The Villain Mom Awakens — Going Viral by Parenting on a Reality Show-Chapter 32: Rupture
After settling Ian Shaw in, Naomi Kenway went downstairs. She walked into the main hall and called over the busy butler.
Naomi Kenway was the mistress of the manor. Even if the butler disapproved of Naomi’s usual conduct, he still approached her respectfully. "Madam, you were looking for me?"
"The manor is too quiet," she said. "Hire a few more servants. I want ones who are kind-hearted and honest."
"Should I still be looking for male servants, then?"
Naomi Kenway frowned slightly, only then recalling one of her more ridiculous rules. She had been so afraid someone would steal Ethan Shaw from her that she had forbidden any female staff in the manor.
Naomi Kenway clutched her head, a headache forming at the thought. ’Just how much of an oddball was I back then?’ "I was being thoughtless before. Don’t worry about any of that now. In fact, I enjoy chatting with young, beautiful women, so hire plenty of them. And hire a few nannies for Annie, too. They must be experienced and responsible."
Every time she recalled the male servant bullying her son, Naomi Kenway felt a fire ignite in her chest.
The butler had been professionally trained. No matter how much his mind reeled, he kept his expression neutral. He nodded. "Yes, Madam."
"Also, move Annie’s bedroom to the second floor. He’s still so little; I won’t be able to rest easy unless I can keep an eye on him."
After giving these instructions, Naomi Kenway rubbed her shoulder and went upstairs. She needed to take a shower and relax.
After Naomi Kenway turned and went upstairs, a hint of confusion surfaced in the butler’s eyes. He had been working diligently at the manor for several years. While he couldn’t claim to understand Naomi completely, he had a good grasp of her character.
’How could she have changed so much? It’s less like she was on a parenting show and more like she just got back from one of those total-makeover reality shows.’ But as a mere butler, he obviously didn’t need to dwell on it. Thinking of Naomi’s instructions, he immediately left the main hall and headed out.
When Naomi Kenway got out of the shower, she realized her phone was ringing incessantly.
She slowly walked over and picked up the phone from the bedside table. The caller ID read: Lindsay Woods.
Naomi Kenway thought for a moment and recalled that Lindsay Woods was the top agent at her company, the one in charge of her career.
"Hello?"
Lindsay Woods’s voice came through the phone. It sounded gentle, but it was heavy with pressure. "Nina, what is going on? Why did you go off-script? Have you forgotten what I told you before the show started?"
Of course Naomi Kenway remembered. Lindsay Woods had told her to deliberately make a fool of herself and pick fights with the other guests on the show.
It’s incredibly difficult to make a name for yourself in the entertainment industry. There are two paths to fame: one is to build an excellent reputation with countless masterpieces to your name, and the other is to become famous through infamy—being so hated and troublesome that everyone is talking about you.
Clearly, the old Naomi had nothing going for her besides a pretty face. Her acting was terrible and she was spoiled and arrogant. So, Lindsay Woods had tailored a different path to stardom for her: generating buzz by constantly making a spectacle of herself.
Naomi Kenway’s childhood dream had always been to be a star; she loved the feeling of being in the spotlight. An heiress born with a silver spoon in her mouth naturally didn’t enjoy being despised. But her acting was so abysmal that even when she bankrolled major productions, she failed to make a splash. Her only option was to take the other path to fame.
Naomi couldn’t help but laugh at the memory. ’This persona of a brainless, talentless hack was just perfect for being the female lead Renee Jennings’s foil. Even if Renee had no talent whatsoever, I made her look like a superstar by comparison.’
"What are you laughing at?" Lindsay Woods’s tone turned cold. "Nina, we’ve been through a lot together. I saw you at your absolute lowest. Do you remember the day your previous agent, Kyle Kerr, quit? I was the one who stepped up and requested to manage you. It’s safe to say that without me, you wouldn’t have the level of fame you have today..."
If it weren’t for her son, Naomi might have actually been tempted to try the thrill of being famous for being hated. But now, she had so many haters that she hardly dared to go outside, and she was terrified her son would get dragged into it.
’I’m done being the celebrity everyone loves to hate,’ she thought. ’I have to clean up my image!’
’Lindsay Woods’s go-to move was this kind of manipulation. How stupid was I to let her lead me around by the nose?’
"Your so-called ’fame’ is just me being hated by the entire internet?"
Lindsay Woods paused. "Infamy is still fame. It’s not that easy to make it big these days. Throwing money at it is useless. Only an idiot would try to win audiences over with acting skills. This is the age of viral moments and clickbait! As long as you’re getting buzz, you’re a star!"
"I’m not going down that path anymore. It’s one thing for me to be hated, but I won’t drag my family down with me."
Lindsay was silent for a few seconds. "What did you just say?"
"If you feel that managing me is a waste of your talents, then you should find someone else." Lindsay Woods was extremely controlling. Her guiding principle was to do anything for buzz, by any means necessary. Naomi’s new mindset was now completely at odds with hers; there was no point in arguing further.
"Naomi Kenway, do you have any idea what you’re saying? How are you going to survive in this industry without me?" Lindsay Woods was a famous top agent. Countless celebrities were begging to be managed by her. She never imagined she’d be the one getting kicked to the curb.
’After everything I’ve done for Naomi, how dare she!’
Naomi laughed, her tone even colder than Lindsay’s. "That’s not something you need to worry about. Even if I never become a big star, I refuse to live a life where people are always gossiping about me behind my back!"
On the other end of the line, Lindsay gasped for breath, too furious to keep up the pretense. "My, your wings have gotten strong. I’d love to see how you fade into obscurity in this industry without me!"
Naomi hung up. She didn’t feel a shred of regret. She was determined to eliminate any and all threats to Ian Shaw.
Naomi submitted a request to the company, hoping they would assign her a new agent. But with her terrible reputation and lack of professional skills, she suspected few would dare to take on such a hot mess.
’If it comes to it, I’ll just use my real superpower: money.’ She couldn’t stand being a disgraced celebrity any longer. The thought of her son being mocked by his peers in the future made her feel sick to her stomach.
*
Thanks to her poor reputation, Naomi’s work schedule was pitifully empty. It was Saturday, so Naomi slept in before heading downstairs for breakfast.
A maid handed her a cup of coffee, and Naomi took it.
’This life, just me and my son, isn’t half bad,’ she mused. After all, she had more money than she could ever spend and staff to wait on her. She found it harder and harder to understand why her past self had been so obsessed with Ethan Shaw.
Naomi didn’t touch her breakfast. She asked the butler, "Where’s Annie? Hasn’t he come down yet?"
"The Young Master has already finished his breakfast. He is in his room changing. He has a Go lesson shortly, and the tutor is already waiting in the game room."
"Go lessons?" Naomi frowned, setting down her bitter coffee. "He’s only four. Why is he taking Go lessons?"
"These are all part of the Young Master’s required studies. The heirs of the Shaw Family have always been raised this way."
"Bullshit!" Naomi couldn’t stop herself from cursing. "He just had piano, a foreign language, and robotics last night, and now he has to learn Go today? Doesn’t he get any time to just play?"
"Play?" The butler looked utterly astonished, as if he had never heard the word before.
