The Manipulated Villainess

For a while, Aston glanced at the woman who was implanted on his mind. Though the woman shocked expression had slowly faded away and was replaced by a more composed face, he felt more and more discouraged.

He gradually took a step back, ready to run away from the room to escape the stare of the woman but stopped when he heard her.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Kang." The calm and gentle voice of Nicole was enough to make him feel at ease, at least a bit.

He stood still for a while despite the warm offer but when he noticed that she was still patiently waiting for him, he reluctantly walked towards her and finally sat down.

"This is the final draft of the contract. We made some amendments after talking with your manager today. Please take a look." She placed a file on the table and gestured him to look at it.

She was sure that there was something wrong about him today, but she had no intention to mention it because she was never the type to involved in other people's private life. She also wished for people to never questioned her about her personal life.

Aston gave her a small nod and extended his right hand to take the file but... his hand cannot stop shivering the moment he did that! He immediately withdrew his hand and placed it back to his pocket but Nicole didn't fail to notice his shivering hands.

When she saw his hands shivering despite the pleasant weather, she looked at his face right away. Downcast and lifeless eyes, pale skin, anxious face embedded by his shivering hands; she was very familiar to such a scene! Those were the traits of a traumatized person.

"Are you not feeling well?" She asked, hiding the fact that she saw through him.

She can't help but feel worried because she saw herself in him. A weak, fragile and traumatized being who knows nothing but hide her pain before the world.

"I'm fine." As always, he forced a smile.

"Wait a minute." Nicole Yang rose from her seat and approach the table on one corner where many flavours of tea were kept along with warm water which could be made anytime.

She prepared a cup of lavender tea and brought it to him. "This will help you." She placed it before him and return to her seat.

When Aston looked at her with a confused face, she said, "I love to prepare my own tea, so I rarely ask my secretary to do it. And I always have that one as it is good at calming nerves. It's lavender tea."

With that said, the actor's face brightened a bit and he took a sip of the tea. "Thank you." He said with a smile.

"Why do you always smile? Is that your hobby? It's not even convincing." She coldly pointed out which made his smile disappear in the blink of an eye.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at her again. "Why? Didn't you do the same?" He asked her.

"When did I do that?" Nicole retorted without even thinking.

"That night, at the party." He reminded her. He fixed his gaze on her, studying her every expression.

"What do you even know? Stop judging me." She bluntly replied, but him mentioning the party gave her the pressure. Why did he always behave so strange?

Just like him, she would never want her weakness to be exposed.

Without saying a word, he raised a cup of the lavender tea which revealed his wounded hand clearer than before.

Nicole sighed when she saw his injured hand. Once again, she rose from her seat and grabbed a first aid kit from her drawer and returned to her seat.

"Give me your hand." She demanded indifferently.

He obediently complied and watched her as she applied some ointment to his wound. She looked so calm when she treated his hand which made him unable to take his eyes off her! As such, he ended up staring at her for the whole time.

"Am I really not allowed to like you?" He inquired once again with his eyes glued to her.

His words made the woman paused what she was doing. She lifted her head and look at him. "Do you plan to ask me each time we meet?" She could feel the rapid thumping of his heart and even his breathing as their face were just inches away!

Unlike him, she was very calm. It's a fact that she was intrigued and fascinated by this man but it was not enough to make her heart skipped a beat.

"I didn't ask you last night." He replied with an amusing smile. With her this close to him, he could hardly control himself.

For a split second, he even wondered how it would feel to taste her smooth and gentle lips, to the point where it drove his heart beat faster and faster that it could be heard as if it was the beating of a drum!

"Fine. I give you that, but my answer is still the same." She put a bandaid in his wound and distance herself from him right away.

Her action immediately made the man longed for her scent - a floral scent of mostly rose and jasmine. Will there ever come a day when the one who possessed the pleasant scent finally became his? Just the thought of it could drive him crazy!

"Why?" He asked again. Just like a little kid, he keeps on asking the same question. "Is it because you love your fiance?"

The scene he witnessed the other night came to his mind. The image of her riding the car with her fiance. The same scene kept him up last night which he finds it really strange.

In the past, no woman had never made him lose his sleep!

But that scene, a very little and normal scene was the thing that made him unable to sleep at night! He even questioned himself if he was still the same Aston Kang!

His gaze fixated on her despite feeling nervous to hear her answer. What if she says that she loved her fiance? Right on his face on top of that!

It would be humiliating, but... why did he felt more worried about his heart rather than the possibility of a humiliation? Besides, the small time gap between their conversation also seemed like forever!

"That's none of your business." She coldly brushed him off once again. She was never good at lying. Maybe it's the same reason why the devil always saw through her.

She can't say that she loved her fiance just because she wanted to push away her admirer. She never loved her fiance, instead, she used to hate him but not that much anymore.

When she saw all of her fiance's action the other day, she realized that she might be wrong about him but she decided to not think much about it.

Aston's unconsciously smiled despite receiving the cold shoulder. He takes a look at the file without saying anything and after he thoroughly scanned through it, he put his seal and his signature on it. Nicole did the same and their contract was finalized at last.

He rose from his seat and extended his right hand to her. "I look forward to working with you, Miss Yang." He smiled at her once again. But it was different this time. The smile was convincing.

Nicole stood up and held his hand. "Same here, Mr. Kang." She didn't even bother to smile because of their recent conversation. She stood there with a nonchalant face, unfazed by his charm and breathtaking visual like always.....