The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 96: Fan Growth

Maya Monroe’s voice softened, and as she lowered her brows and eyes, her long eyelashes shielded the sharpness in her eyes, giving her a rather pitiful look.

It was the first time Ryan Spencer saw Maya show weakness, although he occasionally heard a similar tone in questioning phone calls, but it was far more shocking to see her face directly.

Maya’s face was the most lethal weapon, and just looking at it, Ryan actually felt somewhat unwilling to hold Maya accountable for her disobedience.

However, reprimanding was necessary: "Maya, don’t let this happen again. No matter what, you have to take my words to heart."

Saying the final sentence, Ryan suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness; he didn’t know how long he would have to continue his laborious life of acting like a parent.

Ryan had mentored Maya for so many years; no matter how much the outside world criticized Maya—calling her arrogant, willful, and unreasonable...—to Ryan, Maya had always been a child who hadn’t grown up, a child who needed nurturing and care.

From the moment he signed Maya, he was determined to go through thick and thin with her, to lead her into the international stage.

Maya nodded like a pecking chick, but whether she absorbed the words was unclear.

Ryan sighed again, and said, "Although your recent performance of eating snacks was a bit reckless, the audience’s reaction seemed to be quite good... However, for such things in the future, you must discuss it with me in advance. A celebrity’s every move is closely watched; next time, don’t act on impulse, got it?"

His voice softened, returning to a normal tone. He truly couldn’t get angry with Maya.

Maya obediently nodded, although internally she didn’t feel the same.

"Ryan, are we heading to the company now?"

Maya slightly raised her eyes to the scenery constantly disappearing outside the window, her long eyelashes drooping with a hint of laziness and weariness.

At this moment, she was facing away from everyone, so no one could glimpse her expression.

"Yes, there are a few things that need addressing."

"Ryan, I’m a bit hungry... how about we grab a meal before heading to the company?"

She turned her head, her bright eyes sparkling like a cunning cat.

Ryan was almost amused by her, yet he couldn’t bring himself to refuse: "Alright."

*

After the Wandering Beyond the Horizon fan meeting, related videos circulated widely online, with many people finding Maya’s snack-eating performance amusing and becoming her fans.

Topics related to Maya quickly became hot.

Ryan finally let out a breath of relief; fortunately, this incident did not bring Maya a bad reputation.

Drawing fans was something Ryan hadn’t anticipated.

Ryan stood up from behind the desk, pacing casually.

He suddenly recalled that Maya seemed to always gain fans due to odd things. The most natural and unpolished imperfections could be a form of perfection, yet Ryan dared not release Maya completely, for she was daring and not the steadiest personality. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

It seemed he had to supervise her more closely in the future, frequently reminding her of precautions, urging her to approach everything calmly...

If saying two or three times was ineffective, then he’d say it a few more times; eventually, there would be a time when she’d absorb it.

Ryan instructed his team to pay more attention to gossip trends; Maya was currently in the limelight, and with fame comes uncertainty, fearing someone might intentionally stir trouble.

Ryan’s mind conjured the image of Kiki Monroe, Maya’s seemingly weak and innocent sister who actually harbored deep schemes; Maya’s sister might not be easy to deal with.

However, at present, she was just an insignificant newcomer, with shallow roots and no powerful backing, seemingly not worth excessive attention.

*

Maya occasionally glanced at her fan count on Weibo, only to find it had doubled since she last checked.

She was at a photoshoot for a commercial, now resting during a break, sitting on a bench, gently swinging her ankle, humming a tuneless melody.

She looked completely relaxed, as if she didn’t take the so-called work seriously.

Maya willingly joined this commercial shoot for a reason: this brand was similar to Little Ox, another food brand, though they dealt with different products. Little Ox handled candies, while the other processed dried fruits.

Ever since receiving two large boxes of candies from Little Ox, Maya had grown extremely fond of food brands.

To her, just standing around for a while and being rewarded with a haul of snacks felt too good to be true!

Of course, Maya was far from lacking money; getting her desired foods was just a matter of lifting a finger, but since daily work was usually dull, "earning treats through work" was certainly more exciting.

Scott was standing right beside Maya.

Ryan had been there too, considering Maya was tough to manage recently, but Ryan received an urgent notification from the company and, unwillingly, had to leave, reminding Maya to keep in touch and discuss any spur-of-the-moment decisions with him.

Maya’s stage antics were outrightly absurd and bold; she happened to hit the nail on the head with the audience this time, but next time... could she be fortunate each time?

One misstep in reputation, and it’s like sinking into a mire, hard to recover from. The entertainment industry was unforgiving, unable to tolerate even a hint of blemish.

Maya’s actions were still somewhat arbitrary. Ryan always preferred steady progress: an approach requiring gradual accumulation. Sudden popularity was fleeting, unable to astonish for long. Ryan wanted to groom Maya into an international top actress; clearing Maya’s image now was in consideration of her long-term future: Maya needed not transient popularity but outstanding works.

Maya flicked through the screen a few times, her gaze finally resting on the massive fan count.

She murmured, "Are the haters getting this crazy now? Who knew I was so prone to attracting haters!"

In just a few months, her fan count doubled, and for Maya, "prone to attracting haters" seemed the most apt description.

However...

Maya’s mouth curled into a smile.

Attracting haters? She kind of liked it.

The more Maya observed, the more satisfied she became. "Prone to attracting haters" had a rather sophisticated ring, matching her villainous persona.

Scott overheard Maya’s musings, not quite grasping her meaning: "Some haters just do it for kicks, but don’t worry, Maya. You’ve done really well; you’ll definitely have more and more people liking you!"