Chapter 488 Have You Remembered Something?
Zachary was mindlessly scrolling through his phone, looking bored out of his mind. He glanced up for a second before going back to his screen. "I have no clue," he mumbled.
Timothy stared at him, clearly frustrated. "Don't you even..."
Before he could finish, the commercial break ended.
The host, sounding like an overexcited shopping channel presenter, announced, "The appraisal results from Beckett are in—it's genuine!"
Beckett chimed in, "This artifact is really tricky. It's understandable that Windy made a mistake. She's a great artifact restorer but new to appraisals and lacks experience. It's easy for her to get caught up in theory and miss the practical details. This sculpture is simple, and the rust on it has clearly formed naturally over a thousand years..."
Winona tried to explain why she thought it was fake, but the host cut her off, saying, "No matter how talented you are, you need experience to back it up. Otherwise, mistakes happen. Artifacts are irreplaceable treasures, and if the appraiser's skills are lacking, the loss could be huge. So we must stay grounded and not think we can do everything just because we're talented."
It was obvious the host was trying to boost ratings by putting Winona down.
Just as the host was about to bring the next person on stage, Winona interrupted her, "It's fake."
The host looked a bit flustered. "Windy, I know this might hurt your pride, but the other three are highly respected veterans in this field, especially Beckett, who is the most authoritative figure. He has appraised thousands of items, so how could he be wrong?"
"But the item is indeed fake." Winona's calm and composed demeanor made her even more convincing than the other three.
The atmosphere got tense.
The host's expression started to falter. "Windy, I know it's tough to accept that you've made a mistake on your first appraisal, but it's perfectly normal. With more experience, you'll avoid these kinds of errors in the future."
She turned her back to the camera, frantically signaling Winona to stop causing trouble.
Winona looked at her but firmly said, "This artifact is fake."
The host was about to lose it.
How could Winona be so stubborn? Didn't she realize what kind of occasion this was? They were recording a show, with so many people in the audience and viewers at home. If she kept insisting, how could the show go on?
The host had no choice but to signal to the other three experts. Though their faces were grim, they knew they had to keep the show going.
Beckett stepped in as the peacemaker. "There are only four appraisers on the show, so it's hard to determine who's right or wrong at the moment. If Windy thinks our appraisal is problematic, we can privately seek a more renowned expert for a reappraisal, like Caleb from the Dreamopolis Museum and Mr. Stokes from View Studio."
"Would that be acceptable, Windy?" This statement directly labeled Winona's behavior as unreasonable.
"That's convenient. Mr. Stokes and I are here. If it's convenient for the show, why don't we take a look now?" Caleb and Mr. Stokes stood up from the audience.
The host was silent.
Could she say it wasn't convenient?Not to mention their identities, the show was all about appraising artifacts. With the result still up in the air, the audience was already getting restless.
The host glanced at the director in the corner, who gave her a nod.
She said, "Alright, let's turn to Caleb and Mr. Stokes; tonight's episode has truly been riveting..."
The appraisal took a bit, but not too long. After examining the artifact, Caleb and Mr. Stokes exchanged looks, and Caleb finally announced, "It's definitely fake."
The audience gasped in shock.
Feeling the heat of being publicly proven wrong, Beckett knew his reputation was on the line. If this got out, how could he keep working in this field? Who would trust his appraisals? "Caleb, could you explain how you determined that this artifact is fake?" he asked, trying to salvage some credibility.
Caleb replied, "How? Windy just explained it. You were biased, thinking she was too young and inexperienced, so you didn't take her seriously and stubbornly believed you were right."
In front of the TV, Timothy hadn't seen this coming. He had everything planned out. Once this episode aired, Winona would be utterly disgraced, her reputation ruined overnight.
But why did this happen?
Everything was going perfectly as he had envisioned, just one step away from success!
Could it be that even fate was on her side? Every time, she managed to escape danger.
Timothy suddenly turned to look at Zachary, who had remained emotionless throughout. "Was it you? Did you know what I was planning and brought Mr. Stokes and Caleb to the scene in advance?"
He approached Zachary, his voice low and deliberate. "Have you remembered something?"
Zachary looked up and met his gaze. "Why do you ask? Did I forget something?"
Timothy stood up from the sofa, knocking over a vase on the coffee table, shattering it into pieces. He glared down at Zachary fiercely. "Don't lie to me. You like Winona. Don't think I don't know. I'm not an idiot. Don't treat me like one. You can't fool me."
He paced back and forth in front of Zachary, stepping on the broken glass with his bare feet, but he seemed oblivious to the pain.
Soon, the light-colored carpet was stained with blood from his feet.
Timothy's gaze never left Zachary. After pacing back and forth over twenty times, he finally sat down on the edge of the sofa, either because the pain became unbearable or he managed to control his emotions.
He took out a box of pills from his pocket and handed it to Zachary. He said, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. It's time to take your medicine."
Zachary glanced at the name on the bottle. It was the name of the new medication he had been given at the coffee shop last time.
Seeing him just staring at the pills without taking them, Timothy hurriedly said, "I changed it. I threw away the spilled bottle. This one is clean. You can take it without worry."
Timothy then opened the bottle and poured out a small handful. "Look, it's clean. Hurry up and take it. Dr. Wilson said you'll get better after taking the medicine."
However, Zachary swiped his hand, knocking the pills and the bottle out of his hand. He put on his slippers and stood up. "You're the one who needs the medicine and a doctor."
Timothy was clearly losing it, watching him take medicine every day!
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
