The Manipulated Villainess

Nicole Yang immediately turned her head to the man who asked her a seemingly absurd question.

Was she happy? No. But, no one has never asked her such question for the past 15 years! Maybe everyone thought that the answer was obvious. In everyone's eyes, she was a successful, powerful and happy woman.

"Why do you ask me that?" She deliberately dodged the question.

She then finally decided to take a clear look at the young man and noticed that he was quite handsome but he also looked familiar. She didn't think about it further because anyone who could attend this party will be from an upper society. So, it was not strange that she finds him familiar.

"I'm not sure. When I saw you at the party room, I had some strange feeling."

"Like what?" Nicole asked right away. She became very curious as it was her first time experiencing such a talk.

"I wonder why you smile so sad," Aston muttered. He was feeling guilty for saying such things to her but curiosity gets the best of him. He can't stop wondering why the successful Chairwoman of a huge corporation needs to fake a smile!

Nicole immediately froze when she heard Aston's words. What did this stranger just say? Did he see through her? She was bewildered but afraid at the same time!

She struggled for words to say. "I - I" Her eyes swept around the garden and suddenly saw her step-mother's personal assistant coming on their way. Only one thing came to her mind. What if the devil misunderstands her? It's not a good idea to make the assistant see her with some other man!

"Come with me." She grabbed the man on the arm and pulls him away. They hide behind the big tree in one corner of the garden.

Aston's back clashed with the trunk of the huge tree with Nicole standing right before him facing towards him.

Under the beautiful moonlight surrounded by dazzling stars, Aston finds his heart beating faster than usual, all because of a taken woman! It's not a miracle because the young Chairwoman was so beautiful now that he finally looked at her up close! He narrowed his eyes at the woman and stared at her the whole time. "Why -"

Nicole immediately covered Aston's mouth and continued to keep an eye on the devil's assistant. Little did she know her small actions drove the mind of the nation's heartthrob crazy!

When the assistant finally left the garden, Nicole heaves a sigh of relief. But her heart jump when she realized that her hand was still covering the stranger's mouth!

"Sorry for that." She apologized right away as she withdrew her hand.

"Can I like you?" Aston uttered with his gaze glued to her. He looked at her and nothing else.

Nicole immediately shifted her gaze to Aston and scanned him with a flustered face. But she instantly maintained her composure again and replied, "No."

"Why?"

"I'm taken." She said without much thought. For a split second, she even thought that the man was not in his normal mind. If he knows her, then he must know that she's a woman with a fiance.

"Do you love him?" He asked her question after question and the woman seems to be a bit annoyed.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I don't know you." Nicole stated firmly. "I must go back now. Goodbye then." She hurried out of the garden, forgetting that she was still wearing Aston's coat.

Aston stared at the disappearing form of Nicole with a blank face. 'What an unreasonable response!' He thought to himself which curved his lips into a smile.

"Where did you go? I look for you everywhere." Leon Jung was the first to confront Nicole who just entered the party room.

"I went outside for some fresh air. It's so suffocating here." Nicole simply replied.

When he saw Nicole, the first thing that attracted Leon's attention was a man's coat on his fiancee's body. He was sure that she didn't wear it from the beginning. His eyes glued to the coat unconsciously. What exactly happened?

"Is something wrong?" Nicole felt uncomfortable due to the strong gaze of her fiance. Why did he behave so strange since evening? She takes a look at herself and saw the coat which covered her body. She was quite startled but immediately maintain her composure again. This coat cannot be the one that made him gaze at her like that!

"It's nothing. Let's go. Our parents are waiting for us." Leon forced a smile and led Nicole to the table where their parents along with some other important business personnel and politicians were waiting for them.

Samuel Yoo came to the garden and finally saw his best friend standing there. "Aston Kang! I look for you everywhere. How can you leave me alone in that boring party?!" He whined as he approached his friend.

Much to Samuel's surprise, his friend didn't respond at all. What's more shocking was that Aston was blankly standing there while rubbing his lips with his index finger.

"Hey! Do you hear me?" Samuel's put a hand on Aston's shoulder. He keenly scanned his friend. What's wrong with him? He was gone for just a few minutes but he already behaves like some crazy man!

Suddenly, Aston's face was plastered with a menacing smile which stupefies his friend and made him withdraw his hand right away. Samuel looked at him as if he watched a horror movie!

"I'm done with tonight's party," Aston said and approach the exit of the garden which was a few steps away.

"Why? It's not over yet." Samuel asked which made Aston's stop his movement. The former was startled once again. In the past, if Aston's made up his mind, he never stopped no matter how much he called him. He was really strange tonight!

Aston turned around and look at his friend with an exciting smile. "I realized that I need to do something more important than this."

He left the garden, sorting out all scenario for his second encounter with that young Chairwoman who gave him an unreasonable response to his serious question.

Didn't she say that she doesn't know him? Then the answer was simple. He will just make her know him!

And whether she loves her fiance or not, time will tell him the answer. If she indeed loves her fiance, then she will not be bothered by whatever he does in the near future! Giving a go was not a crime.

At least, pursuing an engaged woman was not forbidden! She wasn't married and that's enough for him.

Samuel watched his friend leaving with a baffled mind. He finds the party too boring to continue on his own. Besides, they already greeted the Chairman of K Group, so he convinced himself to follow his best friend and immediately leave the villa.....