The Trending Topic Herself: The Villainess is the Superstar!-Chapter 70: Tristan Rowe

Even though it was a bit cold outside, Maya was dressed warmly enough. The most important thing was that it was pretty stuffy indoors, and she was just sitting there listening to others chat. Although Maya was a bit lazy and didn’t like to move much, just sitting there with no entertainment was indeed a bit boring.

She walked around the path, and some of the servants greeted her. She responded to each of them.

Maya walked around the garden with a lollipop in her mouth. Her fair and delicate cheeks were slightly reddened by the cold wind, but she didn’t care. She rubbed her hands together, after all, she was never one to be frail.

The garden was planted with many evergreen trees. Their round, vibrant green branches and leaves stretched gracefully, and due to the weather, a layer of transparent ice had formed on the leaves.

Maya reached out to touch them, feeling an extreme cold to the touch. Her hand trembled for a moment before she retracted it back into her sleeve, not forgetting to blow a warm breath onto her hands.

Maya suddenly remembered her previous life, where conditions were exceptionally harsh. Wild fruits were scarce, and the most common things she ate were bark and wild grass. If lucky, she could eat coconuts and seafood.

But recently, she had been eating all sorts of rich food, and snacks and drinks were always available, so seeing the leaves now no longer brought back feelings of hunger.

However, somehow she thought of what Ryan Spencer had said about that nonsense Survival Challenge, and she instantly felt irritated.

She extended her fair fingers again, childishly flicking the leaves hard, thinking that the ice frosted on them might fall off any second.

"Whatever survival challenge it is, let it go to hell!"

The leaves swayed back and forth, as if they were really pleading for mercy.

Just as Maya’s lips curled into a smile, she heard a rich, pleasant voice behind her.

"You’re so angry; are you taking revenge on the evergreens?"

The voice carried a hint of amusement, not criticism, but rather teasing.

Upon hearing the voice out of nowhere, Maya naturally felt a moment of guilt. She coughed lightly, turned her head, and explained seriously, "The leaves are frosty on the outside, and I wanted to flick off the ice, so they could be warmer, don’t you think?"

The other person chuckled gently, not making things difficult for her, "So I misunderstood you."

Only then did Maya notice that the man across from her was exceptionally handsome. His almond-shaped eyes carried a smile, yet he didn’t seem like an easygoing person. His casual trench coat made him appear even taller, and the gray and white plaid cashmere scarf he wore added a touch of languid charm.

Maya thought the man looked familiar, but she was sure she hadn’t met him, and there was nothing about him in the original character’s memory.

Maya found that the man seemed to be sizing her up too, with something fleetingly crossing his gaze.

After a while, Maya heard him speak, still with a gentle laugh, "If life doesn’t go your way, maybe you should solve the problem. Venting emotions only treats the symptoms, not the cause."

Maya naturally understood this logic, but if she went over to tell Ryan Spencer she didn’t want to participate in that stupid variety show, wouldn’t that be the end? The original character wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to become explosively famous, so if she did that, wouldn’t she be going OOC (out of character)?!

"Not everything is easily solved. If everything could be easily resolved, there’d be no troubles."

Maya talked a bit more with him, probably because he wasn’t an important character, so she didn’t worry much.

"How do you know if you haven’t tried? Even if success doesn’t come instantly, as long as you work tirelessly day and night, success is inevitable, isn’t it?" As he finished saying this, Maya noticed a deep look flash across his eyes.

Standing there, speaking words of encouragement, he really did give off a vibe of a thoughtful elder.

However, Maya gave a slight smirk, "It’s your obsession that makes you say this. Not all matters can be generalized; I’ll wish you success first!"

"...Then I’ll take your good wishes?" The man’s gaze meticulously regarded Maya, his eyes somewhat drifting, "I find you quite familiar, though..."

In the distance, footsteps suddenly approached. Maya turned to see Ian, who had a stern expression, slowly approaching. He positioned himself protectively in front of Maya and his voice took on a deeper tone, "Uncle, long time no see. Why not go to the front hall and sit?"

Tristan Rowe lifted his chin, gesturing in Maya’s direction, and spoke with interest, "Who is the young lady behind you?"

Ian’s lips maintained a light and breezy smile, though his eyes flashed with coldness, "My wife, Maya."

"So you’re saying she’s my niece-in-law? Maya...Maya..." He frowned slightly, then after a moment, smiled and said, "Not bad, good name, and a Monroe at that!"

As the uncle and nephew met, the atmosphere was tense as if explosive materials might be ignited at any moment. It was a war without smoke.

Ian smiled, but it was a cold curve, "Uncle, you’ve been standing outside for a while, it’s better to go to the front hall and warm up. Grandma misses you very much."

Tristan pondered for a moment and then smirked, "Then I’ll head over."

With that said, Tristan walked ahead.

Ian turned around, giving Maya a glance with indescribably complex eyes, but he said nothing. He merely took Maya’s hand.

Maya was still pondering over the recent events. She had heard Vincent, the blabbermouth, mention Tristan Rowe’s name more than once, and it was invariably in negative terms—an old fox, a bastard, an ungrateful wretch, unclear of his place... So, Maya had always thought that Ian’s uncle Tristan Rowe was a weathered middle-aged man, strict and upright, with many of his own agendas. She didn’t expect Tristan to be so young-looking and stylishly dressed.

The character of Tristan wasn’t highlighted much in the plot and had no direct connection to Kiki Monroe, the female lead, so the author had sketched his character briefly. What’s known is that he and Ian had a highly contentious relationship, even coming to blows over the Rowe Family assets, though in the end, Ian won. As for Tristan’s end, the author didn’t detail it, as he was just an unimportant minor character in the narrative.

Led by Ian, Maya moved forward. Her hand, having touched the icy leaves, was chilled. While Ian’s broad hand clasped hers, whether she felt secure was another matter, but it was undeniably warm.

Maya blinked her eyes, curling her little hand into a fist, and burrowed into Ian’s warm palm.

Ian paused slightly, turning his head to glance at her.

Maya gave him a dry smile.

Since Ian had taken hold of her hand on his own initiative, utilizing it for warmth... wasn’t too much, right?