Chapter 61
Gloria clutched her chest and came tottering out of the ward.
“Are you really my fans, or did you come here on purpose to disturb me?” she asked.
Everyone froze at that.
She pointed at the painting that one of her fans had brought. With a mocking expression, she said, “This isn’t even my work.”
When she said that, Hayden’s expression darkened. He reached for his phone and called the bodyguard who was downstairs.
“Get up here. There are people causing trouble,” he barked.
Nicole was uninterested in their affairs. When she left, she glanced toward them casually, but she soon stopped in her tracks.
She saw the fan who wanted a signature holding a certain painting in her hand.
It was one of Joanna’s early works. She had drawn a landscape painting of a small town named Ronice. This painting had even won an award back then.
Nicole had been a fan of Joanna for a long time, and she recognized the painting at first glance. She had wanted to buy it at the time, but someone got to it first.
This painting was very different from the work Joanna had done before she retired two years ago. It was completely normal that new fans would fail to recognize it. But Gloria surprisingly denied it outright in
public.
Nicole narrowed her eyes and saw the shocked and dumbfounded expression on the fan’s face.
“B–But this is your work! It’s called Sunshine over the Town of Ronice. Don’t tell me you don’t even remember your own work?” the fan named Celia Ronson protested.
Gloria’s expression stiffened.
The people around her looked at her with suspicion. Even Hayden turned around and looked toward her.
Gloría frowned and replied, “Do you really think that you know more about the pieces I’ve created? I told you that this painting isn’t mine, and that’s final. Why do you keep questioning me?”
Celia felt extremely wronged. “But I bought this ten years ago, and it’s undoubtedly a work of yours…” she
trailed off.
“Ten years ago?” Gloria asked.
She scoffed lightly and continued, “My work from ten years ago is long gone. Look at how well the one in your arms has been preserved. It must be a painting done recently. I don’t know where you got this from,
Chapter 61
but the painting style is worlds apart from mine. You can’t possibly force it on me, can you?”
As she said that, the bodyguards arrived in a rush.
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Hayden’s doubts had been dispelled. Thus, he pointed at the fan and said, “This person is causing trouble and pretending to be a fan. Get her out of here!”
Celia’s eyes reddened. The two bodyguards tugged at her with forceful and harsh movements.
“Wait!”
Beyond the crowd, a calm voice cut through. Everyone turned their heads at once.
When Gloria saw Nicole walking toward them, she was stunned.
Hayden frowned and walked toward Nicole to support her. With a gentle voice, he asked, “Didn’t the doctor say it was best for you to rest in bed? Why are you walking around like this?”
Nicole pushed him away and walked straight toward Celia and the bodyguards. She examined the artwork closely and confirmed that it was the painting she had once failed to buy.
“Ten years ago, this landscape painting of the Town of Ronice was sold during the Silver Butterfly Exhibition when autumn came. It was painted in a fresh and elegant style, with spontaneous use of colors and a strong emphasis on visual impact,” Nicole described.
Celia’s eyes widened at her words. She looked at Nicole in shock and disbelief. “Y–You actually recognize this painting!”
Gloria was stunned.
Hayden walked toward Nicole in confusion. “Nicky, do you know this painting? Who was the one who
made it?”
“Ten years ago, before Joanna’s style changed, she accepted a recorded interview and said that her
earlier styles were influenced by Ronice–styled films of youth,” Nicole explained.
Nicole turned around. Her gaze traveled past him and landed on Gloria with a hint of ridicule.
‘Ms. Muller, how could you not recognize your early works?” she asked.
Everyone looked at Gloria in surprise. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned both awkward and silent.
Gloria panicked. She tugged on her hospital gown and stuttered, “I–I’m not feeling well, and there are many things about the past that I don’t remember.”
She did her best to feign calmness. She then stepped forward, took the painting from Celia, and studied it carefully.
“Yes, this is indeed one of my early works. I remember now. I created this piece after I watched the movie Summer in the Woods.”
Nicole fixed her with a cold stare.
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As it turned out, Gloria must have put in some effort into investigating Joanna so that she wouldn’t blow
her cover.
It was just that she had forgotten about this painting momentarily, so she made a mistake.
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