The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 244: The Future Is Long—Let’s Take It Slow
"That doesn’t sound too bad."
"Indeed." Serena Sawyer sighed again, "I’ve recently encountered something quite tricky, but currently, I haven’t got the slightest clue about it."
Maya Monroe paused, "Is this matter still bothering you?"
"That’s right, I still need a bit more time."
"Hmm..." Maya thought for a moment, "I hope you resolve it soon and get into a good mood."
"Maya, thanks for your kind words."
After chatting with Serena Sawyer, Maya Monroe took out her phone and browsed through Weibo for a bit.
One can’t help but acknowledge the sheer power of online dissemination.
She took just a day off, and already there was plenty of news about her online. An insider leaked that she took two days off due to illness, and ever since then, various bizarre speculations have emerged on the internet.
Some gossip accounts claimed to have seen her have an accident on set with their own eyes, saying she was taken to the hospital for treatment late at night. Others even went as far as saying she’s practically got one foot in the grave and wouldn’t live long, ludicrously backed up with "evidence."
Maya was almost amused by those outrageous rumors.
Valerius Entertainment had already refuted the related rumors.
Maya saw many fans under her posts worrying about her health, but she didn’t need to respond to these messages. Because of her "unreliable" image deeply rooted in people’s minds, this kind of message responding and public opinion guiding was long handed over to a professional team by Ryan Spencer.
Maya scrolled through some other news for a while, and when her eyes started feeling a bit sore, she put her phone away.
Just as she was thinking of getting a glass of water, a hand had already handed it to her beforehand.
Maya rubbed her eyes and almost doubted what she saw.
"Shouldn’t you be at the company at this time? How come you’re here?"
Ian Rowe handed the cup to her, lightly explaining, "Online work is very convenient."
Maya nodded, drank the water, and put the cup back.
"Come, let’s check your temperature."
"Check my temperature...? I’m not running a fever."
"Just to be safe, let’s check it."
"I... I’ll do it myself."
Ian handed Maya the thermometer, but his mind couldn’t help but think back to the smooth, tender neck he just touched.
Maya wasn’t running a fever, and Ian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Since you were caught in the rain yesterday, do you need to have it checked too?" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Ian put away the thermometer, "No need."
The two-day break passed rather quickly, and as Maya looked back on it, she found herself somewhat reluctant.
As her break ended, Maya was preparing to return to work, when unexpectedly, Ryan Spencer brought her some good news.
"You’re saying... I can continue to rest for a few more days?"
"That’s not the main point. Mr. Rowe mentioned that your health still hasn’t improved, so you should really take good care of yourself."
Ryan, concerned, asked again, "What exactly is wrong with your health? I haven’t figured it out yet."
Maya pondered, "It’s not a big problem, it’ll get better soon."
"Also, I’ve thought about it and I think I should head back to the set, actually, my health has improved quite a bit now."
The current break is just delaying the work, the workload remains unchanged.
The main thing is she’s uncertain about the consequences of taking a few more days off; if it leads to a drop in the script’s excitement, it would be disastrous. She doesn’t particularly care about the filming progress or other people’s discussions on set, but the one thing she fears is a drop in ratings.
"Don’t push yourself, you should recover first. Even if you go back to the set, Director Wong might not even dare to keep you."
Indeed, Ryan trusted Ian Rowe’s words more than hers.
With that said, any remaining guilt and uneasiness in Maya’s heart disappeared: "... Okay."
"You don’t need to worry about the recent schedule as they’ve all been postponed. I’m just a little concerned about the upcoming recording of ’Great Survival Challenge’, can your current health state handle it?"
Maya wanted to say she couldn’t, but she quickly recalled the increase in dramatic tension that ’Great Survival Challenge’ brought her, and she replied, "No problem, I’ll be well by then."
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief on the other end.
"Alright, if that’s the case, just rest up. By the way, are you at the hospital or...?"
"I’m at home."
"Oh, a private doctor. Mr. Rowe must be at home, so I won’t come to visit you. But remember to let me know if there’s anything special, Maya."
"Okay."
During the two days of resting at home, Ian Rowe had been staying there, but she really didn’t expect him to still be at home today.
"I heard you got me a leave of absence."
Ian Rowe slowly walked over, "I can sense you don’t like going to the set."
She didn’t expect the reason to be so simple and straightforward, and Maya was slightly stunned.
Did he arrange the leave because she didn’t want to go?
"I really don’t feel like going, but I worry about delaying the crew’s filming schedule."
Actually, what she’s really afraid of is her "laziness" causing a drop in dramatic tension.
"It won’t happen." Ian gave a definite answer, "The schedule’s been adjusted, there won’t be any impact on the work. Rest assured. I guarantee you, no one else will critique you or say a word."
"If you want to rest, just rest well."
Ian Rowe’s efficiency is indeed impressive, and Maya couldn’t help but praise him for it.
Maya scratched her head embarrassingly, "I didn’t think you’d understand me so well, honey."
Suddenly, Ian leaned forward, gazing into Maya’s beautiful eyes, and slowly said, "You don’t like acting, do you? If that’s the case, why not quit being an actor and do what makes you happy?"
Ian’s words hit Maya right in the heart. She couldn’t understand why Ian understood her so well.
It’s just that nothing in this world is destined to go as one wishes, even though Ian has already provided the conditions for her. She still has dramatic tension to improve and many uncompleted scenes.
Whether or not to remain an actor is not something she can decide.
But undeniably, acting has brought her many surprises, like being loved by fans.
She thinks that anyone who has been lonely for a long time can’t reject the feeling of being cared for from the heart.
Because she is used to being lonely, she doesn’t want to be alone forever.
Seeing Maya remain silent, Ian’s gaze became more probing, "Maya, sometimes I really can’t understand you."
His voice remained gentle, "But there’s no hurry, there’s plenty of time, we’ll take it slow."
Maya felt a slight stir in her heart, sighed, but didn’t say anything.
*
She thought the few days off would be as leisurely as before, but it turned out otherwise.
Even though she still ate and drank well, she was forced by Ian to go jogging with him in the mornings.
