Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

No one with any sense would smoke in the dressing room, especially not while someone was in hair and makeup. The staff wouldn’t dare. There was only one person who would be so blatant.

Joanna Kennedy didn’t say anything. The person sat down next to her, quite close, making the smell of smoke even more pungent. She couldn’t help but furrow her brow.

"Boss Thorne, would you mind not smoking?" Joanna Kennedy said without opening her eyes, having identified the culprit perfectly. She added jokingly, "Smoking is bad for your health, but secondhand smoke is even worse."

Anyone even vaguely familiar with Joanna Kennedy knew she hated the smell of smoke, let alone Howard Thorne, who had known her for nearly ten years.

Upon hearing this, not only did Howard Thorne not stop, he started smoking even more aggressively. A faint white smoke soon filled the air.

’The boss is... doing this on purpose, isn’t he?’ the few staff members watching secretly all thought at the same time.

Joanna Kennedy’s status in the company was on par with the boss, Howard Thorne himself. Her dual role as the "cash cow" and a friend of many years was something no other artist could compare to.

So for Howard Thorne, who had always indulged—one might even say spoiled—Joanna Kennedy, to ignore her words in front of everyone, it naturally sparked speculation.

Did Joanna Kennedy offend the boss? Did the boss fail in his pursuit of her and fly into a rage out of shame?

The smell of smoke grew thicker. The makeup artist silently put on a mask. Nearby, Mindy Morgan looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she kept her mouth shut.

’Others might not know what was going on, but how could she not?’

’He’d watched over her from the sidelines for so many years, only to find out the person he likes already has a lover. And it happened in just a month. Who wouldn’t be furious?’

’The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it.’ Mindy Morgan sighed quietly, walked over to push the window open as wide as it would go, and then shot a meaningful look at the makeup artist and the two assistants who were arranging the gown.

The group retreated, carefully closing the door behind them. In the modest-sized dressing room, only the two of them remained.

Howard Thorne took a harsh drag from his cigarette, then ground the butt out on the table, searing a faint black ring onto the white surface.

It was like a jarring black mark drawn on a pristine white sheet of paper—unspeakably ugly and unsettling. Joanna Kennedy glanced at it once before looking away, her gaze shifting to Howard Thorne.

"What’s gotten into you, Boss Thorne? Who pissed you off?"

Joanna Kennedy was still smiling, the curve of her lips barely changing. She looked as bright and beautiful as ever, yet something seemed different.

"I saw," Howard Thorne said out of the blue. Though he tried his best to hide it, the tight set of his lips revealed his foul mood.

"Was it that neighbor of yours? That illegitimate son of the Sinclair Family?" Howard Thorne found it laughable. "I knew something was off when he came to pick you up last time, and now I see him dropping you off...."

Dropping you off right at the company entrance—it’s like a quiet declaration of sovereignty. The two of you stayed in the car for a long time before you got out, waving with a huge smile at the man inside.

It was a kind of smile Howard Thorne had never seen before—delicate and soft, with a hint of childishness. Her entire being radiated dependence.

"Didn’t you say you were just neighbors?" Howard Thorne asked, holding back his anger. "It’s only been a few days. How did a neighbor turn into a boyfriend?"

He was trying his best to control his tone and not sound too aggressive, but to Joanna Kennedy, it still sounded like an interrogation. That last rhetorical question was even tinged with mockery.

’What I was worried about has finally happened.’ Joanna Kennedy sighed silently. ’I thought Howard Thorne was a smart man, but I guess not...’

"We were just neighbors at first, but now he is, in fact, my boyfriend," Joanna Kennedy stated objectively.

She wasn’t provoked by Howard Thorne’s tone, her reply calm and composed. But he couldn’t accept it. A fire was flaring up inside him, almost impossible to suppress, and his chest throbbed with a sharp pain. "Did he force you?"

"No."

"Then he must have tricked you!"

"He didn’t."

Howard Thorne clearly didn’t believe her and was about to say more, but Joanna Kennedy cut him off with a sigh. "He didn’t force me, and he didn’t trick me. I was the one who suggested we date. I was the one who wanted to be in a relationship with him."

"Simon Lockwood... he’s great."

It was a direct and unambiguous admission of her feelings, making it clear that she was the one who had initiated the relationship.

Howard Thorne’s slanderous words were choked back, stuck in his throat. It was so uncomfortable that his throat felt dry, and he even found it hard to breathe.

Meeting her clear, bright eyes, Howard Thorne was stung by the seriousness he saw in them.

So this was what Joanna Kennedy was like when she fell for someone. She would defend him, protect him, and refuse to hear a single bad word about him. It was nothing like her usual carefree self.

Howard Thorne felt a sudden urge to laugh, but no sound came out. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, and after a long moment, he finally spoke. "You don’t know Simon Lockwood..."

"Jojo, Simon Lockwood isn’t right for you," Howard Thorne said.

Few people in the honeymoon phase of a relationship enjoy hearing words like that, and Joanna Kennedy was no exception. She considered Howard Thorne a friend, which was why she had explained herself earnestly when he slandered Simon Lockwood. But that didn’t mean he could continue to interfere with her decisions.

"He likes me, and I like him. The feelings are mutual. There’s no ’right’ or ’not right’ about it." Joanna Kennedy looked at Howard Thorne and said, "This is my decision."

"We’ve been friends for so many years; you should know my personality by now," Joanna Kennedy said with a shrug and a self-deprecating smile. "I can’t help it. I’m just the kind of person who doesn’t listen to—"

"I’m in love with you," Howard Thorne interrupted.

Joanna Kennedy froze.

Howard Thorne seemed to have been pushed to the edge, making a desperate, all-or-nothing gamble. "Joanna Kennedy, I’m in love with you."

’Joanna Kennedy, who had never cared much for romance, had now found someone who made her heart flutter—someone she liked so much she was even considering going public. This was just the beginning. If this went on, would she be inseparable from him forever?’

This conclusion was impossible for Howard Thorne to accept. A sense of crisis, of imminent loss, gripped him completely. He knew that if he didn’t do something now, he would lose his chance forever.

"...I know this might be hard for you to accept right now. The timing is wrong, the place is wrong, but my feelings are real."

Howard Thorne’s expression was more serious than she had ever seen it. His trembling eyelashes betrayed his deep anxiety.

Silence stretched between them. An unknown amount of time passed, and the hopeful light in his eyes gradually dimmed. He slowly lowered his head, unable to hide his heartbroken expression.

Joanna Kennedy finally spoke, but she neither rejected nor comforted him. Instead, she said, "...Perhaps you’re not ’in love’ with me in the truest sense of the word."

She had no right to judge another person’s feelings, but if those feelings were directed at her, Joanna Kennedy felt she had a right to speak.

She didn’t want to be saddled with an emotional debt for no reason.

’When you truly like someone, you can’t help but want to be near them, to please them. They’re the only one you see. You don’t act like Howard Thorne, changing girlfriends as often as you change clothes.’

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