The Comments Called Me the Villain, Then He Asked Why I Stopped Kissing Him Chapter 05

The Comments Called Me the Villain, Then He Asked Why I Stopped Kissing Him Chapter 05

I almost snapped back – even my parents never talked to me like that, so where do you get off talking to me 

like that? 

I’d been giving him space. I’d been good. So why was he more wound up than ever? 

Something on my face must have gotten through to him, because the edge in his eyes faded. His voice dropped, gentler now, almost coaxing. “I’m sorry. That was out of line. Forget I asked.” 

“Listen – I know there’ll be women at tonight’s 

dinner. I can make an excuse and sit this one out-” 

“Go.” I cut him off before he could finish. “You’re always telling me to trust you more, right? So I’m 

trusting you.” 

Julian frowned, like my being reasonable was the most suspicious thing he’d heard all day. “No one’s going to make you dinner or run you a bath. You’ll call me crying before the night’s over, saying I abandoned 

you.” 

“I have friends. I’ll be fine.” 

He searched my face, trying to figure out if this was real or just a new flavor of tantrum. Finally, the corner of his mouth twitched – not quite a smile. “Okay.” 

Comments appeared. [Oh great, with the side character 

out of the way, the ML and FL meet even sooner now.] 

[At this dinner, the FL is literally just a junior 

employee, but she swoops in with this clutch save- total boss move. And the ML is a sapiosexual 

workaholic, so she’s basically his perfect type. He’s COOKED.] 

A knot of regret tightened in my stomach. Maybe I shouldn’t have let him go so easily. 

Without Julian around, the restlessness kicked in fast. I ran up our joint credit card on a pile of designer bags I didn’t need, anything to keep my hands busy. Every few minutes, I had to physically stop myself from FaceTiming him. 

I barely made it to my meeting with Simon. When it was time to leave, I grabbed the keys to the Ferrari – the newest one, the one I’d nagged Julian into buying. 

Simon texted immediately. [Miss Vivienne, I wouldn’t recommend driving alone during rush hour. Having Julian drop you off would be the optimal choice.] 

I hit the gas. [Hard pass.] 

– 

At a red light, my phone buzzed – a video from the art director at Julian’s company. [Girl, bestie duty never sleeps. I’m keeping an eye on your man tonight.] 

In the clip, someone had started a game before the food arrived – whoever got a call from their partner first had to pick up the whole tab. Laughter rippled through 

the group. “Julian’s losing this one. Vivienne’s gonna blow up his phone before the appetizers even get here, guaranteed.” “Is she really that bad? Well – there are 

women here tonight, so I’ll give it half an hour.” The 

camera panned, and for a second it caught a face in the 

corner striking, clean–featured, quietly composed. 

I’d never seen her before, but I knew her instantly. It 

was Audrey Cole. She was the female lead. 

The video cut in and out. Hours passed – and to 

everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t my name lighting up 

Julian’s phone. It was Audrey’s parents calling hers. In 

the background, Julian was staring at his own phone swiping, checking, swiping again – like he couldn’t 

believe the screen was empty. 

Then the table started heckling Audrey, and Julian cut through it, voice cold enough to freeze the room. His eyes locked on Audrey, ignoring the rest of the table. “I’ll cover the bill.” 

Comments appeared. [The ML–MR. EMOTIONALLY STABLE – just snapped at an entire table for the FL. If that’s not love, what is??]