Rise To Stardom: My Villainess

There they are right now─ sitting on the black L-shaped couch within the spacious living room. The atmosphere is peaceful and still. Silence lingers between the two of them; but even so, one can still see that these two individuals are very comfortable with each other based on their current position.

With her golden eyes closed, Ember has her head peacefully resting on his shoulder while Kielle remains there with his light jade eyes fixated on her porcelain-like hand.

Running a hand across his dyed silver hair, the young idol then gently pats the girl as if he is lulling her to sleep. She breathes out a soft exhale. He perceives it, and he cannot help but sigh in his heart while they stay unbothered in that position.

The sight of her hand wrapped with bandages quietly caused his heart to writhe in pain. He just cannot believe this. The whole situation just doesn't make sense.

'How can Alessio-ge do this to her?'

Kielle can find no explanation for all of this at all. A simple question, and yet it is so difficult to answer. He bites the insides of his cheeks while he looks away from her hand. His solemn jade eyes then later land on the painting just right across the sofa they are in.

It hangs on the white wall, enclosed with real gold frames. A photograph of their younger selves, along with their parents, from fifteen years ago is displayed. Despite looking so small and vulnerable, they have big toothy smiles on each of their adorable faces.

Ember looks like a fairytale princess with her baby blue dress and silver tiara. In the picture, she is between the two Xu brothers, who look so adorable and princely charming at the same time. The seven years old Kielle poses for the camera with a victory sign gestured in his right hand; the nine years old Alessio, on the other hand, is softly gazing at his fiancée; a gentle gleam in his jade eyes.

'Is she not our little princess that we promised to protect?'

Kielle Xu is the same age as her, a few months older to be exact. But he still sees himself as her knight in shining armor, together with his brother whom they even jokingly called her very own prince charming.

Though they were just being playful when they identified themselves in that way; their oath to her is sincere. They really swore in their hearts that they'll protect her and make her happy.

But— but he doesn't understand. Why did his brother break it? Is that promise really just nothing to him? 'Is Ember really just nothing to him?' He snaps out of his reverie when he feels slight movements beside him.

Ember.

She flutters her golden eyes open as she pulls her head away from his shoulder. As she yawns, the silver-haired young man almost smiles at the adorability despite the resentment he felt earlier for his older brother.

"Do you feel better now?" he asks, trying to be careful as he does, as he doesn't want to ask any triggering questions yet, fearing that she may break down again. Ember sluggishly turns to face him, nodding. When his friend seems okay and fully awake now, Kielle attempts to start another conversation again.

"So I heard that you'll be staying here now for good. That's nice to know."

His jade eyes gaze at her as she blinks her aurous eyes at him. Kielle knows that asking anything related to his brother will only make the fiery woman snap. Knowing that the said woman must be exhausted, he tries to avoid the topic for now. After all, even when she may look strong, she is still cheated on by her dearest one. Not everyone can handle the betrayal of discovering their significant other having an affair.

Now looking at the woman, he patiently waits for her reply despite already knowing the answer himself with all the media endlessly reporting about it and everyone making a gossip out from it.

She quietly nods again.

"Yeah."

Her lips gently twitch into a tiny, lazy smile. "I actually planned on staying here permanently. Though I still have to leave a few times if my work requires." She innocently blinks her beautiful golden eyes. Observing it closely, one can see that she's now clear from all the tears and earlier emotions. She seems alright now─ well, at least, which he hopes to be true as he doesn't want to see her in that vulnerable state again.

But Kielle still feels slightly relieved.

He pats her yet again on the arm as he grins. "Well, guess what. I called off the dance practice early. But it's not like that they can practice without me, so yeah. They are forced to comply." He winks, playfully, causing Ember to snicker at him; but she also feels a bit touched by his gesture. She did not really expect him to come and visit her because he's busy, but he did…

She lightly slaps him in the arm.

"Pfft! If you have so much control over your career, then you should go and find yourself a girlfriend instead!"

She merrily laughs; her peach blossom eyes are turning to crescent shapes to express her delight and happiness at the moment. Her handsome friend then shivers from his words as he feels his face go warm. Clearly unaccustomed to those kinds of subject matter or rather too innocent, Kielle Xu tries to make a decent reply.

He horribly fails though as he trips on his words with a fl.u.s.tered face, "A girlfriend?! N─no way! My company will kill me if I get myself involved in a dating scandal!" Poor Kielle. He's obviously taken aback by her blunt remark.

Ember laughs yet again, almost sadistically, as she has the urge to squish those pink cheeks of his. Leaning her body closer to him, the woman raises a brow at him with a teasing half-smile.

At that sudden moment, the young idol feels so intimidated by his friend; he suddenly has the urge to leave the room and flee from her. Golden eyes reflect the mischievousness in its gaze; light jade eyes tries to avoid its unwavering gaze of her.

"Well? Hasn't anyone caught your fancy yet?"

Kielle almost spits out from the absurdity of her question. "No, of course not!" he immediately denies, shaking his head. Having the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to see those red-tinted ears of her dear friend, the golden-eyed beauty laughs in amus.e.m.e.nt.

Impossible though. He's so handsome and talented and all; why does he not have any woman yet? She wants to interrogate her friend more, but he looks so unprepared right now.

Pfft. There's still next time. She'll make sure to get more information out from him next time. Ember decides to drop it as she put more distance between them again. It's not like that he'll keep his relationship details from her forever─ they're best friends after all.

Kielle, however, thought that the interrogation isn't over as he begins to think of ways that will make his friend shut up. Why is she even doing this to him?! He didn't come here to be placed in a tight spot; instead, he came here to make sure that she's alright.

While thinking, he suddenly remembers something. His jade eyes brighten. "I brought you frozen yogurt, so can you please drop it? I even made sure to bring your absolute favorite," he bribes her friend with his special weapon.

As expected, she takes the bait; hook, line, and sinker. Her golden eyes sparkle; she instantly holds him on the arms.

"Frozen yogurt?!" she exclaims.

Kielle nods, chuckling at her childishness. "Where is it?" she enthusiastically chants as she lets her eyes wander around the living room. Entertained, her friend shakes his head to himself as he rubs his dyed-silver hair while observing the girl.

Continuing their playful banter afterward that can only be seen between close friends, the young idol only decides to leave her house when it's already midnight. "Come visit me when you have the time, okay?" Ember nods her head, flashing him a last smile, before eventually closing the main door.

_________________

Dead in the night, she stands by the window again to stare outside. Her phone is near to her ear. The moonlight reflects the brightness of her aurous eyes. Her expression is grave as she waits. It's only when the phone rang its third time, the person, whom her friend has recommended, picked up.

Formally greeting each other, Ember proceeds to say her intentions right after the introduction, "Kindly investigate all the honey-eyed women that are in contact with Alessio Xu for me, please. She has blonde hair, styled in an A-line bob cut. I'll give you three days to gather all the information about her. Full details of the payment will be texted later. Thank you," she says without any halts.

The investigator replies; and satisfied by it, Ember soon ends the call.

Her eyes are focused on the moon, clearly entranced by the lonely beauty of it. She pulls up the spoon with a scoop of frozen yogurt to her lips, savoring its salty yet kinda sweet taste. Her hidden anger's instantly appeased; she draws out a smirk from her goddess-like features.

"Let's see what dirty laundry that peasant has hidden up in her sleeves," she remarks, sinisterly chuckling.