The Villainess Read The Comments Chapter 04

The Villainess Read The Comments Chapter 04

I slept like the dead that night. And I dreamed about the guy from the romance game I’d been obsessed with — some cold, untouchable CEO type. The premium route I’d spent actual money unlocking.

He was ice-cold at the start, but once I chose another love interest, he came crawling back — jealous, desperate, the whole redemption arc. God, I lived for that. Watching a man who thought he was above it all finally beg? Chef’s kiss.

Arthur would never do that, though. He didn’t even like me — there was nothing there to chase. Wait. Why was I projecting Arthur onto him again?

I should’ve been dreaming about Julian Vance — my sweet, perfect Julian. “Mmm… Julian, don’t go…”

I mumbled into the pillow and hugged it closer, still half-asleep. Except — since when did pillows radiate heat?

A hand caught my chin and tipped my face up, dragging me out of the dream. I blinked. Was that — Arthur?

It was him. My eyes flew open. He’d climbed into MY bed?

Before I could process that, Arthur read the shock on my face, his gaze dropping to my lips as he shifted his weight over me.

I could barely breathe under him. “So you’re done playing around, and now you’ve moved on to some guy named Julian. That it?”

What was he talking about? His fingers traced my jaw, feather-light.

His face was dead serious — the kind of intensity I’d never seen from him before. My heart stuttered. Was he… jealous?

“Talk. Don’t lie to me — I can always tell when you’re lying.”

I swallowed hard. Maybe it’d be better to just tell him the truth.

[IT’S HAPPENING. The breakup scene!! The side character’s about to say Julian’s real to make the ML jealous, but the ML sees right through it and breaks off the engagement — says the Sterling family doesn’t need a lying daughter-in-law.]

[Yesss, after tonight the FL is finally coming to the city. Only she can actually get through to him — if it weren’t for what happened when they were kids, the ML wouldn’t even… ugh they’re literally soulmates!]

[The ML’s grandfather fell in love with the FL’s grandmother while he was working as a farmhand as a young man. They got separated, but before he left, he gave her the family heirloom locket and promised their families would be joined by marriage someday. Once that comes out, the side character gets exposed as the wrong girl and gets kicked to the curb.]

Childhood incident? Family heirloom locket? I froze. The explanation on the tip of my tongue died right there.

I’d always wondered what was behind Arthur’s condition. His family was loving and stable — no history of anything like that. It had never made sense.

I’d asked him about it once. That was the only time he’d ever lost his temper with me — and I’d pushed every boundary he had over the years. He was furious. Didn’t speak to me for a full week, and nothing I said or did could coax him out of it.

It wasn’t until my birthday — when I blew out the candles and told him my only wish was for him to forgive me — that he finally let it go.

“Answer me, Chloe.”

His fingertips pressed against my lips. His eyes darkened — and he was close, so close it brought back every time he’d ever kissed me. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me.

But the comments flashed through my head, and I flinched. Turned my face away.

“Yeah. I like him. I want to be with him. Let’s call off the engagement.”

I wasn’t lying — not really. The comments made it clear I was never the one for him. So maybe it was better to give him what he wanted now, before things got worse.

If I walked away now, at least it wouldn’t end badly. I didn’t want us destroying each other in the end.

“What did you just say?”