The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 51: Ian Rowe Begins to Care About Maya Monroe
Maya Monroe was completely unaware of the public opinion storm brewing around her, and even if she knew, it would be of no use. She’d likely be happy for a while anyway.
The strangest thing was Ian Rowe’s attitude. Logically, since she left him feverish and unconscious, her vicious image must have been ingrained in people’s minds by now. He should be wishing to divorce her and cut all ties.
Yet, the reality was that Ian showed no reaction, as if he didn’t care at all. Occasionally, Maya would spot him during the day. Could it be that Ian was already resigned to her consistently vicious behavior, ignoring her and thereby refraining from taking action against her?
But he couldn’t just do nothing; otherwise, how was she going to be "kicked out of the house"? The readers outside the novel were all waiting for it.
Maya slyly sneaked into the study under the pretense of delivering a fruit platter. Ian Rowe and Vincent Summers were inside working on what seemed to be a very important project because they’ve been busy with it for days. The soundproofing was so good that Maya had no idea what they were discussing inside.
She raised her hand and knocked at the door. Very quickly came Ian’s usual cold, emotionless voice: "Enter."
Maya walked in with the fruit platter, smiling sweetly.
Perhaps not expecting Maya to be the one entering, Ian had a brief moment of surprise.
Maya smiled, "Honey, you must be very tired handling so much work every day. Here, I’ve cut some fruit for you to try."
Ian lowered his head to look at the fruit platter placed on the table.
Due to the angle, Maya couldn’t see Ian’s expression, but she guessed he would be furious. Not only did she disturb him during work, but she also deliberately placed the fruit platter on the documents he was about to deal with. Of course, these were all part of her plan. Maya was sure these actions would cross the lines for a workaholic like Ian, enough to make him furious.
Vincent Summers was the first to react. He quickly picked up the fruit platter, and water dripped down from it, as Vincent yelled, "Maya, what exactly are you doing? Do you even know how important this plan is? Did you just fish the fruit plate out of water? Why did you place it precisely on the plan? What’s your intention!?"
That there was water at the bottom of the fruit plate was, of course, Maya’s deliberate handiwork.
But in the current situation, Maya still had to diligently play her "silly" role.
A look of panic appeared on Maya’s face, and she immediately picked up the plan and patted it: "How could there be water? It’s all because I wasn’t careful when washing, no problem, no problem, I’ll just wipe the droplets away!"
Papers that had gotten wet were extremely fragile, and they couldn’t withstand Maya’s rough wiping.
Amid Vincent Summers’ startled cry, Maya successfully wiped several large holes into the plan.
Maya blinked innocently, "How could it break with just a touch."
Vincent Summers snatched the plan from Maya’s hands, feeling like his heart was bleeding.
"You... you..."
Seeing his reaction, Maya knew she destroyed something very important to Ian, which made her feel much better.
Ian, however, seemed to pay no attention to Maya’s sabotage. He picked up the fruit platter Vincent Summers had thrown onto the table and casually speared a piece of watermelon with a fork. The red and juicy flesh looked extremely tempting, though a patch of green rind was impossible to ignore, indicating the peeling wasn’t done completely, something that must have been Maya’s handiwork.
Ian tasted a piece, the juice abundant and sweet.
Sweet.
Maya had never shown any interest in his work before, nor had she ever brought him a fruit platter she cut herself. First, she stayed up all night caring for him, and now she was here to show her concern, offering fruit... Could Maya really be so fond of him?
Ian’s heartbeat suddenly became a bit erratic, and his breathing a bit rushed.
Maya was still arguing with Vincent Summers in front.
"You’re just incapable of doing anything without causing trouble. Even if you’re trying to win Ian over, do some homework first! Let’s not even talk about the overly sweet candy you forced on Ian before, and now you’ve actually ruined the work he’s been toiling over! Don’t you know this will only make him hate you more?! I’m starting to suspect you’re sent over by a rival company..."
"That’s enough, Vincent." Ian’s voice broke in, with a hint of hidden displeasure in his eyes.
Vincent Summers froze and then felt extremely aggrieved.
He was speaking on Ian’s behalf, so why was Ian turning on him?
Maya also slightly lowered her head, having caught the displeasure in Ian’s words, guessing it was directed at her, thus souring his mood and causing everyone to appear displeasing to him.
However, Maya didn’t retreat because of this. Instead, she decided to press her advantage while Ian was angry.
Vincent Summers was sulking to the side, and Maya stepped forward a few paces: "Honey, there was something I hadn’t told you before. Don’t blame me for what happened that day—I was just too exhausted and couldn’t keep myself from falling asleep."
Ian hadn’t held her accountable for that incident, but Maya wasn’t planning on letting that annoying event fade from Ian’s memory gradually. She wanted to solidify her malicious image in people’s hearts.
Ian popped a cherry into his mouth, and from his angle, Maya looked pitiful with her head hung low, like an injured cub, gripping at his heart.
Ian recalled seeing her exhausted and collapsed in bed because she was taking care of him, and his heart stirred slightly. Could it be she felt guilty for not being able to care for him all night?
"I’m not blaming you." Ian’s voice was slightly cold, and his indifferent tone also seemed a bit chilly.
Realizing his words might have come off wrong, he softened his voice and added, "You did well."
To Maya, that "You did well" felt like mockery, showing extreme dissatisfaction with her.
Maya surprisingly detected a trace of amusement in Ian’s voice, guessing it was because he was laughing in anger, getting extremely fed up with her.
A faint smile appeared on Maya’s face: "Then you must have the fruit I personally cut, honey. I promise it’ll be sweet enough to reach your heart!"
Even after Maya’s silhouette completely disappeared, Ian hadn’t yet snapped out of the dazzle of her radiant smile.
Vincent Summers was still fretting over the destroyed plan: "Ian, the plan is ruined, what now?"
Ian picked up a piece of mango and gazed at it momentarily: "If the plan’s ruined, we’ll just write another one. It just means spending a little more time."
His voice was so calm it was almost devoid of any other emotion.
Vincent Summers was shocked because Ian was the epitome of a workaholic, someone exceedingly strict to the core.
"There’s another thing..." Ian turned his head to look at Vincent Summers: "Maya is my wife, so I’d like you to get along well with her."
Though Ian said it mildly, Vincent Summers gleaned another message, which was that Ian wanted him to be courteous to Maya, to stop butting heads with her.
Vincent Summers hadn’t expected Ian to start caring about Maya, and quite protectively at that.
