In This Life I Will Die as an Actress Not a Villainess Chapter 96

Abigail walked straight toward us without exchanging greetings with any of the staff.

A cold breeze practically howled wherever Abigail passed.

On top of that, the staff even parted to both sides.

What on earth is this?

Is this… the military?

In my flustered state, my eyes met Abigail’s.

Abigail gave Chloe and me a quick once-over before adjusting her outfit.

There wasn’t even the usual courtesy of eye contact.

The moment I tried to greet her first, the sound announcing four o’clock echoed throughout the studio.

Along with the beep, loud cheers erupted from the distant audience seats.

In that instant, Abigail stepped onto the stage with a bright smile, as if possessed by a completely different soul.

Whoa…

I was absolutely stunned watching that transformation.

What is with this woman?

Abigail delivered her opening remarks and threw a few jokes to the audience.

Then she immediately sent us the signal to come out.

“Today’s show opens with very special guests. Han Sena and Chloe from <Hometown>!”

Her voice was incredibly warm and cheerful.

Chloe couldn’t bring herself to take a step, looking at me with fearful eyes.

I grabbed Chloe’s hand and smiled as I whispered.

“Don’t worry! This isn’t a scary place.”

Then we walked onto the stage together.

Applause welcoming us poured out.

I managed my expression as well, waving to the audience.

Then I sat down on the sofa prepared at center stage.

Chloe sat right next to me, slightly tense.

Abigail didn’t sit down but instead extended her hand for a handshake first.

As I grasped that cold hand, I resolved.

I need to stay sharp.

This is clearly a tiger’s den.

I have Chloe with me, so I absolutely need to stay alert, Han Sena.

That’s when Abigail offered a compliment with a smile.

“<Hometown> was truly a magnificent film. The teamwork among the members who didn’t waver despite all those rumors and issues was impressive too.”

I smiled lightly at those words.

“Thank you.”

Abigail kicked the talk into full gear.

“You both must get misunderstood a lot after appearing in this film. Sena doesn’t actually live in America, right? You’re just Korean?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

“Your acting was so good that people around me kept asking if you’d lived in America.”

Abigail made an exaggerated shrugging gesture, as if she couldn’t believe it.

Then she continued.

“So who coached you on your accent?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Your English. The American pronunciation.”

My head went fuzzy.

Starting with this kind of… comment?

The classic racist remark—criticizing my English.

For a moment, I was so flustered I forgot to answer.

Only after I felt Chloe glance at me did I snap to my senses.

I forced a smile full of composure onto my face.

“Following someone else’s accent isn’t acting, is it? You know that well yourself.”

“Then where did you learn your pronunciation, Chloe?”

At Abigail’s follow-up question, Chloe also hesitated, flustered.

I quickly answered for Chloe.

“Chloe and I may have had a short time, but we fully lived Emily’s and Bella’s lives. Things like speech naturally follow.”

I answered for her quickly, but made sure my tone stayed measured and steady.

“This experience of living as an actor—Abigail, you know it well too. I believe you appeared in a sitcom.”

At my response, Abigail nodded with a relaxed smile.

But somehow I felt her face stiffen briefly beneath that smile.

Abigail continued the conversation.

Right after offering congratulations on our Snowfall win.

“Anyone could see you should’ve won in the Worldwide category, but wasn’t it disappointing to be limited to just the American drama category?”

Abigail came at us with another not-quite-provocation.

Worldwide was the category for works made in countries outside America.

Right now, Abigail was heavily packaging it as if Worldwide were the broader category.

Completely ignoring the fact that everyone from Director Raymond Zhang to Aiden and Chloe were U.S. citizens.

This time I was genuinely irritated.

On top of that, to discuss award categories when only actors were present without the director…

It was incredibly rude.

I forced down the heat rising inside me.

“A classic point of contention.”

Then I shrugged with a slight smile.

“Since it’s such a hot topic, shall we just skip past it?”

I scraped together what little wit I had and looked at the audience, who responded with laughter and cheers.

I also laughed broadly at the audience as if finding it amusing, then looked back at Abigail.

Having realized I’d caught onto the intention behind her question, Abigail changed course.

After that, she only asked questions about the work for about ten minutes.

She even conversed with Chloe, pretending to listen attentively to all her answers as warmly as possible.

While I was busy being on guard, answering, and carrying on a conversation, my head felt blank by the time we reached the final question.

“We’ve already reached the last question. Goodness, I always regret not having more opportunities to converse with such eloquent speakers.”

Abigail wore a deeply regretful expression.

This woman’s acting is hopeless.

It’s completely obvious.

Abigail opened her mouth for the final time.

“Our talk show will give you a chance to clear things up with those rude reporters.”

“Excuse me?”

What is she talking about now…

Unease crept up inside me.

Abigail spoke as if doing us a favor.

“Come on, Sena. Be honest. Did you reject Warners because you wanted the lead role?”

Cheers erupted from the audience.

Riding the momentum, Abigail kept throwing out jokes.

“That’s an opportunity that won’t come again easily.”

On various American talk shows that walked the tightrope between rudeness and honesty, cheers like this poured out every time the MCs threw piercing questions.

Right now, Abigail was forcing just one thing on me.

To brush this situation off coolly.

To laugh it off with typical American humor while swallowing the humiliation.

To tacitly acknowledge that Koreans held a lower status than Americans.

I looked at the audience with a big smile.

Then I removed the smile and met Abigail’s eyes.

“Fine, I’ll answer really honestly.”

I made the atmosphere slightly more serious.

Abigail raised one eyebrow with interest.

“What actor doesn’t want the lead role?”

“As expected, you’re honest!”

Abigail reacted dramatically, as if she’d caught me.

I waited calmly for that reaction to settle.

Then I delivered the rest of my unfinished words.

“But… let me correct that question first.”

“??”

“My choice of <Hometown> wasn’t about the lead versus supporting role. I simply wanted to become Emily, the character I’ve been explaining for the past thirty minutes straight.”

I deliberately emphasized the word ‘straight.’

“Then are you saying Emily is better than Warners’ hero?”

Abigail asked with feigned innocence.

What a pathetic fishing line she’s casting.

I raised one corner of my mouth.

You’re confused—you’re the one who took the bait.

“Oh my… Are characters something you can judge as better or worse?”

At that, Abigail showed a slightly flustered expression.

I deliberately put on a mischievous look and asked as if joking.

“Abigail, you naturally assumed Warners’ hero was better than Emily.”

“…..”

“I didn’t put the two characters on a scale. I simply followed my heart—which one I was drawn to more, what I felt in that moment.”

As my words ended, the audience sent the most heated cheers and applause yet.

Several people even stood up and whistled.

Abigail hid her stiffening expression and stood from her seat.

Then she extended her arms and clapped.

It was roughly her way of ending this talk show.

“You really are eloquent. You got me good, didn’t you? That was Han Sena and Chloe! Let’s give them a round of applause!”

Abigail delivered her closing remarks to the audience.

Another round of loud applause erupted.

* * *

The very next morning.

One Black American rapper’s social media was racking up views from early morning.

-‘Modern art that recreated the lives the film’s protagonists had to endure outside the screen’

Under this title, a YouTube clip from yesterday’s Abigail talk show was attached.

To summarize, it heavily criticized Abigail’s racial discrimination.

I rubbed my eyes, which still hadn’t fully adjusted to being awake, as I looked at it.

Am I dreaming right now?

The Rams who’d uploaded the video was a rapper with over 20 million followers.

The comments flooding in real-time were extremely fierce.

-Racists need to get out. Stop embarrassing us Americans.

-She should be ashamed. How can a woman like this host a major talk show?

-Right now, real-time posts are spreading about Abigail’s past discrimination. She’s a real witch.

-I know Han Sena well. She’s passionate about acting and a thoughtful person.

-Rams, let’s destroy that woman.

-She needs to be buried by society. Along with the president.

-Using a child like that is insane. I hope that child wasn’t hurt. We apologize on her behalf. Please forgive us.

Major American portal sites were also plastered with talk about Rams’ social media, racial discrimination, Abigail’s history of discrimination, and yesterday’s talk show.

When I turned off the internet, I found messages from <Hometown> team members piled up too.

“Seriously… there’s not a single quiet day lately.”

I sighed and put down my phone.

There was nothing more to see.

It would only make me more anxious.

But wait.

“This is happening several years earlier than it originally would’ve.”

Still, I never induced or wanted any of this from my side.

I’d rather hoped it would pass quietly.

Besides, this racial discrimination incident becoming famous wasn’t just because Asian actors appeared on <Hometown>.

It only became an issue so quickly because an American star MC did something stupid.

Street-level racial discrimination doesn’t even make the news, but naturally, a star’s weight in America was enormous.

Both Lee Nara and Abigail—what exactly is the problem?

The weight of one’s popularity must sometimes be frightening.

Just as I was about to read through last night’s accumulated messages to reassure people, Minyeong unnie’s final message caught my eye.