Nina was there that day to give a lecture. All the comic clubs were told to send their representatives to her talk because Nina would be attending the Comic and Animation Exhibition as a judge. Even though she was only a student at Jiang University, she was already a well-known figure in Bentson’s comics industry. Her skill was the best amongst sketchers in similar age groups. She had about a million fans, whereas others would probably have about tens or hundreds of thousands of fans. Of course, she also rose to fame through frequent exposures in events. Sarah’s niece was a young miss from a wealthy family. Furthermore, Old Master WilliamsWilliams highly favored her. With such strong support and backgrounds, many people took the initiative to be part of her events.
“Elena, your identity is far better than hers. If you could make some contributions as Young Madam Williams, your fan base will grow exponentially,” Layla whispered into Elena’s ear as they made their way to the conference hall.
Elena gave her a quizzical look. “Are you saying that I can’t achieve anything if I am not Young Madam Mu?”
“Of course not. The title is just like icing on the cake.”
Elena did not respond to that. Layla was in a good mood that day, and she beamed widely along the way.
Since there was not much time left until the lecture started, Layla quickly ran up the steps. “Elena, I will run ahead and try to get some good seats for us.”
Elena wanted to catch up to her, but the girl was quick. She had disappeared in a blink of an eye. Nina’s lecture attracted a lot of attendees. Any latecomers would not be able to get good seats. Elena could only speed up her pace and quickly walked into the lobby of the conference hall.
It seemed like something had happened in the lobby. A group of people had gathered around as if something exciting had caught their attention. Elena could not locate Layla; it seemed like she had completely lost sight of that girl. Elena bypassed the crowd and was about to walk into the largest conference room in the entire building when she heard Layla’s voice just a few steps away from her.
“I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.”
Elena froze mid-step, and then she proceeded to join the crowd.
“I’m sorry? Is that all you have to say?” the two girls with a painting growled.
One of them continued furiously, “Do you know how much time and effort Miss MarshMarsh had put into this painting?”
The other girl was also flushed with fury and exclaimed anxiously, “We were supposed to display this painting at the Comic & Animation Exhibition next month. Now that you have broken it, how are we supposed to explain it to Miss Marsh?”
Sweat beaded on Layla’s face as she anxiously explained in a low voice, “I didn’t mean it. Besides, you were the one who had bumped into me…”
“Then let’s take a look at the surveillance cameras and check who had bumped into who!”
The two girls stared at Layla. They looked like they would swallow her alive.
“You had smashed Miss Marsh’s paintings, and still dared to slander others!”
“This is hand-painted, and there is no second one. Tell us, how are you going to pay for it?”
As soon as the students around heard that, they started a clamor of discussion. “Hand-painted. That would be big trouble for her.”
“Yeah, there is no other like it. The amount of compensation for that must be very high. Layla is dead this time.”
“What’s going on?” Elena squeezed past the crowd.
When she heard Elena’s voice, Layla felt like her savior had come to her rescue. She dashed toward Elena’s side.
“Elena, I didn’t do it on purpose. They were the ones who bumped into me. I tried to dodge them, but I couldn’t make it in time.”
It was an unexpected incident. What an unfortunate disaster!
“You were running so fast. How could you accuse us of running into you?” the girl pointed at Layla and bellowed angrily.
Elena looked at Layla.
Layla quickly explained, “I was walking very fast, but I did look carefully at the path ahead. It was them who had appeared out of nowhere, and I didn’t even have enough time to dodge out of their way.”
“What’s going on?” another voice echoed from the sea of people.
Everyone turned around to look at the source of the voice. A group of people consciously gave way to let them through. Nina and her assistant had arrived. It was time for a good show! Nina wore a simple dress, and her long, silky hair was pulled into a bun. She looked so noble and elegant, a perfect image of a wealthy young miss. She was the legendary painter, Nina. Even though many people were familiar with her name, not many had seen her in real life. All of them sighed emotionally. Jiang University was a breeding ground for beauties.
Nina got closer to them. The two girls immediately walked toward her and reported, “Miss Marsh, that girl, she destroyed your painting.”
One of the girls opened the scroll. Sure enough, it was an exquisite artwork, almost a perfect painting. There was a visible tear at the corner of the paper. Even though it was not a huge tear, it had ruined the artwork. They would not be able to use that at the upcoming exhibition! In other words, that small tear had destroyed the entire painting!
Nina’s eyes fell onto Layla, and her overbearing aura had terrified the latter. Nina even gave her the evil eye, and it sent a tremor through Layla’s spine.
However, Layla still took the effort to explain herself, “It wasn’t me. They were the one who bumped into me. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I tried my best to avoid them.”
When the assistant heard her explanation, she boiled with anger. “Do you know how much this painting cost in the market? Can you afford to pay for its compensation?”
Money was not the issue. What would they use at the exhibition a month later? The young miss had a tight schedule, and she had no time to produce another painting. That bloody girl was too much!
“Assistant Han, what should I do now? Should we sue her and get her to pay for it?” The girl who held the painting asked.
“Definitely! She has to pay a few million dollars, at least. She would be paying for it until the day she dies!” Assistant Han fumed.
She had personally seen how Nina completed the painting, and she knew how tired persistent Nina had been throughout the process. Digital paintings were the new norm, and hand-painted artworks got lesser as days went by. Furthermore, it was such a huge piece of a hand-painted poster. How invaluable was that? Nina was so reputable that the price tag of millions of dollars was a conservative estimation. Layla would have to foot the bill, even if she had to go to jail for it. How could she avoid paying the compensation?
“It wasn’t me who broke…” Layla gripped Elena’s clothes tightly.
Elena said, “Okay, let’s call the police and let them investigate.”
“Elena…”
“Since you are sure that you did not bump into them, let’s call the police and let them handle it. Don’t be afraid of things that you have not done.”
Elena patted the back of Layla’s hand, but Layla was still a little flustered. Even if she did not bump into them on purpose, she had touched the painting during the commotion. If her fingerprints were on the painting, could she still plead her innocence?
If they were to call the police, the process would probably be similar to traffic accidents. She would probably need to pay for her part in the accident. The point was that she had no money. Elena also had no money. What else could she do?
The two girls with the painting got even angrier when Elena suggested that they called the police.
“If you do that, Miss MarshMarsh’s reputation will be affected. Then, you would have to pay for the loss of her reputation as well!”
Layla got even more anxious and stressed when she heard that.
On the other hand, Elena smiled faintly. “It doesn’t matter. I believe that Layla would not need to compensate a single cent because the painting was already torn before you bumped into her.”