Alfie was slapped by his boss and his face turned red.
He quickly washed it with cold water and rushed to the front hall. Once there, he adjusted himself to the best possible state, wearing a flattering smile as he headed towards the back row.
River saw him coming and smiled at Lilia. “Ms. Hussain, the art exhibition is about to begin. Mr. Russell noticed you hadn’t taken your seat yet and came over to invite you!”
Everyone in attendance showed respect for Lilia and began flattery while also taking jabs at Flynn.
“Ms. Hussain is the most important client of this art exhibition,” they said, “and Mr. Russell’s invitation confirms that the Hussain family has tremendous influence!”
“That’s right! Ms. Hussain is the Hussain family’s heiress with unparalleled influence! Mr. Russell will come over to say hello and introduce her properly.”
“Clark even threatened her earlier but just by inviting Ms. Hussain here today has already made him sober up!”
Kimber stood next to them feeling honored by association with Lilia.
“Well then let’s go back to our seats in front! After all, we are guests from Eahta,” said Lilia calmly.
After speaking those words, she walked towards her seat accompanied by Kimber while River followed behind them eagerly.
Although he had joined the Swanson family recently, River knew that having more connections would be beneficial for him in future endeavors, so when he heard that Lilia was coming here, he immediately brought a gift for her.
As they took a few steps forward, Alfie arrived nearby.
“Mr. Russell, you’re too polite. There was no need for you personally invite me. I’ll head back now so let’s start this art exhibition!”
Lilia looked at Alfie and smiled.
Alfie halted, gave Lilia a curious glance, and finally nodded politely before running directly past her.
The three of them furrowed their brows simultaneously and turned around.
At that moment, Alfie’s voice echoed.
“Mr. Clark, Ms. Sharp, the art exhibition is about to start. How about we go to the front row seats to watch?”
What?!
“Did I hear correctly? Did Mr. Russell really invite them into the central seats upfront? How could this be!”
“Oh my goodness! Isn’t that position reserved only for big shots or special invited guests? How could…”
“Lilia didn’t even sit in those seats. How can Rose who’s nothing more than an insignificant person have such an honor?”
Everyone present wore expressions of shock on their faces, unable to believe what had just happened before their very eyes.
Half of the people present were more powerful than Rose, so why could she sit in that position?!
Lilia stood still, her brows furrowed fiercely.
“Mr. Russell, you must be mistaken! Rose is just a small business owner, how can she sit in the best seat in the house?” River came to Alfie’s side and asked unwillingly.
“Who do you think you are? Can you question my boss’s decision?” Alfie scolded him unkindly and turned to Rose with a smile. “Ms. Sharp, shall we go over there?”
River was scared by his shout and dared not speak again.
Seeing this, Rose was also surprised and looked up at Flynn as if asking, “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing special!” Flynn said expressionlessly as if explaining something ordinary. “I just talked to Micah earlier and asked him to change our seats.”
“You asked Mr. Everett to change seats? And he changed them to front row seats?” Rose looked incredulous.
Her worldview was shaken.
Micah was an Eahta person and also the owner of Ostrad’s largest auction house. They were both well-connected aristocrats. How could Flynn ask him for help changing their seats?
Flynn nodded directly towards the front, “The art exhibition is about to start. Let’s go!”
With Alfie accompanying them, they slowly sat down in front row seats.
Seeing this scene, everyone present twitched their mouths and couldn’t understand what was going on.
How could a small factory owner and a man who had just been released from prison receive such an honor?
Kimber thought for a moment before her tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed into a disdainful smile, “Heheh… For face sake, they actually spent money buying front row seats!”
“I think it must have cost at least several thousands! They really went all out!”
After hearing this comment from Kimber, everyone instantly understood what had happened, “It makes sense! It’s like advertising during prime time on TV stations. Flynn bought those positions from his boss for increasing Rose’s popularity!”
“That guy doesn’t have much money. I bet he used Rose’s money instead… Their relationship is indeed unusual though. But spending so much money on one seat, what would investors think if they found out?”
“They fought hard against each other just for Ms. Hussain’s attention but what good did it do? In the end they were still crushed.”
Lilia listened to everyone discussing these things but felt relieved inside herself too.
Turning to look at Rose beside him, her eyes flashed with a hint of disdain.
Micah was also a businessman and today there were no special guests, so he wouldn’t let the money that came to him go to waste.
Flynn spent much money just for the sake of his pride, it was really ridiculous!
The exhibition hall fell silent as the staff carefully opened up a scroll painting and hung it on the wall. The details of the painting were displayed on a large screen next to it.
Alfie stood in front of the painting with great respect and said, “As we all know, Timothy Houghton’s early works are not many, but among them is this ‘Dragon Roaring in Brurridge.”
“The lines are bold and unrestrained, exuding wildness and dominance. It is one of Timothy Houghton’s representative works from his early period!”
“Now please enjoy!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up as they exclaimed in amazement.
“The style is powerful and majestic. It has a strong sense of depth that sets it apart from other works by Timothy Houghton!”
“This painting follows Timothy Houghton’s concise yet detailed style. Its features are very distinctive. With only a few strokes you can tell that this is a dragon or clouds!”
“Most artworks only focus on form without any spirit or soul behind them, but Timothy was amazing! His work embodies both spirit and form, capturing an imposing atmosphere like mountains rising high into the sky.”
Everyone expressed their opinions one after another, overflowing with praise for what they believed was one of Timothy Houghton’s rare masterpieces.
“This painting represents Timothy Houghton’s peak during his early years. Its spiritual aura is truly remarkable.”
“It expresses an unrestrained kingly air while maintaining positive content. Truly rare indeed!”
Lilia’s eyes shone brightly as she marveled at this exquisite piece, sharing her own thoughts about it too.
Her comments quickly sparked off flattery from others who praised Lilia for her unique understanding towards art,
“I never thought Ms. Hussain had such an insightful understanding towards art! After listening to you speak about Timonthy Houhgton’s work, I feel like I’ve reached another level!”
“Ms. Hussain must be full of artistic cells rather than germs because your summary just now hit everything right on point! We can’t compare ourselves to you.”
“Ms. Hussain is simply a kindred spirit of Timothy Houghton, he must be listening in secret and will definitely meet with her later, maybe even give her a painting!”
Flynn listened to the flattery of everyone and almost vomited. He thought to himself: “If I meet her, I’ll give her a painting? Dream on!”
“With fans like you guys, it’s really shameful for me!”
Lilia was very pleased after hearing this and suddenly looked at Rose, “Ms. Sharp, you have been silent all along. You probably don’t understand art like an internet celebrity and only came here to take pictures, right?”
Of course Rose knew she wanted to make herself look bad, so she said coldly, “This painting isn’t good at all. It’s full of violence, revenge and hatred without any artistic sense. It’s just too failed.”
“So I don’t really want to comment on it.”
As soon as these words were spoken, it seemed to touch everyone’s nerves and the whole room exploded.
They all praised it as a masterpiece but she was going against the tide saying that the painting wasn’t good?!
Wasn’t this slapping them all in the face!