The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 226: Maya Monroe, I Miss You

The phone vibrated right beside her hand.

Maya glanced down, her hand instinctively clenching.

Ian Rowe...

Why would he call me this late at night?

Since it’s nighttime, she had a reason to claim she missed the call because she was asleep.

Hanging up abruptly would definitely cause a series of troubles, so Maya thought for a moment and decided to mute her phone, then moved her eyes back to the TV screen hanging on the wall.

Watching the familiar food channel, Maya found herself a bit distracted.

Another sound came through, this time a message alert.

It was still from Ian Rowe, and there were only three characters: Pick up.

Maya’s expression was complicated, barely suppressing her surprise.

How does he know I’m not asleep? If she continued pretending not to hear, it would seem a bit unjustifiable. What’s more, Maya always felt Ian Rowe could see through her thoughts.

Dealing with someone so deeply thoughtful didn’t seem to be a good thing.

Maya took a sip of water to calm her surprise before answering Ian Rowe’s fifth call.

Her time as an actress had taught her a lot; at least, her acting skills had improved some.

Maya yawned, her voice sounding a bit sleepy, "Honey, what is it? It’s already 8:30 PM, I just woke up."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"How are you doing lately?" His voice was as cool and collected as ever, jolting Maya’s mind awake.

"Pretty good, the food and entertainment are nice too. Um... honey, is there anything else?"

Another few seconds of silence passed.

"When do you think you’ll be able to come home?"

Maya paused slightly. Was this late-night call from Ian Rowe just for some small talk?

"Hmm... well, probably next week. After all, I’ve just joined the crew, and the initial phase always requires some time to adapt."

"Alright." Ian Rowe responded on the other end.

Just those simple words, and then they had nothing left to talk about.

Maya was about to gently suggest hanging up when she heard Ian Rowe’s low voice on the other end, not as cold as before, instead softened with a hint of affection, like spring water gently flowing straight into her heart.

"Maya..."

"I miss you..."

It was unclear whether it was the surrounding silence or the chaos in her heart that made Maya feel her heart pound twice.

How strange...

Maya was about to say something when she saw the phone screen already completely dark.

She frowned, trying to press the power button several times, but the screen remained dark.

Out of battery...

Maya clutched her head and cursed in frustration.

She got out of bed and rummaged through her suitcase for her charger, plugging it into the phone’s charging port.

With a faint sound, indicating the charger was connected.

*

At Valerius Group HQ:

Ian Rowe stood by the large floor-to-ceiling window, draped in a suit jacket. The indoor lighting cast his lonely shadow far and wide.

He looked down at his phone screen, his hand unconsciously gripping it tightly.

His facial features were as sharp as snow peaks, and his dark eyes were as deep as the night.

The cold air stirred, but it wasn’t enough to dispel the agitation in his heart.

The ninth call, and once again, Maya had left him hanging...

A knock on the door resounded.

Vincent Summers entered with car keys in hand, taking a few steps forward and asked tentatively, "Ian, you’re really not going home? Though the company has rest rooms, nothing beats home."

"There’s a partnership deal that needs to be reconsidered; you go ahead," Ian Rowe didn’t turn his head, only his slightly detached, unwavering voice could be heard.

Vincent sighed, "Ian, don’t overwork yourself, you must take care of your health. Work shouldn’t always come first."

Ian turned around, his suit jacket hanging loosely, the white shirt inside slightly open, revealing a small piece of a well-built chest.

"Wasn’t I always like that before?" he asked in return.

Vincent was taken aback; it was the first time he saw Ian like this, inexplicably somewhat defeated, with an indescribable demeanor...

Was he like this before?

Indeed, Ian Rowe was always a workaholic, often choosing to stay at the company when there was important, busy work.

So, when did it change?

Not too long ago, Ian suddenly started "going home every day", "going home early", becoming the "model husband".

All of this, because of Maya.

Now that Maya was away filming, Ian didn’t even want to go back home...

Vincent’s mind raced, until Ian Rowe’s voice broke his thoughts:

"Vincent, if someone doesn’t want to talk to you, what does that mean?"

"Well..." Vincent’s lips twitched, his eyes somewhat evasive.

What else could it mean if someone doesn’t want to talk to you?!

But those words couldn’t be bluntly spoken, since, except for Maya, he couldn’t think of anyone else who could make Ian Rowe lose his appetite and act like a scorned, jealous partner.

"Hmm..." Vincent coughed lightly twice, "Maybe they’re busy with something, or something unexpected came up, how about waiting a bit?"

"Hmm..." Ian’s expression didn’t change much, it was unclear whether he had taken the words to heart.

"You should go."

Receiving permission, Vincent breathed a sigh of relief, clutching the car keys in his hand.

"Then Ian... I’ll take my leave now?"

"Remember to prepare tomorrow."

Vincent turned around, puzzled, "Prepare what?"

"A visit."

"Tomorrow... a set visit."

Against the backdrop of the dark night outside the floor-to-ceiling window, his eyes were equally dark and deep.

*

"Have you finished filming your scenes?"

Maya asked.

Serena Sawyer slowly approached, finally stopping in front of her.

"Yes, I’ve finished a scene."

"Are you studying the script?"

Maya nodded, "Sit."

Scott understood and immediately moved over a stool.

Serena took out her script as well, holding a pen in her hand. This script was already annotated with many passages, the various markings indicating her serious approach to the text.

Maya, however, was quite the opposite, flipping through a page quickly, not as if studying the script but more like reading a book.

Serena’s fingers paused slightly, pinching a page of the script.

She smiled and asked, "Maya, you read so fast, can you grasp the contents of the script?"

"More or less."

Maya didn’t look up, letting the printed black words deeply imprint themselves in her mind.

She explained further, "I read through these scripts last night, now I’m just revisiting to get the feeling."

"I see." Serena smiled, "Maya is very hardworking... and very talented."

After a while, she spoke again:

"Actually, I have a question I don’t quite understand, might I ask Maya for some guidance?"