Chapter 402 Not for Sale at All
The more Natalie felt overwhelmed or insecure inside, the more serious she pretended to be on the surface. She pulled Oliver's sleeve and made him stand properly.
Oliver's eyes contained a faint smile as if he held a sky full of stars.
The guests looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Oliver has this side of him?"
"Were Oliver and Natalie just displaying affection?"
"I suspect these two are embarrassing Susan."
Most of the people present today had a good relationship with the Hastings family. They had heard about the rumors regarding Susan, Natalie, and Oliver. They thought that if Susan and Natalie ever had any conflicts or arguments today, they would surely stand on the "justice" side and support Susan.
This was the reason why Susan invited Natalie to the birthday banquet. She hoped to trap Natalie under the scrutiny of public opinion, to make the pressure unbearable for her, and ideally be forced to divorce Oliver.
Otherwise, why would anyone invite such a troublesome and annoying person?
Susan never expected that business and personal relations could come and go so quickly, especially when there was someone like Oliver with better interests involved.
In the second half of the event, Susan regretted seeing Oliver greeting influential people with Natalie.
"Do you still love Oliver?" Helen had heard some news and now many people were talking about Susan and Arthur.
"I do," Susan said without hesitation.
"I always said that Oliver is better than Arthur, but you insist on liking Arthur, whose heart does not yearn for you, and now..." Helen sighed, looking at her daughter who looked like her younger self, "Anyway, as long as it's your decision, I will support you and do my best to help you!"
"Thank you, Mom!"
"Silly girl, you are my daughter. If I don't help you, who will?"
Susan smiled and acted coquettishly with her mother, but her gaze reached Natalie, who was beside Oliver, with a contemptuous smile.
"Jane, someone is interested in your work."
The head of the exhibition quietly approached Jane and congratulated her. Jane attended today as an artist and did not participate in the ball. She found a lounge to wait in by herself.
"Well, let's sell it then."
"Jane, it's like this. Your paintings have two gentlemen competing for them, so we wanted to ask for your advise."
Jane replied in a casual tone, "Oh, well, let the highest bidder have it."
The head of the exhibition was shocked, as if asking, "Don't you have any artistic pride?"
Jane looked at him confidently, saying, "Yes, that's right. I am just that ordinary."
"Jane, here's the thing. The base price for your three works is $700,000, $820,000, and $1 million, respectively. The current prices have already increased fivefold, and those two gentlemen are still fiercely competing, seemingly determined to win."
"Fiercely competing" is a good way to put it. It's more like cutthroat competition, with fools having more money than they know what to do with it.
Jane sensed something was amiss and it was troubling her.
Although her photographic works had all won awards, they were far from being worth five times their original price. Even if one was considering it as a collector's item, given her current status, this price wasn't justified.
What was even stranger was that all three pieces were involved. What kind of lunatic would buy three artworks from the same artist, at the same time all at once?
"Take me to see them," Jane said, grabbing her handbag and standing up.
The head of the exhibition gestured with a "please, this way" and led her into the hall.
Jane paused at the entrance. She saw Anthony standing in front of her photograph of the Northern Lights, staring at it without blinking.
Standing beside him was an elegant and beautiful woman, holding his arm and smiling gracefully as she praised the photograph. Her expression indicated praise.
"Jane, that gentleman is one of the buyers. He has increased the price by an additional $580,000," the head of the exhibition gestured towards Anthony.
Even the exhibition head himself thought it was outrageous. The price was too high. Jane was no longer the top socialite, her status was not as high as it used to be, and her works were not worth much.
Dragging her words out with a cold laugh, Jane said, "Him… I won't sell it to this person."
"Huh?" exclaimed the exhibition head, dumbfounded by her sudden declaration.
"I won't sell my work to this person," Jane emphasized. "No matter how much money he offers me!"
Anthony turned his head.
Jane knew he had always been perceptive, so it was normal for him to hear her voice. With a cool demeanor, she met his gaze, as if looking at a stranger in a confronting manner.
Anthony had also received an invitation from the Hastings family. He had originally decided not to come and instead had Clint keep an eye on things. However, he couldn't resist the urge and came this morning after resisting for several days.
Seeing the unease between the two, Clint rushed over to Jane and spoke kindly, "Jane, even if you temporarily have issues with our boss, you don't have to be so rude."
Jane glanced at Anthony, then at the woman beside him, her gaze falling on the spot where the woman held Anthony's arm before naturally shifting away.
"I may be in need of money, but not to the extent of accepting charity." Without looking back, Jane turned around and said to the person in charge, "Sell the painting to someone else."
The person in charge didn't quite understand the situation. "Then... shouldn't you go see the other potential buyer?"
‘What if you also can't stand the other buyer?’ the head of exhibitions worried.
"No need," Jane firmly replied. As she thought to herself, ‘Whoever the other person is, they are still better than Anthony.’
Anthony's gaze remained fixed on Jane from beginning to end; until she left quarters, he then withdrew his arm from the woman's grasp.
"Anthony?..." The woman seemed unsure of what to do.
"You can go and have fun by yourself." Anthony's attitude was cold, at best, tepid.
The woman looked in the direction Jane had disappeared, and cautiously asked Anthony, "Was that... Jane?"
Seeing Anthony's silence, the woman took a deep breath. "Anthony, haven't you let go of her yet? It's not just your relationship with Jane that stands between you two, but also both of your families. It's been years without yielding any result; and in the future..."
"Shut up." Anthony glanced at her coldly.
Startled by his irritated response, the woman nervously muttered, "Oh," and quickly found an excuse to leave his side.
Anthony watched as Jane's three paintings were taken down and carefully wrapped in brown paper, ready to be taken away.
"Who is the buyer?" he asked.
The person in charge glanced at Anthony, his face frozen. "I'm sorry, sir, but we can't disclose that information."
After a while, Clint returned with the news. "Sir, it's Richard."
"Richard?" Anthony felt that the name sounded familiar.
Almost as soon as he recalled the information about this person, Clint added, "He is the fiancé Jovan chose for Jane in the past, the only son of the Foster family."
‘That's right, it's exactly what you heard and thought. If it weren't for you, Jane would already be Mrs. Foster now, leading an undoubtedly better life than she is now.’ Clint silently commented in his mind.
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