Simon Lockwood was suddenly reminded of their reunion at the banquet. Joanna Kennedy had accidentally bumped into his arms, and when she looked up and saw it was him, her expression had been just as pitiful, aggrieved, and panic-stricken.
He said, "I regret my past foolishness and weakness."
It had left him defenseless against the hardships of the real world.
’He should have known long ago. If he wanted to get—and keep—the people and things he desired, he first had to beco strong.’
Joanna Kennedy seed to understand sothing, yet at the sa ti, she understood nothing. She just felt that this version of Simon Lockwood was very domineering, and she couldn’t help but feel afraid.
After speaking, Simon Lockwood didn’t wait for her reaction and walked straight toward the door.
The door to the private room closed. Through it, she could hear the footsteps in the hallway growing more and more distant. Joanna Kennedy still stood frozen in place.
Her gaze lowered, and tears began to fall uncontrollably again.
She left the bar and walked down the street in a daze, not even noticing that soone was following her.
From a moderate distance, a woman in a baseball cap took out her phone and snapped a picture of Joanna Kennedy just as she left the bar.
The woman looked at the photo and smiled in satisfaction.
The next morning, Joanna Kennedy was woken by her ringing phone. She hadn’t fallen asleep until nearly dawn, and now her eyes were swollen like walnuts. Fumbling for her phone, she discovered her voice was hoarse. "Hello...?"
"Joanna Kennedy, where are you right now?" The middle-aged man’s voice on the other end was stern.
Joanna Kennedy sobered up instantly. "Walter, I’m at the hotel. What’s wrong?"
"Where were you last night?"
Walter Young’s tone was serious. Joanna Kennedy had a faint sense that sothing was up. She briefly explained that she had gone to the bar last night to pick up a friend, but didn’t say who.
"Did sothing happen?" she asked.
Walter Young replied, "Yeah. You were photographed going into the bar and coming out. The pictures were leaked an hour ago. It was obviously a malicious attempt to target you. I’ve already had it suppressed, but you should think hard about whether you’ve offended anyone recently."
Joanna Kennedy’s heart leaped into her throat, then slowly settled back down. "Okay, thank you, Walter," she said gratefully.
After hanging up, Joanna Kennedy frowned. ’Who have I offended recently?’
’Quite a few, actually. I just offended one last night.’ Joanna Kennedy shook her head. ’No, that’s an insult to Simon Lockwood.’
’Then who could it be?’
’Charlotte Underwood... Teresa Sumrs... Mia Underwood...’
’Mia Underwood!’
Joanna Kennedy was almost instantly certain it was her. Besides Mia Underwood, who was staying in the sa hotel and could know her schedule so clearly, she couldn’t think of anyone else.
Joanna Kennedy wasn’t actually a petty person, but soone had brought the fight right to her doorstep. If she just let it go, she’d be a total coward.
Her eyes were so swollen that she had to use an ice pack on them for half an hour before they looked even remotely presentable. On the way to the show’s recording, Simon Lockwood’s words from last night kept replaying in her mind.
’He doesn’t regret being with in the past? What does that an?’
[166, what do you think Simon Lockwood was trying to say?]
didn’t understand human emotions, so it remained silent.
Joanna Kennedy let her thoughts wander, her expression shifting from sad to frustrated. It wasn’t until she arrived at the recording studio that she composed herself and got out of the car.
She had only taken a few steps when she saw Mia Underwood hurrying past. She narrowed her eyes and quickened her pace.
When Mia Underwood saw her, a flash of guilt crossed her eyes, and she subconsciously tried to move away. Joanna Kennedy closed the distance between them and lowered her voice. "What dirty deed did you do to make you so jumpy?"
"You’re the one who’s jumpy!" Realizing people around them were watching, Mia Underwood lowered her voice, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "Stop talking nonsense. I haven’t done anything wrong, so I have nothing to feel guilty about."
"Is that so?" Joanna Kennedy suddenly raised an eyebrow, feigning indifference. "I was just making a casual comnt. Why are you getting so worked up?"
"You!" Mia Underwood glared at her, holding her breath. eting her gaze, she suddenly had a feeling that Joanna Kennedy knew everything.
Her voice lacking confidence, she muttered under her breath, "Psycho."
When it was ti to run their lines, Mia Underwood froze up again under Joanna Kennedy’s gaze. It was then she realized that Joanna truly knew.
Everyone in the entertainnt industry knew that when acting a scene together, the more skilled actor would usually hold back a little, so as not to overwhelm their scene partner and affect their performance.
But this usually happened when a seasoned actor was paired with a pop idol.
As a newcor, even if Joanna Kennedy had a talent for acting, no one would believe she had the ability to upstage another actor.
So, in everyone else’s eyes, it just looked like Mia Underwood suddenly forgot her lines and froze. Once, twice, and by the third ti, the director finally lost his patience. "What’s wrong with you? If you can act, act! If you can’t, then get out! There are plenty of stars who would love to be on this show. We don’t need you!"
Having been rcilessly chewed out by the director in front of the entire crew, Mia Underwood’s composure completely shattered. That very afternoon, she packed her things to leave.
Before leaving, Joanna Kennedy smiled and waved at her. It finally dawned on Mia Underwood. "You knew all along it was who took those photos, didn’t you? A mont ago, it wasn’t that I couldn’t rember my lines—you did it on purpose!"
"How did I do it on purpose?" Joanna Kennedy feigned surprise. "What, did I pry your mouth open and stop you from speaking? Or did I invade your brain and control your actions?"
Mia Underwood couldn’t argue. With red-rimd eyes, she reluctantly withdrew from the show, imagining how badly she would be flad by netizens after these two episodes aired.
Then she thought about who she had co to this show for in the first place, and she started hating not only Joanna Kennedy more, but Charlotte Underwood as well.
After that night, Joanna Kennedy didn’t run into Simon Lockwood again for a whole month. During that ti, she received another call from her nominal boss, Sean Grant.
On the other end, Sean Grant complained, asking what was going on. He’d handed the opportunity to her on a silver platter, so how had she not managed to coax Simon Lockwood yet? Instead, she’d dragged him down with her; Simon had tornted him so badly, forcing him to drink until he almost threw up.
Joanna Kennedy decided to take a wait-and-see approach regarding her big boss’s ntal state. Not wanting to offend him, she replied politely, "You have to take responsibility for your own actions."
Sean Grant: "..." ’Fine, fine, fine. I’m done trying to be a wingman. One wrong move and I get attacked by both sides. I can’t win.’
The variety show wrapped up just as filming for the drama series began. The timing was perfect. Joanna Kennedy only had a single day off in between. As evening approached, however, she was suddenly notified to attend a movie premiere.
It was the new movie from the recently crowned Best Actor, and Walter Young wanted her to go and make an appearance.
The movie was about to start. When Joanna Kennedy saw her seat, she was stunned—it was in the center of the front row.
’Seats like these are usually for investors, directors, or A-list celebrities. Did the organizers make a mistake?’
More and more people filed in. Joanna Kennedy had no choice but to sit down without thinking too much about it. Just as almost everyone had arrived, with one minute until the movie started, the empty seat beside her was finally filled.
She turned her head to look and froze. The large characters for the movie title, *Flutter*, on the screen clearly illuminated the handso and cold features of the man next to her.
After a month apart, she never expected to run into Simon Lockwood again in a place like this.
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