Playing the Villainess, He Fell for Me

Todd Crowe stood up, about to respond, when Joanna Kennedy suddenly had a wicked idea. Her tone shifted as she asked, "Are you the murderer?"

The greeting on Todd Crowe’s lips died. He stammered, "Huh? Uh, I don’t think I can say, right?"

His look of pure, unadulterated confusion made Joanna Kennedy laugh. ’The joy of teasing an honest guy is just this simple!’

Todd Crowe realized she was just messing with him and smiled helplessly. "And here I was actually debating whether to tell you."

"Brother Crowe, you can tell me secretly. I won’t tell anyone else."

Todd Crowe was never good at this kind of banter. After a long, awkward pause, he forced out a stiff reply, "If you form an alliance with me, I’ll tell you."

His tone was dead serious. This time, Joanna Kennedy really couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. "Hahaha, okay, okay. I’ll form an alliance with you."

With the alliance formed, Todd Crowe was about to secretly reveal his role to show his sincerity when a staff member finally knocked on the door and interrupted them. "You two, this is a detective show! You can’t do that!"

Todd Crowe: "..."

Joanna Kennedy: "..."

’Did no one say there were cameras in the break room? Doesn’t that mean this was all recorded? They aren’t going to broadcast this part, are they?’

The two of them behaved, falling silent and quietly began reading their scripts.

In a narrow alleyway, a young man with stylishly dyed blue hair shambled along, slouching as he walked. Every now and then, he would kick at a garbage bag left by the wall.

He saw a middle-aged woman with a sour expression walking toward him. The blue-haired man cursed under his breath and turned to hide, but she had already spotted him.

"Kyle, where are you off to now?! Are you going to another one of that starlet’s offline events?!" Shauna Lockwood fumed at the sight of her aimless son.

He was a perfectly fine young man—not looking for a girlfriend, not working a job, just chasing after some minor celebrity all day long.

’Does she even know who he is?!’

Then she thought about how successful Simon Lockwood was now, living in a huge, fancy villa while refusing to even acknowledge her. The resentment in her heart swelled.

"Do you have any idea how badly your mother is being bullied!" Shauna Lockwood said, wiping away tears, looking for all the world as if she’d truly been wronged.

Kyle Aldrich was about to argue back, but seeing his mother crying and complaining, his temper flared. "Mom, who bullied you? Tell me! I’ll go find them!"

"Who else could it be? It’s that little brat from the Lockwood family, Simon Lockwood!" Hearing her son try to comfort her, Shauna Lockwood’s mood improved slightly. "Alright, now where are you off to again?"

Kyle Aldrich froze for a moment at the mention of Simon Lockwood’s name. Hearing his mom’s nagging question, he grew impatient. "I’m just going up ahead to buy a pack of cigarettes. What’s the big deal?"

"More cigarettes. So young, and you never learn anything good." Seeing Kyle Aldrich walk away impatiently, Shauna Lockwood shouted after him, "Get a pack for your dad, too!"

"Got it—"

He left the alley and rounded a corner to a small convenience store that had been there for many years, its storefront worn with age. Kyle Aldrich grabbed two packs of Nanjing cigarettes and tossed them on the counter. "Aunt Miller, ring me up."

"Well, well, if it isn’t the Aldrich family’s little Kyle," Aunt Miller said, her voice booming. She glanced at the two packs. "That’ll be 30 yuan."

"Thirty?! Weren’t they 14 a pack just the other day?!" Kyle Aldrich pointed at the short shopkeeper, furious. "Aunt Miller, there are rip-offs, and then there’s you!"

"Hey now, you Aldrich kid, what kind of talk is that? We’re neighbors. Why would I rip you off? Cigarette prices are all set by the distributor. They raise the price on me, you think I’m not gonna raise it just for you?"

The shopkeeper rolled her eyes, pulled a pack of Hongtashan from under the counter, and said, "If you think that’s too expensive, smoke these. They’re cheaper."

"Who are you calling cheap?!" As if his toes had been stepped on, Kyle Aldrich roughly shoved the packs aside. "Forget it, I’m not buying from you!"

The cigarettes flew a good distance. The shopkeeper couldn’t help but curse, spitting on the ground in the direction Kyle Aldrich had gone.

Thinking of Shauna Lockwood’s constant bragging, Aunt Miller rolled her eyes again. ’Always talking about him finding some rich girl, buying a house in the city soon...’

’He penny-pinches over a pack of cigarettes. All talk. How embarrassing!’

Meanwhile, Kyle Aldrich walked to the riverbank and furiously kicked a rock into the water. It landed with a PLUNK.

A lot had happened at home these past few days. The house on the east side of the old alley was being demolished, and his parents had originally planned to quietly claim his cousin’s demolition compensation.

After all, Simon Lockwood hadn’t been home in years. He could have been dead in a ditch somewhere for all they knew.

A person with no close friends or family—no one would even notice if he died. But the demolition office had insisted the money could only be given to the homeowner himself.

His parents were frantic and started asking everyone they could for Simon Lockwood’s whereabouts. Coincidentally, that very night, he saw a photo online.

In the photo, a group of successful men in suits sat together. The young man in the center had a cold expression and a powerful aura.

Kyle Aldrich was stunned. ’Is this the same cousin who wore the same t-shirt for years, who was so emaciated he was unrecognizable, who worked three jobs a day?’

A top student from Meridia, the President of Southland Group...

For reasons he didn’t quite understand himself, Kyle Aldrich had told his mother about it.

Sure enough, Shauna Lockwood had started digging around, focusing her search on the "President of Southland," and eventually found the villa community where Simon Lockwood now lived.

’But, judging by how she looked today, it seems she didn’t get a very warm welcome.’

At this thought, Kyle Aldrich furiously kicked a few more pebbles into the river.

’If I can’t find Simon Lockwood at his home, I’ll go camp out at Southland Group. I refuse to believe he’d just ignore his own company.’

’I need to ask him just what his relationship with Joanna Kennedy is now.’

’Other people might not know, but how could I not? Simon Lockwood definitely donated to that stupid foundation because of Joanna Kennedy.’

’Didn’t they break up?! How can they still be in such close contact after breaking up?!’ Kyle Aldrich cursed, "Fuck!" He wanted nothing more than to rush over and confront Simon Lockwood that very second.

His phone suddenly pinged. Seeing the contact name, a flicker of joy appeared in Kyle Aldrich’s eyes, and he quickly opened the message.

Showbiz Insider Six: [Bro, Joanna Kennedy is recording a show in the suburbs of Aethelburg today. She should be out around 8 PM. Don’t say I never look out for you.]

This was a paparazzo he had met by chance. The guy’s main business was taking money to dig up celebrities’ schedules.

Kyle Aldrich didn’t have much money. Almost all the cash he’d gotten from his mom a few days ago had gone to this paparazzo, all to buy Joanna Kennedy’s schedule.

Unfortunately, Joanna Kennedy had practically vanished for the past few days, not taking on any public engagements. He never expected to get such good news today; the paparazzo had even sent the exact location.

Kyle Aldrich immediately replied: [Thanks, bro. I’ll send you the rest of the money in a few days.]

Showbiz Insider Six: [K.]

Putting his phone away, Kyle Aldrich’s excitement hadn’t faded. He was about to hail a cab when he caught his reflection in the river.

He ran his hands through his hair a couple of times and looked down at his clothes.

’This won’t do. I need to go home and change... On second thought, I’ll just buy a whole new outfit.’