He Played Dead, I Played the Headlines Chapter 06
That night, I went home and had a few drinks on my own. I rarely drank, so it didn’t take long before my head felt heavy and groggy.
I was completely unaware of the door opening and the dark figure stepping inside.
It wasn’t until I slipped under the covers and reached out, touching a burning hot body, that I realized something
was wrong.
I shot upright and got out of bed to turn on the light. A naked man appeared before me, his eight-pack abs sharply defined. My gaze moved upward to his handsome face. His eyes were so cold that they made people instinctively keep their distance.
The comments appeared before me.
“Oh, my God! I’ve been waiting for the second male lead forever. He’s the best character in this whole story. There’s no contest.”
“Annie, can you kiss him for me? Please.”
I instinctively stepped back. The man narrowed his eyes, his presence suddenly dangerous enough to make my heart race. “Annie?”
I froze. It took me a moment to remember who he was.
It was William, the heir to the Valente family.
He reached out and grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going?”
I glanced down at my thin slip nightgown, feeling a flicker of embarrassment. I cleared my throat, trying to sound composed. “This is my room. How can you just walk in?”
William let out a cold laugh. “Your room?”
A gust of wind brushed past, and I shivered uncontrollably. The effects of the alcohol faded quickly.
Wait. This was his apartment. I was just staying here temporarily. What was I thinking?
William released me and walked over to the wardrobe.
I stood there awkwardly for a moment before stepping forward and saying softly, “I’m sorry. I left the Cassimo residence and had nowhere to go, so Maria let me stay here. I’ll pack up and move out right away.”
William slipped on a shirt and glanced at me coldly. “You stay,” he said lightly. “I’ll head back to the villa.”
The live chat went crazy again.
“William’s acting all cold. But deep down, he probably wants to beg Annie to let him stay.”
“I can’t even imagine this handsome man crying and begging her not to leave.”
“There’s a scene in the original story where Annie and William get into a fight. He then stands in the rain, crying and begging her not to go. That scene was so satisfying to watch. I love seeing a cold, untouchable man fall in love.
I stared at the comments in disbelief. How could that be?
Ever since I’d known William, he had always been cold and aloof. Now that he knew I was staying here, he even looked like he wanted to leave.
How could he ever cry and beg me? There was no way he’d ever do that.
William grabbed his coat and said, “You can stay here.”
For some reason, I reached out and grabbed him. “This is your place. You stay.”
I barely remembered what happened after that. The alcohol blurred everything, wiping the rest from my memory
All I knew was that the next morning, when I woke up, William was already sitting at the dining table. When I stepped out of the room, he leisurely turned a page of his newspaper. “Morning.”
The last image I had of William was from high school, when his face still carried a trace of boyishness. I had no idea at what point he turned into the composed, striking man before me now.
I walked over and greeted him. “Good morning, William.”
He looked up at me, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “What? Surprised to see me here?”
I looked away, feeling uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure if he was referring to the night before. “Sorry. I didn’t expect you to come back so suddenly. I didn’t know how to react.”
The live comments chimed in.
“William did it on purpose, yet now, he’s acting all serious.”
“Exactly. He was sneaking around smelling Annie’s clothes last night. Now, he’s pretending to be cool.”
Reading the last comment, my cheeks burned.
William held out a cup of coffee. “Want some?”
I took it. “Sure.”
Then, he handed me a sandwich. Sensing my confusion, he explained flatly, “My assistant bought too many. Don’t think too much of it.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He picked up his newspaper again. “By the way, I’ll be staying here for a while because I have business nearby. You don’t mind, do you?”
I quickly waved my hand. “Of course not. This is your place. Don’t worry. I’m already looking for my own place. Once I find something suitable, I’ll move out immediately.”
William didn’t respond. He just gave me a meaningful look.
After he left, I told Maria about it. She hadn’t known when he had returned, and hadn’t expected him to go to the apartment instead of going back home.
She then asked, “He didn’t give you a hard time, did he?”
“No,” I said. “Your brother is really nice.”
Maria thought for a moment before saying, “He’s a workaholic. Maybe he really does have something urgent to handle nearby.”
I paused before saying, “Yeah.”
The next day was my birthday.
My parents always took it seriously. This year, Mom even called early. “Annie, it’s your birthday today. I’ve arranged a party for you. Make sure you dress up nicely.”
I smiled, gave a few perfunctory replies, and hung up.
Originally, Matteo and I had planned to celebrate my birthday in Landia this year. But now, not only did he not go with me, but he went with his mistress instead-and even staged his own fake death to deceive me.
My parents had never thought highly of Matteo anyway. They didn’t approve of our marriage.
When they heard he had “died”, they didn’t even call. But my bank account suddenly had an extra few hundred thousand dollars in it.
