I Quit Being The Villain Novels & Stories

That's what they all believed. It was reasonable for them to think that way. A spoiled wealthy girl and a naive innocent one. Who was the villain? Apparently, no one was on my side. People believe what they want to believe, and I was the one who got their anger. That was that. They couldn't be changed. But I did hold some grievances. I was pissed not because everyone hated me, but because of Annika Summers, the girl with an innocent face I used to take as my best friend.

A wet, snotty wall. "Oh, please. You hated the fact that I was finally happy. My life has been hell, my stepmother hates my guts, my step-sisters wouldn't even acknowledge my existence, I have this stupid scar everyone shames me for, while you have everything. Friends, guys who literally throw themselves at you, family. While I have nothing. Why couldn't you let me have this one thing?" Tears slid down her cheek without hope of stopping and all I could do was stand there and take her abuse because she's right. Even if I didn't plan for this to happen. I became the villain in her story without even realizing it.

Her vision steadied. Her breathing slowed. But something had changed. Something permanent. “I didn’t do anything,” she said. And this time… It wasn’t true. The woman’s gaze hardened. “Then it’s worse than we thought.” Aria’s chest tightened. “What is?” The woman held her gaze. “You’re not just awakening.” The words landed heavy. Final. “You’re accelerating.” Silence fell again. Thicker than before. Aria’s pulse slowed. But not from calm. From something else.

“Tell me, Izana, do you think of me as a villain too?” “Who told you that you’re a villain?” Izana’s voice sharpened. Realizing that he was scaring after seeing her flinch, his gentle voice came back and there was a hint of apology in it: “Whoever said that, they are the villain. They can prosecute you as if they are standing in the high ground. They don’t know what you’ve been through. You are a strong sweet girl who still gives sunshine to others even when darkness tried their hardest to cling to you. They just don’t know you…”

“You do not always have to be a bad person to win, and it is not difficult to choose happiness, Enzo. Never is it too late. You just have to—” “Silence!” he roared, getting to his feet. “You know nothing about my life or my family. I do not need anyone to believe in me to be great. You are totally wrong, and I feel nothing about their opinions. My father is rotting wherever he is, and whenever he comes out, I will make sure to end his life first!” I could tell he was only trying to sound tough, and listening carefully, I could almost feel a crack in his voice. Every villain has an arc. This was his, and he was just like Fae.

The time had come for accountability. They found him, the man who once had power over her life, now exposed as the villain she truly was. Florida's voice rang out, cutting the tense silence. "Did you think you could discard me, use me as a pawn? You will not escape the consequences of your actions." The villain's face contorted with a mixture of surprise and concern. "Florida? Is that really you?" Florida's laughter was cold and unwavering. "You never saw me, did you? You never saw the strength I had inside me."

She dug the novel out from beneath a stack of correspondence she'd been using to bury it, dust gathering faintly along its spine, and sat with it open in her lap for the first time in nearly two weeks. *The Villainess's Ruin.* She'd read it once, in her old life, curled up with tea gone cold beside her, treating it as nothing more than pleasant escapism before bed. She read it now with an entirely different kind of attention, searching each page for anything she might have skimmed past the first time, anything that might connect, however loosely, to a name like Renshaw.

But Vanessa charged on without restraint this time, her hands gesturing wildly. “I am sick of this entire family! Your …your, uhm…grand murder keeps trying to invent ways to get rid of me, while your precious Isla walks around pretending she’s the damn Queen of England! I kept to myself, Nate. I minded my business until they forced me to fight back. Remember that!” Her voice had a fresh crack of rage. “And now, I’m the villain? I’m the problem? I’m the snake?” Her hands were flailing in the air. “I’m the one you’re ashamed of?”

He chose the latter. "Don't act like you don't know! You're villain X!" I took a step closer. "Why did you do this? I always have suspicions about you but I thought you love Autumn." His smile was gone as he said, "I'm not villain X." Great now he was going to use option one which was denial.

He chose the latter. "Don't act like you don't know! You're villain X!" I took a step closer. "Why did you do this? I always have suspicions about you but I thought you love Autumn." His smile was gone as he said, "I'm not villain X." Great now he was going to use option one which was denial.