Acting for Survival- Playing the Innocent Heroine to Escape the Villain’s Trap Chapter 05

Acting for Survival- Playing the Innocent Heroine to Escape the Villain’s Trap Chapter 05

I felt nervous heading to Daniel’s place.

I stopped by the supermarket downstairs and bought fancy groceries plus ridiculously expensive fruit gift boxes.

We’d agreed to quit our jobs together and start fresh.

But now I hadn’t resigned at all—and my salary had skyrocketed instead.

As soon as I walked in, Daniel turned around wearing an apron, all warm and cheerful. “You’re here!”

He looked effortlessly handsome.

And the dining table behind him was piled high like a full banquet feast.

Nice.

“You didn’t quit either, did you?”

Daniel stiffened. He was about to bow and apologize until he saw the expensive fruit I’d brought.

Then he stood straight again, completely confident. “You stayed too.”

I held up both hands helplessly. “I couldn’t say no. Richard offered way too much money.”

Curious, I asked, “What excuse did you give Linda?”

Daniel mumbled, “I told her I’m getting older and heading back home for blind dates. And then she raised my annual salary instantly.”

I sighed heavily. “They really are a perfect match. Even their ways of keeping people around are exactly the same.”

Daniel hesitated, then asked carefully, “Nancy… do you think… maybe Linda actually likes me?”

Before I could answer, the bullet comments were already dying of laughter.

【He’s handsome and still living in his own fantasy world.】

【Daniel, you deserve better—just not Linda better.】

【You two are just toys in the main couple’s little drama game.】

【If they weren’t fighting over family business issues lately, you wouldn’t even exist to them.】

【Wow the confidence of a supporting character… respect.】

【Am I the only one who sees cracks between Richard and Linda? You two really did have chances before. Their relationship was never unbreakable.】

Truth was, Daniel and I really did have openings before.

But our roles were written as the scheming side characters.

We always felt that weird friendship balance: happy if your friend succeeds, sad if they succeed too well.

Once Richard and Linda were in a huge cold war, rolling their eyes every time they met.

Daniel and I pretended to help reconcile them while laughing our heads off secretly. We swore to be each other’s wingmen forever.

Daniel met Richard alone one night, and they ranted about Linda together.

Richard put an arm around Daniel’s shoulder. “That woman is ruthless, honestly.”

Daniel agreed instantly. “True. Anyone who marries her will have the worst luck for eight lifetimes straight.”

Inside, though, he was screaming: I’d take eight hundred lifetimes of bad luck for her.

They drank late into the night. Daniel couldn’t hold his liquor well, and he was also supposed to speak nicely about me to Richard.

Instead, he casually spilled every embarrassing story about me. “Did you know Nancy once threw firecrackers into the outhouse when she was three? The caretaker got covered in sewage, hahaha.”

He told everything: how I wrapped myself in bedsheets pretending to be a fairy and jumped off the stairs at four, scaring the caretaker half to death. How I tried pouring water on my bald teacher at five because I thought it would grow hair back.

By the end, Richard and Daniel were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

My image was completely ruined.

After that, Richard couldn’t stop smiling every time he saw me.

Meanwhile Daniel grew closer and closer to Linda.

One day Daniel asked me, “What kind of guys does Linda like?”

I smiled sweetly. “Lean, toned guys.”

Back then Daniel was skinny and frail.

He immediately joined the gym and started lifting weights nonstop.

Once he finally gained some muscle definition, I “kindly” suggested protein powder.

Daniel was thrilled.

While smirking secretly, I mixed milk tea powder straight into his protein shakes every day.

Daniel trained harder and harder, feeling more tired and frustrated the whole time.

He never confessed to Linda.

It wasn’t until Richard and Linda showed up arm-in-arm at a public event that I finally told him the truth.

Just remembering it made me furious.

Daniel shook my shoulders violently. “If it weren’t for you, I’d already be dating Linda!”

I grabbed his neck right back. “If it weren’t for you, Richard wouldn’t laugh every single time he sees me and ignore every serious word I say!”

The bullet comments were facepalming nonstop at our stupidity.

【Thank goodness Linda left Richard’s side and realized how rough the real world is.】

【Two certified idiots who belong in a museum exhibit.】

【They really don’t want their best friend to find love huh.】

Eventually we called a truce.

“Murder gets the death penalty anyway.”

“And I’m not giving up my five-million salary.”

I shrugged. “But we still need a proper plan to stay safe.”

I wasn’t ending up shark food in the open ocean.

Daniel thought for a second. “A CEO and his secretary shouldn’t have romantic feelings, right?”

“Exactly. I have zero crush on Richard whatsoever.”

After all, love matters—but survival matters more.

Then Daniel looked straight at me. “Nancy. Let’s date each other.”

One look, and I instantly understood his plan.

If we pretended to be a couple, we’d prove our loyalty to Richard and Linda.

See? We’re taken. We have no intentions of seducing you two.

Genius move.

Holding back my disgust, I shot Daniel a flirty glance. “Daniel~”

Daniel’s expression cracked for half a second before he pulled me into his arms all lovey-dovey. “Nancy~”

The bullet screen flooded with ellipses.

【No workplace secret relationships allowed here.】

【Desperate times call for desperate measures lol.】

【They low-key have chemistry now.】

【I’m actually starting to ship them.】

【The villain couple rising—this is fun.】