The Renowned Painter's Forced Reveal

s and accused me of knowingly buying a counterfeit pa

a master who's made such incredible contributions to the

d in, yelling for me to get out

led master they were

g on my latest piece, The Past, when a

o? Your dad's partners

with panic. "Without this deal with Evonix Group, h

ership co

tbrush on the spo

ends had shifted dramatically. He missed the wave of new tech and, cou

the company. He had poured all his effort i

d! I thought you were confident

"Paulina, I'm sorry. I'm the one who ruined t

looking up at me with

. Finch, the chairman of Evonix Group. Sensing a good

g room-supposedly by the famous artist Darren Higgins-he got even more enth

xpertise, and boldly declared that the painting was not an aut

painting might be a fake, he completely lost interest in doing busin

that do? Are you going to invest in my dad's company and pull

r cheeks. "Paulina, it really was my fault.

Torrie st

helping people identify whether

some freak talent, sh

in the mayor's private collection.

thing of a local legend. People

w that Echo of Two Wings h

y spend a few hundred bucks on that painting just to decorate the living room? Wh

dn't need to worry

in the world would know better than

s a piece I spent ha

there wasn't a single piece of mine hanging in my own home. I thought this particular painting had a

s Darren. I made up some story about buying

little lie would snowball

bit more, I felt thirsty and he

eard someone talk

s Tor

ake. I'm the chosen one-I've got a special eye! That thing had no ene

etly, listening t

tifying forgeries without any formal training. How

a painting was real

ave strong spiritual e

oughtfully, amusemen

had so much faith in-could i

ings was as real as it got. I

ighing nonstop at home

something soon, the compan

g supplies and got rea

of the country's top art institutions, with countles

But thanks to her sudden fame in art appraisal, her colleague had rec

had been place

tes were all huddled around Torrie, whose ey

on a pitiful look. "Paulina, I really didn't mean

look at us, clearly

y. Oh wow, so she came her

t out loudly, "What's the big deal? That Echo of Two Wings was ob

Torrie's friend and the c

se of judgment whatsoever. And Torrie, you're still trying to t

ulina only paid a few hundred bucks for Echo of Two Wings. I'm sure she j

said that, the

red bucks?!

for tens of millions now, and

ou can't buy a Darren o

bought a fake? T

studying fine arts typically

the country's top-tier art schools-where annual tuition a

They could easily afford the kind of "luxuries"

s genuine pieces from respected artists. No one would

were extremely protective of intellectual propert

fake painting in my home was like I

p when our professor walked in and beg

on. Pick your own theme

l and prepared t

er squeezed in and too

f a publicly lis

most students were already loaded, Dann

r was especially fond of oil painting. Among all the artists acti

nny had become obsessed

ince Darren's debut and neve

k about Darren's work, he co

iking to me was because my painting st

d to disguise that connection, including

aulina?" he asked, his charming

, dipping my brush an

f sarcasm. "Wow, there she goes again-copying

wned at h

her. She's still learning. It's normal for a student to im

e years of studying art, and now in her third year, she still doesn't have

e can't even manage to copy properly. Wasn't it you who tried to mimic Darr

rned bright red

ut in practice, it was incredibly hard to pull off.

weaker left hand to paint, my work s

pe painting and was just about to l

But if you truly admire Master Darren, then maybe don't imitate

"Master Darren doesn't like i

t her mind and gave my wrist a h

you're a fan of Master Darren too? What a coincidence! But I don't

ly. But a few days ago, when I was talking to him, he said every artist s

u

ember ever s

"Did I hear that right? You.

she had let something slip, and qui

itedly, and the rest of the c

blurted out, "Yes! I met Master Darren at an art exhibition. He really admired my

at

earing

ie's ability t

good f

chatter as everyone rushed

n recognized your tal

The one the mayor himself co

knew Darren had spread lik

sor began critiquing our

ed a sharp critique. "Paulina, your work shows too much imitation

ws fur

giving me top marks and complimenting the depth in my wo

sir, my painting is completely original. I didn'

e him so directly in front of everyone. H

Master Darren's. The only reason I didn't fail you before was because I thought you had potential. I didn't want to crush a promising s

ed through th

l dares to argue with the professor? She shou

work-and knowing she's out her

me a smug li

at our university to be like this-believing gossip over facts, lacking the a

ina?!" the professor demande

icked up on it. "Wait-does Paulina mean To

arren we're talking about! Even my dad'

that would just casually become

the professor to hear. His previously firm expression began to wa

In fact, I'm honored to have received his personal permission to organize an upcoming exhibition of his work here

ng water at the time an

orrie to host

s news

e professor stepped down from the podium and

with emotion. "But I've never once managed to get a ticket to any of his shows.

there soaking up the attenti

up to her just talking nonsense, maki

onfidence, made me hesitate. This wasn't just empty bragging anymore. It

ould've needed my per

from Torrie. So who exactly gave per

retending

he day of the exhib

ously handed me and followed the b

nt, the more di

highly convincing ones. The imitation techniques were

of these pieces myself, memorizing every detail

re admiring a painti

ng these pieces off after

paintings, I'll die happy. I even emptied out my savings

nning to sell

d. I nearly cu

ng by market prices, each one could sell fo

d, it would be too late. The people behind this

auction legally, Master Darren would

stop the auction before it began and

pulled out my phone and dialed Jerald Chapm