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Zina strolled along the display stands, her eyes lingering on the treasures inside the glass cases. Thoughts blossomed in her mind as she took in each piece.
To her, these weren’t just objects; they were works of art with a soul, each one revealing the artist’s true thoughts. That was what made them truly valuable.
“Are you checking out this watch? What a coincidence; it’s actually one of my creations. Why not pick something straight from my collection?”
Lisette had been wondering where to start, but when she spotted Zina standing right in front of her work, her eyes lit up and she walked over without hesitation.
Zina turned around and nodded. “Sure, I happen to really like these pieces too.”
‘I didn’t expect her to actually have some real skill, Zina thought to herself.
Zina had already looked over most of the other pieces, but only the ones in this display case seemed worth a closer look. To Zina’s shock, they were Lisette’s work after all.
Zina glanced at Lisette again, a hint of curiosity flickering in her eyes.
“Let’s start with this one. Why don’t you go first?” Lisette pointed to the case where a unicorn soared skyward, arched one eyebrow at Zina, and let the provocation in her eyes peak.
“Sure,” Zina replied. She stepped closer, studying the piece intently. Words flowed from her lips without
hesitation.
She began, “It’s truly a striking piece. The unicorn bursts into the sky, its wings and the clouds weaving a shimmering arch that resembles a gateway to a higher realm.
“Yet the wings are only dawn–light made visible–ephemeral–so the ascent is, after all, a fragile dream. Still, the theme of transcendence it conveys is deeply moving.”
Lisette lifted her chin proudly as she listened to Zina’s words. She had always prided herself on her impressive designs, and it seemed Zina actually had some real skill, too; her interpretation was surprisingly
spot–on.
Lisette was just basking in her satisfaction when Zina’s next words caught her completely off guard. “It’s just a pity; there’s a flaw.”
“What do you mean by that?” Lisette met Zina’s steady gaze, so angry her chest heaved.
“Who are you to say there’s a flaw in my work? This piece was called perfect by several international masters,” she snapped.
If it had been any other piece, Lisette might have let Zina show off and say whatever she wanted, but not this
one.
This was her first–place winner from an international competition; even Lisette’s mentor had praised her
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creativity. And now, Zina, some outsider, who knew nothing about design, dared to criticize her work right
here.
Lisette just couldn’t take it lying down. Her face flushed red as she pointed at Zina, her eyes blazing with fury.
It was almost as if Zina had seen this coming all along. She didn’t react at all. She just curled her lips into a faint, confident smile.
Zina said, “Why not wait until I finish before you get angry?”
Those words finally shut Lisette up for a moment. Lisette stared at Zina, her eyes cold and sharp.
Her fingers, hanging at her sides, clenched into fists, then slowly loosened again.
Lisette took a deep breath, forced a smile, and finally spoke. “Alright, go on. I’d love to hear what flaw you think you’ve found.
“Just so you know, even the top masters called my work perfect. I wonder what kind of insight you think you have.”
Before anyone realized it, a crowd had gathered around them. When they heard Lisette’s words, people craned their necks, eager to see what was going on.
Someone in the crowd suddenly recognized who Lisette was and exclaimed in surprise.
“Wait? Isn’t that Miss Merritt? I actually saw her in person at the Seine Festival overseas. The designers there called her a once–in–a–century genius. You guys have no idea how insane it is for someone her age to achieve what she has.”
“How come I’ve never heard of her? Anyone here know just how big of a deal she really is?”
“Let me put it this way. When the other contestants see her, it’s like showing up to a boxing match and finding out your opponent is Mike Tyson.”
“Damn, she’s really that amazing?”
Hearing the crowd hype her up, Lisette lifted her chin with a smug look and gave a cold snort. “If you want to back out now, it’s not too late,
“I get it. You’re just an amateur, so I won’t make things difficult for you. No need to embarrass yourself just to save face,”
“Nope.” Zina shook her head. “Look at this spot. The unicorn’s ascent is beautiful, but it’s woven from light and cloud, and right here, there’s a fracture that severs the upward motion.
“If we could place a sliver of gold radiance–say, a tiny sun–into that gap, it would mend the break and turn the beam back on itself, shaping a loop.
“Then the surge skyward would keep circling instead of ending in a brief, doomed flare.”
Zina was still talking, but Lisette just stood there, completely stunned. Her mind was buzzing, totally blank;
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creativity. And now, Zina, some outsider, who knew nothing about design, dared to criticize her work right
here.
Lisette just couldn’t take it lying down. Her face flushed red as she pointed at Zina, her eyes blazing with fury.
It was almost as if Zina had seen this coming all along. She didn’t react at all. She just curled her lips into a faint, confident smile.
Zina said, “Why not wait until I finish before you get angry?”
Those words finally shut Lisette up for a moment. Lisette stared at Zina, her eyes cold and sharp.
Her fingers, hanging at her sides, clenched into fists, then slowly loosened again.
Lisette took a deep breath, forced a smile, and finally spoke. “Alright, go on. I’d love to hear what flaw you think you’ve found.
“Just so you know, even the top masters called my work perfect. I wonder what kind of insight you think you have.”
Before anyone realized it, a crowd had gathered around them. When they heard Lisette’s words, people craned their necks, eager to see what was going on.
Someone in the crowd suddenly recognized who Lisette was and exclaimed in surprise.
“Wait? Isn’t that Miss Merritt? I actually saw her in person at the Seine Festival overseas. The designers there called her a once–in–a–century genius. You guys have no idea how insane it is for someone her age to achieve what she has.”
“How come I’ve never heard of her? Anyone here know just how big of a deal she really is?”
“Let me put it this way. When the other contestants see her, it’s like showing up to a boxing match and finding out your opponent is Mike Tyson.”
“Damn, she’s really that amazing?”
Hearing the crowd hype her up, Lisette lifted her chin with a smug look and gave a cold snort. “If you want to back out now, it’s not too late.
“I get it. You’re just an amateur, so I won’t make things difficult for you. No need to embarrass yourself just to save face,
“Nope.” Zina shook her head. “Look at this spot. The unicorn’s ascent is beautiful, but it’s woven from light and cloud, and right here, there’s a fracture that severs the upward motion.
“If we could place a sliver of gold radiance–say, a tiny sun–into that gap, it would end the break and turn the beam back on itself, shaping a loop.
“Then the surge skyward would keep circling instead of ending in a brief, doomed flare.”
Zina was still talking, but Lisette just stood there, completely stunned. Her mind was buzzing, totally blank;
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Josh thought this made sense, so to be on the safe side, he shouted at the bodyguards. “Attack together!”
“Yes!” Seven or eight bodyguards, along with Josh, lunged towards Kaia.
Kaia shook her head, a hint of drunkenness appearing in her eyes.
But that didn’t stop her from taking action.
Soon, she had taken down several people.
Just then, Griffin pounced on her.
Just as Kaia was about to act, Griffin suddenly took out a bottle of perfume and sprayed it into her eyes several times.
Kaia’s eyes stung immediately, and she couldn’t help but back away, trying to open her eyes.
The more she opened her eyes, the more they hurt.
“She can’t see, you guys take her down quickly!” Griffin shouted excitedly.
In his opinion, Kaia was already his for the taking.
One of the bodyguards closest to Kaia picked up a bottle from the ground and struck her.
Kaia’s ears twitched, picking up the sound and locating its source. She shifted her foot to the side just in time, and the wine glass barely grazed past her elbow.
“Wow! That works?” A rich young man was really shocked by Kaia’s astonishing strength.
Josh gestured to the remaining bodyguards.
“You go to the left, you go to the right, and you, go to the back, I’ll fight from the front.
After making arrangements, they tiptoed towards Kaia.
Kaia’s ears twitched again, but she couldn’t open her eyes.
As a doctor herself, she knew very well that she couldn’t force her eyes open at this time. She could only try to secrete tears to wash away foreign objects.
At the same time, Tobias waited in front of the women’s bathroom, and a girl came out of it with a red face.
“Um, handsome, I just asked inside for you. The person you’re looking for, Kaia, is not here.”
Tobias frowned, “Thank you.”
Then he took out his mobile phone and stopped the waiter in the aisle.
“Have you seen this person?”
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she couldn’t think of anything at all.
‘Her words are unbelievably insightful, Lisette thought. Zina had pointed out exactly what was missing and how to make it whole.
Lisette had actually considered adding something to that spot before, but back then she’d gotten stuck in a flare. Even after finishing the piece, she’d felt unsatisfied for quite a while.
But now, Zina had stepped up and pinpointed the exact problem.
Everything suddenly clicked for Lisette; her confusion disappeared in an instant.
‘But wasn’t Zina supposed to be a total layman when it comes to design? How could she possibly know all this? Lisette thought, utterly baffled. ‘Why?‘
“Why is she being so pushy?” someone in the crowd muttered.
“Who even is she to criticize Lisette’s work? Does she think she’s somebody?” another person snapped.
“But honestly, this lady actually has a point. The piece really isn’t perfect,” someone else chimed in.
“What do you know? This is Miss Merritt’s work; there must be a reason for it,” someone else argued.
The crowd was already in a heated argument, but right in the middle of all the noise, Lisette just stood there, completely dazed.
Her eyes were blank with confusion as she slowly, inch by inch, looked up at Zina. Her lips trembled before she finally managed to speak. “I–I admit, there’s nothing wrong with what
you said.”
Lisette’s words landed like a mountain crashing down. For a split second, everyone froze in shock, stunned into silence.
“Wait? What the heck is going on? Did Lisette really just admit her work isn’t perfect?” someone finally blurted
out.
“Who is this woman anyway? How come I’ve never seen her before?” another person asked, looking battled.
“No way, I’ve been to so many design exhibitions–how have I never seen these people around?‘ someone else chimed in, clearly at a loss.
Even those self–proclaimed experts, who always acted like they had all the answers, now wore looks of utter confusion, completely at a loss for what to do.
Only Zina let out a gentle sigh, as if the world around her had faded away. She walked straight up to Lisette.
“Your work is truly outstanding? Zina said. “But your mind wasn’t completely calm when you created it, which is why this piece ended up with that gap
“Some of your other pieces have similar issues, too. Here, let me show you‘
Zina walked along the display case, pointing out each flaw she’d noticed to Lisette, one by one.
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The waiter shook his head. “Sorry, I haven’t seen her.”
At that moment, a cleaner came over.
“I saw her. Right there, in that private room.”
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Just as the cleaner pointed, the door of the private room was violently pushed open from the inside, and a bodyguard in black, wearing sunglasses and clutching his stomach, was rolling on the ground.
Tobias inwardly cursed, rushing forward as quickly as possible. As soon as he entered, he saw several people ganging up on Kaia, one of whom was particularly burly.
You guys hurry up, take off her clothes while she can’t see, she’ll panic.” As Griffin shouted, he caught a glimpse of Tobias standing at the door.
Upon seeing that face like the King of Hell, Griffin was so frightened that he almost lost his mind.
“T, T. T….” Before he could say the word, he heard the bodyguard shout.
“Mr. Griffin told us to hit! Everyone, put in more effort!”
Griffin mechanically turned his neck and looked towards the person who had just shouted those words.
‘Damn!‘
Tobias strode up to Kaia, put his arms around her waist, turned around, and kicked the attacker away with his long legs.
The person flying out was like a kite with a broken string, smashing into the table, and all the wine bottles, fruit, and snacks on the table were knocked out, and fell to the ground in a mess.
“Are you alright?”
Tobias looked down at Kaia as Kaia looked up at Tobias.
Although Kaia couldn’t see very clearly, she knew who was holding her.
“My eyes hurt
Tobias looked at Kaia, who was constantly shedding tears, and his anger burned to the extreme
“Griffin!”
Griffin shuddered in shock
“To… Tobias, please don’t be angry. Listen to my… listen to my excuse, no, no, no, listen to my explanation.”
“Come here Tobias crooked a finger at Griffin
Griffin swallowed hard, terrified. “Tobias, this is actually actually a misunderstanding.”
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Zina stood there in a flowing white dress, her quiet serenity a stark contrast to Lisette’s restless intensity.
Lisette had to admit that, in that instant, she was genuinely moved.
And the problems Zina had just pointed out were exactly the lingering doubts that had been stuck in her mind for so long.
Finally, as Zina reached the final piece on display, Lisette, her lips pressed into a thin line, walked up to her.
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“I won’t repeat myself.” Tobias’s voice instantly turned icy.
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Although Griffin didn’t dare to go near Tobias, he dared even less to disobey, so in the end he had to bite the bullet and walk up to Tobias.
Tobias raised his hand and slapped Griffin hard across the face.
A crisp “smack” sound echoed loudly.
But it didn’t end there. Tobias kicked Griffin’s knee.
“Crack!” That was the sound of a bone fracture.
“Ah!” Griffin screamed and knelt before Tobias and Kaia.
Everyone present was stunned by this scene, including Kaia.
Kaia really didn’t expect Tobias to be so ruthless to Griffin. After all, Griffin was his cousin.
Griffin’s face turned blue and purple, and he cursed Kaia’s ancestors eighteen times over in his heart.
If it hadn’t been for Kaia, he could not have been embarrassed in front of so many friends.
“Kneel down and apologize to her.” Tobias said slowly.
