation, there was also inexplicable fear building inside him.

What he was used to and cherished was being taken away by others; just the thought of it was unbearable...

No one can, Leo can’t, no one can...

Ian took another drag from his cigarette, a flash of red crossing his eyes.

*

Maya Monroe had been surviving in the rainforest for several days now, after gathering enough wild fruits last time, she had even more reason not to go out.

The production team tried persuading her many times, but she didn’t want to go out and gave quite a proper reason, not caring about her popularity: her food and water supplies were sufficient, so she didn’t need to go out!

The production team, having learned its lesson with her, saw that she really couldn’t be persuaded and had to give up.

Maya stayed contently for several days, but soon she couldn’t continue as her snacks were running low.

Initially relying on a group of five to find the golden key, but who would’ve thought they were so unreliable— not only did they fail to find the key, but even relied on her for daily meals!

Maya spat out the grass stalk from her mouth.

No way, looks like she’ll have to make a move...