The Manipulated Villainess

"You told me yesterday that the Yang Group offered me an invitation to be their ambassador for their clothing brand. Tell them that I would like to have a meeting to discuss the details with them." Aston Kang entered his apartment and the first thing he did was calling his manager. He placed his phone on the table and put it in the speaker mode.

Derin Lee, the long time manager of Aston was currently in his home, having some late-night snacks when he received a call from Aston. His eyes grew wide open when he heard him.

As far as he could remember, the top actor never changed his mind, especially in terms of projects and ambassador roles. Besides, it was just yesterday when he turned down the offer.

Derin Lee cleared his throat and adjust his phone. "Are you drunk? Or...did I heard you wrong?" He wants to make sure that he heard him right.

"Schedule a meeting within two days but under one condition." Aston sat down on the couch and quickly take off his bow tie.

"What is the condition?" Derin asked, eagerly waiting for Aston\'s response.

"I would only accept a meeting with the Chairwoman and no one else." The face of the woman appeared on his imagination and a devilish smile plastered his handsome face.

In the past, he dated many women but two-timing was never his cup of tea. He dated one woman after another and it was an endless cycle!

He had crossed paths with many beautiful, famous, powerful or successful women and he even dated a few of them. But no other women could excite him to this extent!

It was strange of him but he wanted to know more about her and above all, he wished to find out why such a woman smiled so sad. He keeps on recalling his memories of her until Derin\'s response dampened his mood.

"What??" Derin\'s almost jumped out from his seat when he heard Aston\'s demand. "Are you crazy? Why would you want to meet the villainess? Do you even know that many people feared her?" He gasped.

"What do you mean?" Aston\'s face becomes very serious. He stopped whatever he was doing and pay full attention to the phone call.

"Words spread very fast in our industry. People always talked about how cold-hearted and vicious she is! You are a public figure, so I warn you to stay far away from her. There\'s even a rumour about her saying that..."

"I don\'t care. Set up the meeting within two days no matter what." Aston cut off his manager and ended the call right away.

Villainess? Aston snickered at the unbelievable label. In his opinion, his manager was saying complete nonsense!

Rumours? What about the rumours? Rumours were hardly true and he was the one who knows the best.

As the most popular actor in the country, he was never free from baseless and absurd rumours!

One day, the media made a claim saying that he had a hidden wife! But how could he possibly have a wife while he was 100% single at that time?!

Sometimes, they claimed that he was dating an actress. But he barely knew the name of the actress in question! Some women whom he never knew would claim that he was cheating on them!

For a top celebrity like Aston, those groundless claims and rumours could be very dangerous. But each time, he always gets up and shines again. It was the same reason why he was named the undisputed king of the entertainment industry!

Aston takes out his laptop and look for articles regarding Nicole. He thoroughly checked the articles but he didn\'t see any complete negative news, not even one. After minutes of scanning the articles, he finally put down the laptop and continued wondering why such rumours surrounded her.

* * *

After a long party, Nicole Yang finally went home and reach her apartment. As always, the lights on her home were automatically turned on the moment she opens her door.

She can\'t afford to be in a tight and dark space for even a second! She can get through the darkness in the outdoor with much efforts but never in a close space such as rooms.

As soon as she walked inside her apartment, she entered her room and sits before the dressing table and look at her reflection in the mirror. She keeps on staring at herself until she was suddenly reminded of a strange man that she met in the garden.

Will the man even know that his one question made a lasting impression on her? She cannot forget that he was the first one to ask her if she was happy. Fifteen years was such a long time!

She takes off the coat and blankly stared for a while. What will she do with this? She didn\'t even know him and she also doubts that they would meet again. Nicole sigh when she realized that there was no way to give it back to him. She then decided to throw it away.

When she pulled down the zipper of her gown, the high neck was let down and the small bruised on her neck was revealed. The wound was so small that one would be able to spot only from a very close distance.

She touched the wound and feel the pain. It was not a physical, but a mental pain! Even after going through such moments and wounds many times, she cannot get used to it.

Feeling like this was only normal. What kind of sane person would be able to take such torments and physical abuse for granted? It\'s impossible!

All at once, her eyes grew wide when something entered her mind. Does Leon\'s behaviour had something to do with this wound?

She quickly takes out her phone and calls her fiance. How many days had passed since she called him first? She only knows that it had been so long! And unexpectedly, Leon answered on the first ring.

"Leon." She muttered.

"What\'s the matter?" Leon was still on the car after dropping off Nicole to her apartment. He was startled when he saw Nicole\'s name on the caller ID as he rarely received a call from his fiancee.

To be honest, it made him worried as it was very late now. Did something happen to her?

Nicole tried to talk but hesitate again for a few seconds. She rashly called him without any thought but here she was, debating whether she should ask him or not.

"Nicole, are you there? Is something wrong?" Leon was about to order his driver to drive back to Nicole\'s apartment but Nicole finally spoke up.

"About the black dress at the department store, I wonder why you don\'t want me to wear that."

Leon raised a brow when he heard her. "Why do you suddenly think about that?"

"I\'m just curious." Nicole tried her best to look natural but she was only trying to fool herself. She knows very well that calling him at this hour was already out of her character.

"I have a black tuxedo in mind. So, if we both wear a black dress, I\'m afraid that we would look like someone who is about to attend a funeral rather than a party." Leon paused for a while. "Why? Is something wrong with that?" He asked her.

"No. I understand what you say. Goodnight then." She ended the call right away.

Leon slowly lowered his phone and stared out of the car window. Then a small wound on Nicole\'s neck appeared on his mind. He hardly squeezed the phone on his hands and close his eyes, barely maintaining his composure.

Nicole put her phone on the table and heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe she was thinking too much. Leon might not saw her wound and even if he did, maybe it was too small of an issue for him to care.

But why did he act as if he like the black gown when he first saw her coming out of the dressing room? She felt puzzled!

When she glanced at the small clock on the table, she realized that it was already two in the morning. She told herself not to have such useless doubt and quickly take off her dress. She takes a quick shower and finally went to sleep after taking some sleeping pills.....