ut, with such an expensive gift, if Prof. Nixon really accepts it, wouldn’t it affect her?”
Audrey also heard the murmurs of the crowd.
She didn’t care and said, “Prof. Nixon, this is just a token of my appreciation, nothing more! You don’t need to worry about the price, as long as you like it!”
From earlier, Adriana’s brows had not relaxed for a moment.
She pointed to a spot on the body of the vase.
“Here, was this repaired with lacquer?”
Audrey nodded.
She was very satisfied with her work here, thinking Adriana would feel the same.
Adriana glanced at Audrey, then turned to Claudine and said, “Tell us, what’s wrong here?”
Claudine had already noticed the problem when she first saw the piece.
She said, “Using lacquer and gold powder to restore antiques is a common method in our country, but because lacquer is irreversible, it’s generally used to repair cracks, Ms. Lavigne’s large–scale use of lacquer here covers the original ap pearance of the antique, which affects future generations‘ ability to reinterpret the artifact.”
Claudine’s explanation left Audrey feeling embarrassed.
She had thought that using lacquer and gold powder would impress Adriana, but she hadn’t expected Claudine to im mediately spot her technique and point out that her work violated the principle of reversibility in artifact restoration.
“That’s absolutely right!”
Adriana looked at all her students and said, “Our profession is rather unique. Our duty is to restore and protect histo ry, not to create.
“In special circumstances, we can make special exceptions, but for an antique like this, I advocate using lacquer to pair cracks, not to cover up the original appearance on such a large scale.”
Adriana paused for a moment and continued.
“Everyone here is a leader in this field.
Seeing your achievements in your respective specialties truly makes me proud
“But please remember, the ‘principle of reversibility‘ in artifact restoration is one of the core international ethical stan-
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dards. Only by upholding this bottom line can we go far.”
She looked at Audrey.
“Ms. Lavigne, this gift is simply too valuable. You should take it back.”
Audrey had never imagined that all her careful preparations would end up as a joke.
However, Adriana was not the only top artifact restoration professor in the country.
Since their philosophies didn’t align, there was no need for her to humble herself!
She took the sculpture from Adriana, her expression stiff.
“It seems that Prof. Nixon and I are simply not meant to be.”
At that moment, Adriana noticed a pink birthmark on the inside of Audrey’s arm.
That birthmark was all too familiar to her!
Audrey looked at Adriana, who was gripping her hand tightly, and frowned.
“Prof. Nixon, what do you mean by this?”
At this moment, Adriana was so agitated that she couldn’t even speak, her lips trembling slightly.
Claudine had been by Adriana’s side the whole time. Seeing Adriana suddenly become like this, she hurried to sup- port her.
“Prof. Nixon, what’s wrong?”
Adriana snapped back to her senses. She turned to glance at Claudine, then looked at the people in front of her.
Her hand trembled as she withdrew it, but her gaze remained fixed on the birthmark on Audrey’s skin.
“I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t stay here and disturb Prof. Nixon.”
With that, Audrey turned and was about to leave.
Now that she was back in her home country, with Damian standing behind her, there was no need for her to endure grievances as she had abroad.
The reason she chose to return was to use the Barrette family’s influence to gain more resources in her own country.
It would certainly be great to be accepted as Adriana’s doctoral student, but for her, it was just the icing on the cake.
Adriana watched as Audrey left.
She wanted so much to go after her and ask if she was her daughter, but in the end, she didn’t dare take that step.
All these years, day and night, she had been thinking about her daughter, worrying if she was sick, if she was hungry, if she had grown up safely.
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And now, her daughter might be right in front of her.
Yet she didn’t dare to acknowledge her…
She was afraid that if she recognized her daughter, the memories she least wanted to recall would be torn open and exposed to the public.
She didn’t have that kind of courage…
On the way back, Claudine sensed that Adriana seemed preoccupied, assuming it was still because of Audrey’s exces- sive restoration of the heart–shaped bottle.
“Prof. Nixon, please don’t be upset. Ms. Lavigne probably just wanted to show you her strengths. Her intentions were good.”
The more Adriana thought about that child, the more she felt their features resembled her own, and the more con- vinced she became that Audrey was her daughter.
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