The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 42: Confrontation

Maya’s scenes are nearing completion, and she’s become much busier lately, even her lunchtime has been reduced.

"Monroe, you’re truly a talented actress, Luna seems to come to life through your performance," Shane Morgan sighed again, "I used to think hard work and perseverance were most important, but after meeting you, I realize the world is never short of geniuses."

Luna starts off as a gentle, shy girl-next-door, but later becomes a ruthless villainess, and Maya can perfectly handle these two images, her performance measured and very impactful. These points are enough to convince Shane that Maya is a remarkably gifted actress.

Maya was still wearing her costume, with its complex black and red patterned skirt, the elegant daffodils looking as if they might come to life. Listening to Shane’s words, she felt a bit impatient. She had planned to have lunch after filming this scene, but instead, she’d been pulled aside by Shane for a chat.

"The role of Luna is quite difficult and challenging because the character is so different from beginning to end. Seamlessly switching between these two personalities is a real test of acting skills. I didn’t expect your performance to be this outstanding; there’s no stiffness or unnaturalness. ’Luna’ was born for you. If there’s a chance, I hope we can work together again..."

Normally strict and serious, not easy to talk to, Shane said so much, and that last sentence particularly showed his appreciation for Maya.

If it were any other artist, they might be moved to tears, but Maya’s thoughts are rather peculiar. She secretly sighed in relief, as Shane had finally finished speaking.

"Okay." Maya nodded absently, "Director Morgan, I have something to do, so I’ll be leaving first."

Seeing her calm demeanor, Shane felt even more convinced that Maya was a promising talent, nodding contently, "You go ahead and deal with it." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Around them, workers were bustling, overhearing much of the conversation between Shane and Maya, and it wasn’t long before many people knew Shane was very satisfied with Maya’s performance and held her in high regard, even hinting at future collaboration.

When Kiki heard about it, the story changed to Shane promising Maya the lead role in the next play.

Kiki clutched the teacup in her hand, wishing she could crush it.

Her gaze wandered outside the tent, just in time to see Eric Rowe approaching Maya for a chat.

Kiki lowered her head, hiding the emotion in her eyes.

*

"What are you holding?"

Maya watched as Scott approached with a package, smiling.

"This is Amber Tea from Leo for you, Monroe!" Scott handed over the package of Amber Tea.

Maya reluctantly took it, placing it on the table. She actually didn’t like tea at all, but Leo mistakenly thought her daily lateness meant she needed calming, health-boosting tea, so he would occasionally send some over, sometimes personally, sometimes through an assistant.

Maya had told him she was fine and didn’t need Amber Tea, but Leo didn’t listen and kept persisting.

Just after finishing lunch, Maya stood up and took a few steps outside to walk it off.

Scott stayed by her side, "Monroe, why don’t you try the tea that Leo sent you today? The tea he sent has almost filled a box, but I haven’t seen you drink any."

Maya stretched lazily, watching the nearby workers carrying equipment with great interest.

"Didn’t I tell you and the other assistants to share it?"

Scott made a face, "This tea is from Leo for you, Monroe, what are we supposed to do with it?"

"Then just keep it," Maya replied nonchalantly.

Scott wanted to persuade Maya a bit more when he suddenly noticed someone approaching from a distance, instinctively tugging on Maya’s sleeve.

Maya was contemplating where to have a big meal to celebrate after all her scenes were done, but when her thoughts were interrupted, she became a bit annoyed. Seeing Kiki approaching, her irritation grew even more.

Kiki’s gentle face still bore a smile, but compared to some time ago, it seemed a bit colder.

"Sister, can I sit in your trailer for a bit? We haven’t talked in a long time. I miss you."

Scott, standing next to them, suddenly felt a bit creeped out. He remembered Kiki’s somewhat hostile attitude towards Maya, and now, suddenly pretending to be close, who knows what tricks she’s up to.

Maya pulled a candy from her pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth. Her cheeks puffed up, making her seem a bit cute. But her gaze towards Kiki was anything but gentle, and she coldly smiled, "We don’t really know each other well. What’s there to talk about?"

Kiki couldn’t control her emotions because she noticed that as long as she was near Maya, as long as she stared at Maya’s beautiful yet thorny appearance, her heart would itch with hatred.

She initially wanted to genuinely see Maya as a sister and was willing to be nicer to her, but Maya just had to overshadow her radiance.

"Sister, I heard Director Morgan has promised you the lead role in the next play, you’re really something!"

"Don’t just spout nonsense, making up rumors comes at a cost."

Maya’s indifferent expression was especially eye-piercing to Kiki, who clutched her hand, "First, sneaking advice from Leo, then pretending to be a genius memorizing scripts on set and receiving praise from Director Morgan, you must be very happy, right? Director Morgan praised you for your incredible talent, you must be thrilled, right? What’s your aim in doing all this, was it to crush me? When did you become so deviously cunning?"

Kiki finished, appearing deeply disgusted as if Maya had done something unforgivable.

Maya was quite amused by the hatred Kiki displayed but didn’t forget her own villain role. She merely smirked coldly, "Don’t always put yourself at the center of the universe, thinking everyone who surpasses you is out to crush you. Don’t flatter yourself. Do you really think everyone revolves around you and can’t live without you? Can’t a sister decide to open her eyes and make an effort?"

Kiki turned red with anger, "So you admit to pretending to be a genius?"

"Your heart is black, so everyone and everything you see isn’t clean."

Kiki raised her hand, then let it drop, speaking fiercely, "I wanted to get along well with you, but I didn’t expect you to be such a narrow-minded and cunning person. Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being ruthless!"

Ruthlessness was fine, Maya wished for the heroine Kiki to slap her face now. After all, the sooner she could get out, the sooner she’d complete her task.

"I’ll be waiting," she replied nonchalantly.

To Kiki, these words seemed like provocation. She gritted her teeth harshly and eventually turned to leave.